Classic Cheese Soufflé
- Andrew
- Sep 2, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2024
This impressive classic is easier to make than you might think.
I was a little embarrassed to tell Lisa that I had never made a soufflé. After thinking about it for a minute, that feeling left me and we chuckled about how often we would see tv shows or movies from our childhood, where soufflés were presented as this mythically impossible thing which only the best of the best cooks could pull off. We were told that the slightest sounds or heavy footsteps could make a soufflé fall. God forbid you even think about looking at a soufflé while it's cooking; the glance alone would probably make it explode. It's so weird that soufflés showed up so frequently. The scenario was always something like a father who needs to land a promotion or finalize a deal will invite his boss or client to his house for dinner - that's pretty weird also, but shows are limited by their sets, I suppose. During the dinner, the father or whoever will be tasked to make a soufflé to really impress the guest. Sometimes the trope is that it's overheard that the guest loves soufflé or simply that if the cook is able to make a perfect soufflé, the guest will absolutely have to give the promotion or agree to the big deal. Without fail, the soufflé falls because of some series of wacky close-calls; sometimes it's kids running around or maybe the family dog opens the oven door and ruins everything. You can take a breath though, everything works out. The promotion is given, and the deal is struck in the end. The soufflé, it will turn out, had nothing to do with the decision at all. Phew... It did still stick with me, and subconsciously I steered away from making one. Until now.
A friend of our family, Louise, reached out to us to recommend a recipe she enjoyed while growing up. Her mother, Carolyn, would bake cheese soufflé for breakfast or lunch occasionally in a 5-cup ramekin. She would serve it with sautéed ham steak and something green. I shuddered a little at the idea of cooking a soufflé, but knew that I needed to overcome this lifelong fear of mine and pull off the Band-Aid. I had all of the ingredients, and Lisa and I set a time to film us making it. I wasn't going to back out.
God forbid you even think about looking at a soufflé while it's cooking; the glance alone would probably make it explode.
When I am recommended a recipe, I always try to follow it to the letter, and then if I make it again, I'll make some changes. I did some research and although there are many recipes for cheese soufflé, there were two main changes which I decided to make as they differed wildly from the original. The first is the temperature. I don't own a 5-cup soufflé ramekin, but I do own a lot of 1-cup ramekins. That adjustment was easy to make and didn't betray the recipe at all in my opinion. The second change is the temperature and time to bake. The original called for 300 degrees for 1 hour. 100 percent of the recipes I read called for a temperature of 375 and to bake for about half the time. I settled at 22 minutes for my smaller soufflés as that was the time for that amount in several recipes I found. Lastly, I added a small amount of cream of tartar to the egg whites, also an element in every recipe I researched. It keeps the egg whites stiff.
We were ready to cook, and my nerves were still pretty high. Luckily, I read that the soufflé batter will keep for a while when refrigerated. If the first attempt failed, I'd have another crack at it.
The list of ingredients is super basic. You've cooked with them forever, but this recipe calls for a couple of techniques which aren't the most common. Because soufflés are known for their cloud-like fluffiness, the batter requires whipped egg whites. You need to first separate the yolks from the whites, and despite everything you've seen and read about the process, there's a much easier way. I'm not saying my technique is foreign to the cooking universe, just easier. Just like the romanticized versions of soufflés you've watched like me, you've most likely been told to crack your egg and to move the whites and yolk back and forth, letting the whites dribble into a bowl beneath until you are left with a yolk. Although yolks are more durable than you think, I'm always afraid that a jagged eggshell is going to pierce it and I'll have to start over. The simple solution is to just use your hands. Make sure they're clean and crack your eggs, one at a time into your palm. Let the whites run through your slightly open fingers, and after moving back and forth between your hands a couple of times, you're left with perfectly separated yolks. Even if you prefer the other method, mine usually does a more efficient job.
The next steps for making the batter are straightforward. You need to make a roux and add milk and cheddar cheese. There are many variations to the cheese, and it's definitely a place where you can put your own spin on it. I'd recommend cheeses like Gruyère or Swiss. Adding chives or some other herbs would also be delightful. Right after adding the egg yolks to the batter, we whipped the whites with the cream of tartar. We used a hand mixer, and it took about three minutes. We then gently folded it into the batter, creating a fluffy pillow-like mixture. We were ready to face what we were dreading - time to bake our soufflés.
After spraying our ramekins with cooking spray, we lined up half on a small baking sheet. Following the recipe, we poured in the batter, leaving about half an inch from the lip of the ramekins. Then I took a breath, held Lisa's hand, said a little prayer, and popped the soufflés into a preheated oven.
About halfway through the cooking, we turned on the light and to our delight, saw what I can only describe as angelic. Domes of pale yellow, reaching to the heavens from their cooking vessels. Keeping in mind that we didn't have much time to take pictures before the soufflés would deflate, I told Lisa that she had 2 minutes max.
I think I got the promotion, and I am certain that I landed the big deal with my clients, and the best part is that the soufflés were delicious.
I really hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you take anything away from this, I want it to be, let go of silly fears when you're cooking. You're going to fail a lot. But you're also going to have a lot of success. I think this recipe reminded me of that. Life is too short to worry about falling soufflés.
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