a.k.a. Soufflé
I made my first soufflé last week--and yes, it was the gooey, molten chocolate variety. I've been meaning to make a big--and what I imagine to be glorious--soufflé for years now and have never gotten around to it. So now's the time.
The first challenge seems to be the egg whites. How stiff should they be? How do you know when they are at the right volume? And then there is the terror of folding. How do you know if you've over-folded and lost too much air?
"The best consistency for egg whites in a soufflé preparation is stiff yet moist, glossy peaks. A stiff but dry foam is harder to mix evenly with the base, while a softer foam is still coarse--so the soufflé texture will be the same--and may leave the mix so runny that it will overflow before it sets." (p 112)
After getting the whites right and before you start folding, it's important to lighten the base (bechamel, pastry creme, cheese, chocolate, fruit syrup, vegetable puree, or liqueur). This is done by mixing between a quarter and a third of the egg whites into the base before folding the two together.
"To fold, cut straight down through the mixture at the center of the bowl, all the way to the bottom, using the edge of the spatula as a blade. Scrape back to the side on the bottom of the bowl, turning the spatula and bringing it up the side and back over the top with a hand and repeat the circular motion of downstroke and enfolding upstroke, rotating the bowl with each stroke, and repeating until there are only a few streaks of white here and there." (p 169)
McGee says that you can usually expect to lose between a quarter and half of the egg white volume from folding.
It sounds like making the perfect soufflé just takes a little practice. So let's do it! Here are a couple of recipes. One is a basic dessert soufflé and the other a basic savory soufflé.
Grand Marnier Souffle
*This soufflé is made in a gratin pan (flatter than a traditional ceramic soufflé pan) and is not meant to rise terribly high.
2/3 cup sugar
1-1/3 c whole milk
1 stick (8 TBS) butter
1/2 c all purpose flour
4 large eggs, separated, left at room temperature for 30 minutes
1/2 c Grand Marnier
4 large egg whites left at room temperature for 30 minutes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream tartar
a little extra butter and sugar for the dish
Put your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400F. Butter a 16" gratin dish and sprinkle with sugar. Knock out excess sugar.
Bring the milk to a simmer in a small saucepan and remove from heat.
Melt butter over low heat stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 5 min. to make roux. Remove the pan from heat and
add milk in a steady stream, whisking constantly, then add the 2/3 cup sugar, whisking vigorously. Cook, whisking all the while, over low heat until smooth.
Remove pan from the heat and add yolks one-by-one, mixing each until incorporated then adding the next. Slowly whisk in the Grand Marnier. Cover with a buttered square of waxed paper (to prevent a skin from forming) and cool to room temp.
Beat 8 egg whites with salt in a large bowl in your mixer at medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar, increase speed to high, and beat until white hold stiff peaks. Mix 1/4 to 1/3 of whites into base mixture to lighten it, then gently fold base mixture into remaining whites.
Reserve 1 cup of mixture and transfer reminder to the gratin dish. Mound reserved mixture in the middle. bake soufflé until puffed and golden, 25-30 min. Take it straight to the table eat it.
Cheese Soufflé
*This souffle is meant to be a bit saucy in the middle
5 TBS butter
1/4 c flour
1-1/2 c milk
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
5 eggs, separated
1-1/2 c grated gruyere cheese
3 egg whites
Put the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425F. Butter a traditional 2 quart soufflé dish.
Make the bechamel: Melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook until foaming. Add milk, bring to a boil, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper & nutmeg and simmer for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and whisk the egg yolks into the hot bechamel so it thickens slightly. Stir in the cheese, but keep just a little aside for the topping. Taste the base, making sure it is highly seasoned (to compensate for the bland egg whites). Press a piece of buttered waxed paper over the top. Cool. (The preceding part of the recipe can be done up to 5 hours ahead of time and kept at room temp.)
Reheat base mixture until just hot to the touch, no more. Beat egg whites, with a pinch of salt, until stiff using a stand mixer. Add a quarter to a third of the egg whites to the base to lighten it. Add the base to the remaining egg whites and fold them together. Spoon the mixture into the buttered dish (it should be almost up to the edge). Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top.
Bake the soufflé until puffed and brown still a bit wobbly when shaken; 20-25 minutes. If you prefer the center more firm cook another 3-5 minutes. Take to the table and eat!
In the October 2009 issue of Cook's Illustrated is a lemon skillet soufflé. If you have a copy of the magazine I encourage you to try it, or if it sounds good to you, you can get it from their
website if you sign up for their free 14-day free trial membership. If you do sign up, they also have an instructional video with this recipe.
Send me your feedback, experiences, and recommendations after you make one of these (or all of them!) along with a photo. I'll post all of our results next month. If you have a souffle recipe that you particularly like, send the recipe and picture as your Make It! entry and I'll post it as well.
Have fun!
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