Cherry Omelet Souffle with Mascarpone Honey Sauce

Ingredients:

This is an unconvential dish, but it's really really tasty. The puffed omelet is airy and sweet while the cherries add color and contrast the pale mascarpone sauce.

Ingredients:
1c pitted dark sweet cherries, well drained
1T honey
3T Grand Marnier
3 large egg yolks
1T water
1T + 3T + 2T sugar
1/8t salt
4 large egg whites
Zest of 1 orange
Nonstick cooking spray
2T butter
1/2c Mascarpone
2T honey

First, preheat your oven to 400. Next, mix the mascarpone with 2T of honey and set it in the refrigerator until the end.

Step 1:

Next, seperate the eggs. Then, beat the yolks with the water, 1T of sugar and the salt to mix well. We're not trying to denature the yolks too much, just incorporate the ingredients.

Step 2:

Next, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Soft peaks means that if you stop mixing and lift the whisks straight up out of the mixture, they should form peaks that fall over slightly:

Step 3:

Then, beat in 3T of sugar and the orange zest. The mixture will turn slightly orange. Stir one spoonful of the whites into the yolks to incorporate. Then, carefully fold in the remaining whites, stirring as little as possible.

Step 4:

Warm a 9-10 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray and add the butter. Melt the butter and tilt the pan to coat. Add the egg mixture and smooth it out as much as possible. It's important to mention that the egg mixture is so light it will actually float on top of the butter and never touch the pan, giving a very gentle cooking. If your egg mixture sinks to the bottom of the pan and doesn't float, you have overbeaten or underbeaten your egg whites.

Step 5:

When the eggs turn golden brown around the edges, sprinkle on the cherries. The mixture should be thick enough so that they fall about halfway into the foam. Then, sprinkle on the remainder of the cherry juice/Grand Marnier liquid that remains. Sprinkle the remainder of the sugar (2T) on top, and put the entire thing in the oven.

Step 6:

Bake until the dish is puffed up and golden brown. (NOTE: The combination of the cherry juiec and the Grand Marnier will make the eggs turn a bluish color as they cook. This is not a sign of overcooking or rotting, this is just what happens and it is a sign that the dish is pretty much done. Don't worry.) Serve immediately with the mascarpone honey sauce. I chose to cover the plate in a reduction of the canned cherry juice before plating, but this is an optional step.