-
-
Do you love ordering a fluffy souffle when you eat out, but want to learn how to make one at home? This guide on how to make a souffle shows you how to achieve a satisfyingly airy souffle right in your own kitchen.
Souffles have a reputation as a finicky food to prepare. However, with a little bit of care and know-how, the home chef can achieve a puffy, flavorful souffle every time. Learn how to make a souffle base with the right consistency, whip up some voluminous egg whites and combine them for a savory or sweet treat. -
Souffle Tips
- Make sure your base has the right consistency.
- Don't overwhelm the souffle with heavy ingredients.
- Make sure the whites are free of yolk.
- Use clean utensils with no oil or soap residues.
- Add cream of tartar or lemon juice to the whites to help them stiffen.
- Fold the whites into the base to retain air bubbles.
- Leave extra room in the souffle dish for the batter to rise.
- Serve souffle immediately after removing it from the oven.
-
-
Cooking - How to Make Cheese Souffle
This video walks you through the process of making a cheese souffle step by step. Separate the eggs, and whip the egg whites until stiff. The video ... read moreThis video walks you through the process of making a cheese souffle step by step. Separate the eggs, and whip the egg whites until stiff. The video then demonstrates how to make a cheese sauce, enrich it with the yolks, and fold in the beaten whites to form the souffle batter.
-
Step 1: Make Your Base
(Creative Commons photo by McPig)- The souffle's base is what provides most of its flavor. The following recipes will make enough base for one souffle each. You can easily eat a souffle by yourself, or split it with a friend.
- Savory soufflés usually start with a béchamel sauce to which other ingredients are added to provide flavor.Wikipedia: Souffle
- Sweet soufflés start with a crème patissière base rather than with a béchamel sauce.Wikipedia: Souffle
- The base's consistency is its most important quality.Telegraph: How to rise to the occasion - every time (April 4, 2007) You can experiment with different ingredients for the base. A soufflé doesn't absolutely have to start with a béchamel sauce or crème patissière. However, whatever ingredients you choose to use for your base, you should aim for the same consistency as a thick béchamel sauce.
-
Savory Souffle Base Recipe
- Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Small bowl
- Whisk
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan, then stir in the flour.
- Stir constantly for a couple minutes, but not long enough for the mixture to brown.
- Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan.
- Stir the warm milk into the butter and flour mixture.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for several more minutes, until thick.
- Stir in any seasoning, and remove from heat. You now have a basic béchamel sauce.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks together.
- Save the egg whites. You'll be using them after you make your base. It's the whipped egg whites and base combined that make a souffle!
- Add a small amount of the hot béchamel mixture to the eggs.
- Pour the egg mixture back into the béchamel sauce, stirring until incorporated.
- Stir in any additional ingredients you wish to add—grated cheese and pureed vegetables are common choices.
- Be careful not to overwhelm the souffle with heavy ingredients. The consistency of the base will affect the souffle's ability to rise in the oven.UKTV Food: Making the perfect souffle
- Don't add more than 1 1/2 cups of extra ingredients, and make sure the resulting consistency is similar to that of the original béchamel and egg mixture.The American Egg Board: Savor Souffle
-
Sweet Souffle Base Recipe
(Creative Commons photo by tokyofoodcast)- Equipment
- Double boiler
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Candy thermometer (optional)
- Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture becomes pale yellow.
- Save the egg whites. You'll be using them after you make your base. It's the whipped egg whites and base combined that make a souffle!
- Stir the flour into the mixture.
- Heat the milk and vanilla to just below boiling, then pour into egg mixture while stirring.
- Whisking constantly in the top part of a double boiler, bring mixture to a boil, or cook until the temperature reaches 160° F on a candy thermometer. Cook for a minute or two, then remove from heat.MarthaStewart.com: Pastry Cream
- You now have a basic crème patissière.
- Stir in any extra ingredients, keeping the consistency of the base in mind. Common additions include fruit purees, chocolate and flavor extracts.
-
-
Step 2: Whip the Egg Whites
(Creative Commons photo by tokyofoodcast)- Egg whites give a souffle its volume.Wikipedia: Souffle To get the most from your whites, they must be completely free of egg yolk, and the utensils you use should be free of oil and soap residues.NPR: The Science of the Perfect Souffle
- Ingredients and Equipment
- Reserved egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
- Large bowl
- Whisk or electric mixer
- Use the egg whites left over from making the souffle base.
- You have the option of adding 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar or 1 teaspoon lemon juice to help froth the whites.
- Beat the whites until they have form stiff peaks, but haven't lost their glossiness.
- You can use either a hand whisk or an electric mixer, but whisking by hand takes a long time. Using a mixer will take a few minutes, and exact timing depends on your beater, the quality and age of the eggs.
- Judge when to stop beating by the appearance of the whites, not the amount of time you've been beating.
- Use the whites immediately after frothing.NPR: The Science of the Perfect Souffle
-
-
Step 3: Prepare the Souffle
(Creative Commons photo by habitatgirl)- You must combine the base and egg white mixture to make your souffle. Fold the whites into the base using a rubber spatula, rather than stirring, to prevent the loss of crucial air bubbles.Baking911.com: How to Fold
- Ingredients and Equipment
- Base
- Whipped egg whites
- Spatula
- 1 souffle dish or 6 small ramekins for mini souffles
- Grated cheese, sugar, flour or bread crumbs to coat baking dish(es) (optional)
- Place the oven rack on a low level, then preheat the oven to 350° F.CookingLight.com: Great Souffles
- Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the prepared base with a spatula until incorporated.
- Fold in the rest of the whites. Don't over-mix, or you'll lose volume.
- Pour mixture into greased ramekins. You may want to coat the greased sides of the dishes with flour, bread crumbs, cheese or sugar.
- Make sure that you leave room in the ramekin for the souffle to expand up. You don't want the mixture to over-top the dish before it cooks enough to prevent liquid spilling.
- Bake the souffle in your preheated oven until puffed and golden brown (around 30 minutes).
- If you don't trust appearances, a toothpick stuck in the side of a souffle will come out clean when it's ready.CookingLight.com: Great Souffles
- Many recipes stress the importance of not opening the oven door for the first 15 to 20 minutes of baking, so it's wise to refrain as much as possible.CookingLight.com: Great Souffles
- Serve your souffle straight from the oven, as it will begin to fall immediately.
- A souffle will never regain its full volume with reheating, though you can repuff it a bit by putting it back in the oven for a few minutes.
-
Conclusion
- Once you get the hang of making a souffle, serve them up to a small party of family or friends to amaze them with your culinary skills. Serve them immediately out of the oven, since a souffle will slowly deflate as it cools. Experiment with new ingredients as you become more adept at the basic formula.
-
-
How to Make Souffle Links Powered by Google
-
How to Make a Chocolate Souffle: 5 steps - wikiHow
wikiHow article about How to Make a Chocolate Souffle.wikihow.com -
Taste: Cooks, an ideal souffle is no piece of cake
Tampa Bay's news, shopping and information source brought to you by the St. Petersburg Times and tbt*.sptimes.com
view more links...
.jpg){kind=link}
