Souffles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A soufflé (French: [su.fle]) is an airy, cloud-like baked egg dish made by folding whipped egg whites into a yolk-enriched sweet or savory base, like a pastry cream or bechamel. It is combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. They're known for their incredible "puff" as they're taken from the hot oven — seeming to nearly defy gravity before either being devoured, or if we don't eat them fast enough, collapsing in front of our eyes. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up"—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.
Every soufflé is made from two basic components:
- a French crème pâtissière (pastry cream) or bechamel (white sauce) base
- egg whites beaten to a soft peak meringue
The base provides the flavor, while the whites give the dish its lift. Foods commonly used for the base in a soufflé include cheese, jam, fruits, berries, chocolate, banana and lemon (the last three are used for desserts, often with a large amount of sugar).
When it comes out of the oven, a soufflé should be puffed up and fluffy, and it will generally fall after 5 or 10 minutes (as risen dough does).
Soufflés can be made in containers of all shapes and sizes but it is traditional to make soufflé in ramekins. These containers vary greatly in size, but are typically glazed white, flat-bottomed, round porcelain containers with unglazed bottoms and fluted exterior borders.
There are a number of variations on the soufflé theme. One is an ice cream soufflé, which combines a soufflé with ice cream and either a fruit or a hot sauce.
Another kind of dish entirely is soufflé potatoes, which are puffed-up sautéed potato slices, traditionally served with a chateaubriand steak.
How To Make A Souffle: Don't Be Scared
from The Huffington Post, modified
There's no dish that's more intimidating, more fear-inducing, more downright terrifying than the soufflé. Even the most experienced of chefs have been known to break out in a sweat when faced with the soufflé. Not even Audrey Hepburn could get it right. The soufflé is a dish that calls for only a handful of ingredients, making it appear to be simple. But it requires just the right amount of whipping and folding of egg whites to work. And it's with the egg whites that people usually go wrong.
For one reason or another, egg whites scare people. Maybe they've been told one too many times to be careful when handling them. The repetitive warning can begin to mean "you can epically mess this up." But this is just not the case. And it's time that people's irrational fear of egg whites come to an end. If you can make whipped cream from scratch -- which we seriously hope you all can -- then you can whip up beautiful egg whites without skipping a beat. Promise. And if you believe that, which you should, than you can make soufflé as well as any French chef.
There are few simple things to keep in mind before you get started, and then you'll be ready for souffle mastery.
1.) Make sure you start with the cleanest of egg whites. By this we mean don't let any yolk in. Just the tiniest bit can hinder your whites from properly rising. If you've got yolk in your whites, throw them out and start over.
2.) Coat your baking dish with grease and a coarse ingredient. Sugar works well for sweet soufflés and breadcrumbs, cornmeal or grated Parmesan cheese are perfect for savory ones. The coarse ingredient gives the soufflé traction and help it rise higher.
3.) Use the appropriate size dish. The soufflé mixture should fill the dish to about 1/2 inch from the top. If the dish is too small, the soufflé will overflow; if too big, it may not rise above the rim and look elegant. A 4-egg soufflé usually requires a 1-1/2 to 2-quart dish; a 6-egg soufflé needs a 2 to 2-1/2-quart dish. If the soufflé dish is a bit too small, you can add a collar to the dish before baking. Make a triple thick 4-inch wide band of aluminum foil, long enough to go around the dish and overlap by 2 inches. Grease and coat one side of the band. Wrap the band around the outside of the dish, coated side facing in. Fasten with string or strong masking tape. The collar should extend at least 2 inches above the top of the dish.
4.) Whip the egg whites just right. By this we mean, just pay attention -- don't panic. Once the egg whites are stiff, they're ready. You can tell they're just right by testing to see if they'll stand at about a 45 degree angle.
5.) Be conscious while you fold. Folding egg whites into a custard is not like mixing up pancake batter. You want to be a little more gentle. The best way to do this is to push the egg whites gently down and pull the heavier custard up in a sort of S shape. And try not to overmix. It's better if there are a few streaks of egg whites left than to mix all the air out of your egg whites.
You are now ready for soufflé making -- without any of the stress.
