Paul Weichselbaum, Booth ‘21
Soufflé-phobia is oddly prevalent among home cooks. The soufflé is perceived as an arcane, high-risk dish best left to restaurants with tuxedo clad waiters and upsettingly expensive menus. In fact, the soufflé is just a fluffy, delicious omelet that follows simple rules. With an electric mixer to beat egg whites, the whole thing can be done in half an hour, making the soufflé attainable even on a weeknight. Equipped with this guide, the enterprising home cook can make a variety of soufflés for any occasion.
Souffle Logic: A soufflé is made up of three elements: A base sauce enriched with egg yolks (pastry cream for sweet, béchamel for savory), a filling (anything from cheese to chocolate), and whipped egg whites. The base sauce provides richness and gluten structure for the soufflé to stay up; the egg whites provide lift to make the soufflé rise, and the filling is suspended in the mix to give flavor.
This recipe makes two main course sized servings or 4-6 dessert servings and can be scaled.
Equipment:
Medium Saucepan or Saucier
Whisk
Electric mixer (preferred, not required)
Mixing bowls
Spatula
Ramekins / Oven-safe bakeware
Ingredients for savory only (béchamel):
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons AP flour
½ - ¾ cup milk
Sheet pan
Three large egg yolks
Ingredients for sweet only (pastry cream):
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup milk
3 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoon, AP flour
1/8 tsp salt
Egg White:
4 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice
Flavoring Examples:
Zucchini, parmesan, and thyme soufflé: Sauté 2-3 ounces of grated zucchini and a small diced shallot in a saucepan with olive oil, white wine, thyme, salt and pepper; incorporate into base mixture; add 2-3 ounces of grated parmesan.
Gruyere and cauliflower soufflé: Boil ~4 ounces of diced cauliflower until tender; add salt, white pepper, cream, and grated nutmeg to taste before roughly blending with a stick blender; incorporate into base and add 2-3 ounces grated gruyere.
Orange soufflé: Grated zest of one orange, 2 tsp Grand Marnier or other orange flavored liquor, ½ vanilla bean with seeds scraped and pod discarded (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract); mix into pastry cream.
Chocolate soufflé: 2-3 oz finely chopped dark chocolate, 1 tsp vanilla or ½ vanilla bean; incorporate into cream while still hot. For a kick, add a pinch of cayenne pepper or star anise.
