Live from the Soufflé Bowl!

A no-fear, no-fail approach to dessert soufflés

Say after me: “I can make a soufflé without fear.”

Maybe your more like me and would rather hedge your bets. Try: “I can make a soufflé with little-to-no-fear.”

Harry Litman (he of The Talking Feds podcast, former US Attorney, DoJ official, etc., etc.,), chose soufflés as the challenge he wanted when he was my guest this week on The Secret Life of Cookies. We made them together, step-by-step until that triumphant moment when Harry took his raspberry soufflés from the oven, pink and puffed (the soufflés, not Harry).

Raspberry soufflé, not the kind you find in a secondhand store.

The recipe that follows is simpler than most: A starter soufflé, if you will. Yes, there are some rules. But this recipe will hold your hand the whole way through. Make sure you read the recipe through the notes before starting.

An orange soufflé ready for the oven

HOPEFULLY HELPFUL HINTS

People worry about making soufflés because they fear they won’t rise or they will fall. There are three moments that give people the collywobbles. Here’s how to deal with them:

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

• Soft peaks will form first. The egg whites will be lush and shiny.

• You will lift the whisk from the mixture, flip it up and the peak will stand!…and then droop, rather like a Dairy Queen swirl. That is soft peaks.

• You will then whip for 10 seconds more at high speed and see if the same ‘turn up’ test forms a stiff peak: Flip the whisk up and the peak should stand tall, proud and ready to serve. If 10 seconds doesn’t work, add 10 seconds more. Do it in bursts of 5 to 10 seconds so you don’t risk over-beating the egg whites. How do you know if you’ve overbeaten? The egg whites lose their luster, and in a bad situation, begin to break into little islands of egg white.

  

Take the soufflé out when the top begins to brown and the soufflé jiggles side-to-side a bit if nudged.

• If the soufflé wobbles just in the middle, it’s not done.

• If you over-bake it, it can collapse. Will it be horrible? Not with a scoop of ice cream and some raspberry sauce.

  Which brings us to the most important point…TIMING.

People freak out because they worry the soufflés will fall before they can bring them to the table.

• So, plan your meal around the soufflé. Everyone prefers hanging out in the kitchen anyway. Make the soufflés in front of everyone as if you were a Food Network star (or host of your own podcast) and have them sit there while the soufflés bake. They will be happy not to be sitting in your vaguely uncomfortable dining room chairs anyway.

• They will be in awe as you pull your gorgeous top-hat wearing soufflés from the oven. You are now BAKING ROYALTY. Take the first glass of champagne for yourself.

RASPBERRY SOUFFLÉS

What You’ll Need:

·      1 10-ounce bag frozen raspberries, thawed* 

·      4 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites

·      1/3 cup (2½ ounces) granulated sugar

·      1½ tablespoons cornstarch

·      4 ounces raspberry purée (made from the 10-ounce bag mentioned above)

·      2 teaspoons lemon

·      pinch cream of tartar

·      pinch  kosher salt

·      2 tablespoons (1 ounce) granulated sugar

What You’ll Do:

1.     Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease four 10-ounce (roughly 4½-inch wide) soufflé ramekins generously with butter, and then coat the ramekins with a thin layer of sugar. The sugar helps the souffle crawl up the bowl. Put the ramekins on a baking sheet and set aside. You can also use a single large soufflé dish, just bake for a few minutes longer.

2.     Make the purée: Empty the bag of raspberries in a sieve over a bowl. Using a spoon or spatula, push the raspberries through the sieve. All that will be left behind in the sieve are the seeds and probably a little bit of raspberry mush that churlishly thinks it knows better than you do. You will need only 4 ounces of the purée. You can use the rest to make a raspberry sauce to serve with the souffle.

3.     In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, the 1/3 cup sugar and cornstarch until thick and pale yellow in color. Whisk in the 4 ounces of raspberry purée and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. Set aside. (At this point you can make the mixture in advance and refrigerate until ready to use.Let it sit at room temp for a half-hour or so before the egg whites are folded in.)

4.     In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt at low speed until foamy. Increase the speed to medium-high and slowly add the granulated sugar. Raise the speed to high and continue to beat the egg whites until they just reach stiff peaks (see helpful hints above).

5.     Add a small amount of beaten egg whites to the egg yolk mixture, and whisk in gently. This is to lighten the mixture, so the egg yolks don’t smush the air out of the egg whites. Fold in the remaining egg whites (some white streaks may remain).

6.     Pour the mixture carefully into the the ramekins, and smooth the tops with a spatula. Run your finger along the edges of the ramekins to remove any excess batter from the sides (to prevent the soufflés from rising unevenly).

7.     Carefully place in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F and bake until golden brown on top: about 18 minutes for one large one and 12 minutes for individuals. The souffle should jiggle side-to-side if ready. It should not jiggle in the middle. Remove from the oven, dust with confectioners’ sugar if you wish and, yes, serve immediately.

*Don’t like raspberrries?

I used the juice of Cara-Cara oranges and some frozen blueberries, plus I added the zest of one orange to the 1/3 cup sugar and mixed the two together before adding it to the egg yolks.

Use strawberries (puree the strawberries in a blender before putting through the sieve). Add zest of half a lemon to the 1/3 cup of sugar and mix the two together before adding to the egg yolks.

Lemon is a classic.

Fresh squeezed orange juice with a tablespoon of Gran Marnier in place of some of the juice works nicely too.

I plan to try a “margarita” soufflé.