WILD PEAR SOUFFLÉ  This soufflé can be baked with lychee, peaches or whatever fruit flavor tickles your fancy. Personal Chef Gordon Lippe wants to break your habit of baking bagged recipes of cookies and brownies at home.  Chef Gordon, owner of Your Culinary Place, available for private classes, tastings and events, 6592 Superior Avenue. 941-922-9222.

SWEET POTATO SOUFFLÉ  Baked potatoes and mashed potatoes are so last season—as an offbeat side dish to your entree, feast on the Sweet Potato Soufflé for a real treat. With chunky cinnamon brown sugar crumbs sprinkled on top and pieces of pecan and walnut speckled throughout the softened starch, its homemade recipe makes for a messy masterpiece of sweet and savory at this Amish family eatery.   Der Dutchman, À la Carte side $2.5, 3713 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota, 941-955-8007. 

CHOCOLATE SOUFFLÉ  Indulge in a cocoa lovers’ take on the conspicuous, puffy classic—this creation combines a surfeit of fulfilling saccharine ingredients to sweeten the deal. This freshly baked bite sumptuously envelopes hot melted chocolate around a velvety crème anglaise core—a light pouring custard, often used as a dessert cream or sauce. The dessert is made-to-order to ensure an airy flair, and will have you rubbing your tummy under the table by the finale.  Maison Blanche, $12, 2605 Gulf of Mexico Dr., Longboat Key, 941- 383-8088. 


DIY From Chef Gordon

Wild Pear Soufflé

1     15oz. can of pear halves, drained and cut into chunks=

2   large eggs, separated, at room temp. (use yolks, save whites for later)

1/2 cup sugar

1   Tbs. pear liqueur  (not 100% needed)

3    egg whites, at room temp.

2    Tbs. lemon juice

“I was fortunate enough to learn how to make this amazing dessert by one of the greatest French chefs alive today, Francois Payard. Chef Payard showed me the way he makes his Pear Soufflé, featured in his book Simply Sensational Desserts. The best part about it was the ease (and shortcuts) that he used. One of the most challenging aspects of traditional soufflés is that they require a flavored pastry cream to impart into the mixture. These pastry creams tend to be a challenge and are intimidating for most people (including most chefs). But if you just take your flavor (sliced pears in this case), mix them with egg yolks, sugar and even a little pear liqueur if you’d like—this works as your “pastry cream.” After taking these items and mixing them in a blender to combine, you then gently fold in your stiff peaked egg whites (meringue). Add the batter to ramekins, cook in oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until GBD (Golden Brown & Delicious). And poof—you have picture-perfect pear soufflés that taste as great as they look. I’ve used this same technique with a variety of flavors from passion fruit and lychee, to the subtle essence of rose petals.”