Every now and then I feel ambitious in the kitchen and I buckle down to try something a little challenging. One dish that I’ve been able to pull off is the soufflé. And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino has pointed out, a soufflé does need to be made “just so” but no single step is really all that hard.
And as Jerry continues, as long as you pay attention to a few strict rules you can make a soufflé any time you want. The concept for all soufflés. whether sweet or savory, is the same. You use stiffly beaten egg whites and some sort of a flavor base which get blended together. You can cook it in one big soufflé dish, but I like the single-serving ramekins.
So before we start cooking, we’ll want to prepare our containers. If you’re making a sweet soufflé you’ll want to butter and sugar the inside of the ramekins to keep the batter from sticking. For a savory soufflé, you can use butter and fine bread crumbs. Be sure to deal with the ramekins ahead of time, because once you have all the ingredients together you really don’t want to stop.
So let’s make the flavor base first. We start by making a white sauce, which is just butter, flour, milk and egg yolks, all mixed together and gently heated until it’s thick and creamy. If it’s a savory soufflé, that’s all you need. If it’s a sweet soufflé, you’ll add some fine grained sugar.
Next comes the featured flavor, and the choices are many. For instance, melted chocolate for a chocolate soufflé; a little orange juice, orange zest and a splash of Grand Marnier for an orange flavor; and for a cheese soufflé you’ll want to use a finely grated meltable cheese. The point is to make the flavor component, whatever it is, easy to stir into the white sauce, because we’re trying to avoid lumps.
Part two of the soufflé is the egg whites, and this is easier than people think. You’ll want room temperature eggs, definitely not cold ones. You’ll also want a pinch of cream of tartar which helps stabilize the egg whites and keeps them from collapsing. And perhaps most importantly, a spotlessly clean mixing bowl, and we mean clean! Any trace of fat, like butter or oil, will keep the eggs from whipping up, so get your bowl totally clean.
While we were making our white sauce we had to separate the eggs, so we’ve already used the yolk but we still are left with the whites.
We collect our egg whites in that super clean bowl, then beat them until they form stiff peaks. Incidentally, if you’re feeling energetic you can use a hand whisk, but it’s a lot of work.
Now here’s where the cream of tartar helps… interesting chemistry here. Whipping creates millions of tiny air bubbles which will expand during cooking. The cream of tartar strengthens the egg whites and keeps the air bubbles intact. So you’ll have much better chance of having a well-risen soufflé if you use it.
Now comes the slightly tricky part. We’ve got our flavor base and we have our egg whites, and we’re going to fold the egg whites into the flavor base. A simple rule: take your time and be gentle. Plop some egg white on top of the flavor base and dig your spatula down the side, then gently lift to mix the two elements together. Do this gently until you’ve folded in all your egg whites and everything is well mixed.
Now we can pour the batter into the ramekins, but not quite all the way to the top. A little under is what you want, and a good idea is to run the tip of your finger around the edge of the topto make a groove which will give it a nice shape as it rises.
For baking, we like it to use a 400° oven, and we’ll bake it for about 15-20 minutes, until the soufflé rises well above the rim of the ramekin. A little longer for a cheese soufflé. And here’s another rule: no peeking and no stomping around! A soufflé is nothing if not delicate.
And as we know from experience, you’ll want to serve it immediately. ‘Cause as soon as it comes out of the oven it will start to cool and deflate, and then there goes the drama.
Chocolate Soufflé Grand Marnier
Ingredients
soft butter and sugar to grease ramekins
2 tbs unsalted butter
1 tbs all-purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
2 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs granulated sugar, plus 3 for the egg whites
½ tsp cream of tartar powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup warm milk
4 ounces dark chocolate
3 large eggs, separated
zest of ½ an orange
1 tbs Grand Marnier
powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
1. Pre-heat over to 375°. Grease the ramekins with butter, then lightly coat the insides with sugar
2. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over low heat. When melted, stir in the flour and whisk, making a roux.
3. Add the salt, cocoa powder and sugar to the roux. Whisk thoroughly until well-mixed.
4. Add the warm milk and continue to whisk. After about 2 minutes it will thicken.
5. Remove the sauce pan from heat and add the dark chocolate. It will melt in the mixture.
6. Add the orange zest, the vanilla, the three egg yolks and the Grand Marnier. Stir well until fully blended. Set aside to cool.
7. In a separate clean bowl add the cream of tartar to the egg whites. Then beat the egg whites until they form firm, glossy peaks.
8. Gradually add the granulated sugar and gently incorporate into the egg whites.
9. With a spatula, take roughly one-third of the egg whites and gently fold them into the chocolate mixture, being careful not to deflate the egg whites. Fold them in until the mixture lightens and the whites are well blended in.
10. Start folding the remaining egg whites into the mixture. Working one spatula-full at a time, plunge them gently to the bottom of the bowl, then lift out, turning the spatula to fold them gently. Continue until all of the egg whites have been added.
11. Fill the ramekins to within a half inch of the top. Run your finger tip around the edge of the soufflé batter to make a small groove.
12. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and transfer to the pre-heated oven.
13. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the soufflés have risen above the rim of the ramekins.
14. Remove ramekins from the oven, dust with powdered sugar and serve immediately.
