Soufflé, The only time we want inflation.

We have all heard the myths that you can’t talk in the presence of a cooking soufflé, but these delicious treats aren’t that hard to make. These can be made as a savory meal, or a lovely chocolatey dessert, but today we are concentrating on the traditional version. The gentle flavor profile lends a beautiful complexity to this light and fluffy dish, with a texture that can be described as aerated and light.

Soufflés have their origins in France. Originating in the early eighteenth century France , the word soufflé is in fact French as well. According to Wikipedia, “Soufflé is the past participle of the French word souffler, which translates to ‘to blow,’ ‘to inflate,’ ‘to breathe,’ or ‘to puff'.’

I’m going to give you an easy method to achieve the perfect soufflé, without needing a bain-marie, and still achieve a good inflation of your soufflé with minimal deflation. Since we have already covered the basics of making a béchamel in the mother sauce series of recipes, this recipe will cover how to temper eggs and how to properly incorporate ingredients to create the perfect soufflé. Let’s get to preparing your ingredients:

-What You Need-

• 4 Egg Yolks

• 2 Egg Whites

• 1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

• 2 tablespoons Unsalted butter

• 2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour

• 3/4 Cup Milk

• Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper(you may substitute for white pepper if don’t want to see the ground pepper in your soufflé)

• Optional Ingredients for Texture and Flavor(cooked bacon, ham, spinach, broccoli, cheddar, green onions, herbs etc.)

• Ramekins

• Butter and Flour to Coat the Ramekins

-Let’s Get Cooking-

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Separate your egg yolks from the whites. You want to whip your egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl until they have lightened in color and start to ribbon off your whisk when you lift it out of the bowl.

3) Melt your butter in a saucepan, and incorporate your flour, stir until you have a blonde roux.

4) Add your milk to the blonde roux, and bring to a simmer, and when it starts to thicken, remove it from the heat and season with salt and pepper(yes this is béchamel, one of the five mother sauces).

5) This is where we temper the egg yolks. You are going to slowly drizzle about half of your béchamel into the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking the egg yolks to keep them from turning into scrambled eggs. Once you have about half of your béchamel incorporated, you are going to start pouring the egg yolk and béchamel mixture back into the rest of the béchamel. This keeps the egg yolks from solidifying and ruining the texture of the sauce. Congratulations on tempering your egg yolks.

*Right now would be the perfect time to add any extra ingredients to your tempered béchamel sauce. We don’t want to add too much, because it will affect how much your soufflé rises.

6) In a mixing bowl, or a stand mixer, whip your egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. This is when you lift the whisk out of the bowl, the point of your whipped egg white will stand up stiff.

7) Mix a small amount of your whipped egg whites into your egg yolk and béchamel sauce so that it lightens in color slightly. now we are going to fold the sauce into the egg whites in 3 installments. We are going to pour a bit of the sauce into the bowl, and with a silicone spatula, cut down the center of the egg white mixture and fold it over. Rotate the bowl, cut and fold again. we don’t want to over mix this, so only fold each installment of your sauce 2-4 times.

8) Spray your ramekins with a small amount of nonstick spray or rub the insides with a little bit of butter. Add a small amount of flour to your ramekins, and move it around to coat the sided of your ramekin to prevent the soufflé from sticking to it.

9) Portion your soufflé batter into your ramekins so that they aren’t full to the top. Most ramekins I’ve used have a ridge on the inside, and that is what I fill them up to. Place your ramekins on a baking sheet, and get ready to place them into the oven.

10) Slide your soufflés into the oven and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, or until fully risen and GB&D(Golden Brown & Delicious). During this time, you can make noise, but make sure that you do not open the oven during the cooking process, and you don’t want to shake the oven in any way. Movement and cold air with make it so that your soufflé won’t rise properly. If you have an oven light, turn it on before you slide your sheet full of ramekins into the oven, and watch as your soufflés rise to perfection.

11) Once fully cooked, pull your fresh soufflés out of the oven, top them off with any extra ingredients or simply garnish with some shavings of cheddar and finely chopped green onions(or don’t, that is up to you). Soufflés start to deflate as soon as they leave the oven, so serve up immediately and enjoy.

Soufflés aren’t hard to make, but do elevate our culinary game. I hope you have enjoyed this recipe, since it is one of my absolute favorite dishes to create. Take some time to make different kinds of savory soufflés in your home today, and experiment with more ingredients, and watch as this elevates the classic soufflé to a kitchen masterpiece.