Soufflés

Appears in

The Cook's Companion: A step-by-step guide to cooking skills including original recipes

Published 1991

About

The dramatic rise of a soufflé and its brief moment of exquisite glory are unparalleled. The magic is caused by hot air expanding with stiffly whisked egg whites, which once whisked must be folded very carefully into the base sauce to produce maximum volume. Resist the temptation to open the oven door until five minutes before the end of the cooking time or your soufflé may collapse before your eyes!

Either savoury or sweet flavourings can be used in soufflés. The flavouring ingredient must be intense as it will be diluted by the eggs, and it must be the right consistency – just soft enough to fall from the spoon, neither thicker nor thinner. The base sauce should be thin but not running, and easily drop off a spoon. The volume of the strongly flavoured base should never be more than half the volume of the whisked egg whites and there should ideally be roughly one-third more egg whites than yolks. Whisked egg whites can also be combined with gelatine to make chilled sweet soufflés.