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Soufflé is a French dish made by whipping egg whites and baking it with a base. It can be sweet or savory and is often seen as difficult to prepare. The key is to beat egg whites to perfection and gently fold them into the other ingredients. It should be served immediately after baking. For savory soufflé, egg whites are folded into a béchamel sauce, while for dessert soufflé, chocolate is the most popular flavoring. Proper coating of the soufflé dish is essential, and convection ovens should be turned off.
Soufflé is a classic French dish of whipped egg whites combined with a base and then baked. When cooked, its top is browned and tall, but quickly loses its height when cut and served. A soufflé can be sweet or savoury, and often has an undeserved reputation for being difficult to prepare. They often pose a great challenge to otherwise excellent cooks.
Many have tried and failed at the perfect soufflé. Achieving the “rise” of the finished soufflé is easily achieved with the right attention to detail. Modern cooking appliances and ovens with good temperature regulation have significantly reduced the difficulty of preparing a soufflé.
A good stand or hand mixer can easily beat egg whites to perfection. The trick to keeping them buoyant is not to mix the other ingredients too quickly, deflating the air trapped in the whipped eggs. Rather, the most commonly used technique is to gently fold the egg whites into the other ingredients, so the volume of the soufflé increases as it cooks. Sometimes, chefs incorporate a small amount of the egg whites into the base first, to prepare the base for the gentle folding of the rest of the egg whites.
Of great importance is to serve the soufflé as soon as it comes out of the oven. Waiting means serving a flat soufflé, which no one likes, so the time required to prepare the dish and serve it should be calculated carefully. While the finished product may not be served for more than ten to twenty minutes after leaving the oven, the base may frequently be refrigerated for up to two days.
Savory soufflé is often a combination of egg whites folded into a béchamel sauce. Other sauces or purees can be chosen, but should be about the same consistency as a béchamel sauce so that the eggs are not crushed. A thinner sauce can be thickened by adding breadcrumbs. Vegetable purees and grated cheese are wonderful additions. For added spice, consider adding bacon bits, finely chopped ham, or nuts and goat cheese.
Essential to achieving the desired rise of the finished souffle is to grease the souffle dish well with softened butter. Coating the plate in breadcrumbs can help prevent sticking when serving the soufflé. One can also purchase ramekins or individual plates of soufflé that take the guesswork out of serving. In all cases, a souffle dish should be round with tall straight sides, and the added mixture should be 1 inch (2.54 cm) lower than the top of the dish to prevent spillage.
For dessert souffles, chocolate is the most popular flavoring. If using melted chocolate squares as a base, these must be completely cooled before adding the egg whites. Hot chocolate can definitely take the whiff out of an otherwise good soufflé.
Proper coating of the souffle dish follows the same procedure as for savory souffles. Instead of breadcrumbs, however, the butter dish can be floured or coated with powdered sugar. Chocolate alternatives include the world-famous Grand Marnier soufflé. You might also consider pureeing apricots or other fruits. Your chosen fruit should be drained so as not to make the base too thin.
Those who own convection ovens should be careful to turn off the convection option. The circulating hot air will cause the soufflé to rise initially, but it will flatten long before it is properly cooked. With any souffle, the real trick is getting the dish to the table before it deflates. With good planning, this delicious and classic egg dish is sure to impress.
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