2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020
HOME & LIVING
Souffle isn’t as scary as you think
and accompanied by custard
sauce or whipped cream, if
desired.
By Daniel Neman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Have you ever noticed that
when restaurants offer souffl es
for dessert, everyone always
orders them?
Have you ever noticed that
hardly anyone makes souffl es
at home?
Obviously, there is a discon-
nect here. People want to eat
souffl es, but they don’t want to
make them. And there is one
overriding reason why not.
They are afraid.
Souffl es have a fearsome
reputation. Even confi dent
home cooks turn weak in the
knees when they contemplate
making one. They never pic-
ture success; they only imagine
failure.
But I am here to tell you
that souffl es are easier to
make than you think. And
they taste just as good at home
as they do at any restaurant.
The problem is that souffl es
sometimes fall. They inevi-
tably defl ate after just a few
minutes, collapsing in on
themselves like an old build-
ing or stadium that is being
imploded. But this collapse is
not as dramatic or devastating
as it sounds.
When a souffl e falls, you are
not left with a pancake. You
are left with a souffl e that is
slightly less tall than it once
was. That is all. And it’s still
just as delicious.
Part of the souffl e image is-
sue comes from the 1954 clas-
sic movie “Sabrina,” in which
Audrey Hepburn learns how
to make one at a French cook-
ing school. A comically snooty
French chef walks down the
line of his students, sniffi ng
critically at nearly all of their
efforts. Hepburn’s version is
the worst, because she forgot
to turn on the oven.
But many of the minds that
were turned against souffl es
by that fi lm have forgotten the
chef’s entrancing description
of the dish at the beginning
of the scene: “The souffl e, it
must be gay— gay!— like two
butterfl ies dancing the waltz
in the summer breeze.”
That is what we are aim-
ing for, and it is surprisingly
simple to achieve.
I made three: a traditional
savory souffl e, a traditional
sweet one and a nontraditional
frozen one.
All three were exquisitely
light, with a texture that
seems to dissolve on the
tongue.
All it takes is air. Air is what
makes a souffl e a souffl e,
whether it is whipped into
egg whites or whipped into
cream. In the form of bubbles,
the air is gently folded into the
other ingredients, usually a
bechamel sauce (a mixture of
butter, fl our and milk). When
it is baked, the steam makes
the bubbles expand, and the
souffl e rises. It works just like
bread, only the structure is
more fragile.
Even so, an Easy Cheese
Souffl e has as much yolk in it
as egg whites, which theoreti-
cally means it should be stron-
ger than other versions. That’s
how it works on paper, but
admittedly the Easy Cheese
Souffl es I made fell faster than
the other examples.
But they were good. No,
they were very good— im-
possibly light in texture, but
hearty and satisfying in fl avor.
Gruyere cheese made the dish,
mixed with a bit of Parmesan,
along with a small hit of dry
mustard and just a pinch of
nutmeg. It’s just the thing to
serve for brunch or a light
dinner.
Every bit as impressive
were Bittersweet Chocolate
Souffl es, which more than one
taste tester described as tast-
ing like a brownie— but light
and airy, of course.
The great advantage to
serving these as a dessert for a
party is that, alone among all
other souffl es, they can be pre-
pared up to a full day ahead of
time. All you have to do is bake
them. According to “The Art
& Soul of Baking” by Cindy
VANILLA CUSTARD
SAUCE (CREME
ANGLAISE)
Yield: ½ cups
J.B. Forbes / St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
A bittersweet chocolate souffl e with vanilla custard
sauce.
Mushet, you can prepare a
chocolate souffl e in advance
because the chocolate batter
is so viscous when cold that
it holds the bubbles without
allowing them to defl ate.
All you taste in this dish is
the pure, rich enjoyment of
chocolate, so be sure to use a
good brand when you make
it. And although the souffl e
is excellent on its own, it is
greatly improved when served
with a creme anglaise, which
the recipe calls vanilla custard
sauce.
Frozen souffl es use a differ-
ent technique— and because
they are frozen, they must, out
of necessity, be made ahead of
time, at least three hours and
up to a day.
With frozen souffl es, you
make a heavy syrup of sugar
and water that you whisk
while very hot into egg yolks.
This mixture takes the place
of the bechamel sauce, and
instead of folding in whipped
egg whites you add whipped
cream to make it shimmer-
ingly light.
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter, cut into
½-inch pieces, plus more
for buttering ramekins
¼ cup granulated sugar, plus
more for sugaring ramekins
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate,
up to 70% cacao, chopped
1 tablespoon all-purpose fl our
½ cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant espresso
powder dissolved in ½
teaspoon water, optional
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, separated, plus
1 additional egg white
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Vanilla custard sauce (recipe
follows) or softly whipped
cream, optional
1 egg
6 egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
¼ cup Grand Marnier
2 cups whipping cream
¼ cup chopped pralines,
optional, recipe follows
Note: This recipe can be cut
in half, but be sure to use 1
whole egg.
1. Cut pieces of parchment
paper to line the insides of
8 small ramekins (6-ounce
ramekins are ideal). The paper
should stick up at least 2 inches
above the rim of each one, and
the strips will need to be long
enough to overlap by a couple
of inches to keep them from
falling out of the dishes.
2. In a large bowl, thoroughly
beat together the egg and the
yolks. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan
over medium-high heat, stir the
sugar into the water and keep
stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Simmer this liquid until it
becomes a heavy syrup that will
coat a spoon but do not allow it
to turn color. The syrup should
be a little thinner than corn
syrup. Allow to cool slightly,
then stir in the Grand Marnier.
4. Whisk the eggs again in
a stand mixer using the whisk
attachment on medium-high
speed, and pour in the hot
syrup. Continue whisking for
several minutes until the mix-
ture is room temperature.
5. In a separate bowl, whip
the cream until it reaches stiff
peaks. Gently fold the whipped
cream into the yolk mixture until
thoroughly combined.
1. Fill a large bowl halfway
with ice and water; set aside.
Combine the milk, cream and
sugar in a medium saucepan
and warm over medium heat,
stirring occasionally until the
sugar is dissolved.
2. Heat the milk mixture to
See Souffl e/Page 3B
just below the boiling point.
Remove the pan from the heat.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg
yolks together. Slowly pour
about 1 cup of the hot milk
REPAIR
into the yolk mixture, whisking
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constantly, to temper the yolks.
Slowly pour the yolk mixture
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back into the hot milk in the
saucepan, whisking all the
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while. Return to medium-low
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heat and cook, stirring constant-
ly, until the custard thickens and
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Note: You will need 8 small registers 178 to 180 degrees on
souffl e dishes (ramekins),
a thermometer.
preferably 5 ½ to 6 ounces each,
3. Immediately strain the cus-
or you can use a 6-cup souffl e tard sauce through a strainer
dish; the larger dish will take over a medium bowl to remove
32 to 38 minutes to cook until any bits of scrambled egg. Add
the souffl e is set and fi rm to
the vanilla extract and whisk to
the touch in the center.
blend. Press a piece of plastic
wrap directly on the surface of
Sat. Feb 22nd • 9am-5pm
the sauce and then set the bowl
1. Generously butter each
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souffl e dish, including the rims, into the bowl of ice water. Once
the custard sauce has com-
dust them with granulated
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pletely cooled, use or store in
sugar and tap out the excess.
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the refrigerator until needed.
3. Pour 2 inches of water in
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the bottom of a double boiler
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and bring to a rolling boil. Off
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3 tablespoons butter, plus
the heat, place the chocolate
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extra for greasing the dish
in the top of the double boiler.
Yield: 8 servings
¼ cup grated Parmesan
Turn the heat off and set the
cheese, divided
chocolate over the steaming
1 shallot, minced
water. Stir occasionally until
3 tablespoons all-purpose fl our the chocolate is melted and
1 cup whole milk
smooth. Leave over the warm
4 ounces (1 cup) Gruyere
water until needed.
cheese, shredded, or
4. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in
cheddar, Swiss or Gouda
a small saucepan over medium
½ teaspoon salt
heat. Remove from the heat,
¼ teaspoon pepper
add the fl our and whisk well
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
to remove any lumps. Return
Pinch nutmeg
to the heat and cook 1 minute,
3 large eggs, separated
whisking constantly. Remove
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
the pan from the heat again and
add the milk slowly, whisk-
1. Adjust an oven rack to the
ing constantly to remove any
middle position and heat the
lumps.
oven to 350 degrees. Grease
5. Return the pan to the heat
the bottom and sides of an 8
again and bring to a boil, whisk-
½-by-4 ½-inch glass loaf pan,
ing constantly. Cook for 1 to 2
a 1½ quart souffl e dish or a
minutes, until thickened to the
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1½-quart pot. Sprinkle half (2
consistency of thin pudding.
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tablespoons) of the Parmesan
Remove from the heat and
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into the pan and shake to coat
whisk in the vanilla. Whisk in
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evenly.
the espresso powder, if using,
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2. Melt 3 tablespoons butter
and a pinch of salt. With a clean
in a medium saucepan over
spatula, scrape the melted
medium heat. Add the shallot
chocolate into a large bowl. Add
and cook until softened, about
the bechamel sauce (milk-fl our
2 minutes. Stir in the fl our
mixture) and whisk to blend.
and cook until golden, about
Whisk in the egg yolks. Cover
1 minute. Slowly whisk in the
and keep warm while you whip
milk. Bring to a simmer and
the egg whites.
cook, whisking constantly, until
6. In the very clean bowl of
thickened and smooth, about
a stand mixer, whip the 4 egg
1 minute. Off the heat, whisk
whites on medium speed until
in the Gruyere, salt, pepper,
they form soft peaks. With the
mustard and nutmeg. Transfer
mixer running, rain in the ¼
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the mixture to a large bowl.
cup granulated sugar and beat
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Whisk in the egg yolks until
until stiff peaks form (you can
completely incorporated, and
also use a hand mixer and a
set aside.
medium bowl). With a spatula,
3. Beat the egg whites and
gently stir ¼ of the egg whites
cream of tartar (with an electric into the chocolate bechamel
mixer at medium-high speed or sauce to lighten the mixture.
by hand) until stiff peaks form.
Fold in the remaining whites
4. Working with a quarter of
just until there are no more
the whipped egg whites at a
white streaks.
time, gently fold them into the
7. Transfer the souffl e batter
yolk mixture until almost no
to a pastry bag. Pipe the batter
white streaks remain. Pour the into each souffl e dish, fi lling it
mixture into the prepared pan
to ¼ inch below the rim (you
and sprinkle with the remain-
can also gently spoon the batter
ing 2 tablespoons of Parmesan. into each dish). Place the dishes
Bake until the top is nicely
on a baking sheet. At this point,
browned and the center jiggles the dishes can be covered in
slightly, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve plastic wrap and refrigerated up
immediately.
to 24 hours before baking.
8. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes—
souffl es made with higher
percentage chocolate will bake
more quickly— until the souffl es
are set and fi rm to the touch in
the center. Serve immediately,
Yield: 8 servings
dusted with powdered sugar
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