Souffles used to intimidate me. I thought restaurants chefs to be absolute culinary geniuses when they turned out a gorgeous, airy souffle, only knowing that they required the utmost expertise in preparation, absolute quiet caution while baking, and then dynamite dexterity to get the souffle from oven to table before the fragile cloud began to deflate.
Ha.
While those things certainly are required, making a souffle is not as difficult as it would seem. If I can make a souffle - I don't have the perfect precision to measure out ingredients, I don't have the patience to leave the oven door closed, and I certainly don't have the discipline to stay quiet whilst the damn thing is baking - anyone can.
The basic premise of a souffle is stiffly beaten egg whites folded into any sort of flavored base, most often chocolate or fruit. The airy egg whites are what give the souffle the pouffiness, and a properly prepared ramekin or souffle mold is what allows the souffle mixture to climb up the sides and rise.
I certainly wouldn't recommend trying your hand at it for the first time on Valentine's Day, or any other special occasion for that matter, but a few days before is good a time to practice.
Espresso Mocha Souffle
Preheat oven to 375.
Generously butter 4 8 oz.ramekins with softened butter, then sprinkle with sugar. Cover ramekins with plastic wrap and place in refirgerator (to keep the butter from melting).
Whisk ½ c. cream, 2 T. instant espresso powder, and 2 T. sugar in a small saucepan over low heat until the espresso and sugar dissolve. Add 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate and stir until melted. Remove from heat and let cool.
Beat 6 large egg whites in a large bowl until they just hold soft peaks. Add ¼ tsp. cream of tartar, continue beating, and gradually add ¼ c. sugar until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Fold about ¼ of the beaten egg whites into the espresso mocha mix until thoroughly combined, then fold in the remaining egg whites.
Place prepared ramkeins on a baking sheet. Pour the souffle mixture into ramekins and bake about 15-20 minutes, o runtil they have pouffed up. Yes, you can open the oven door, but do it slowly and gently, and just enough to peek.
Dust soufflés with confectioners sugar and serve immediately. I served mine with a chocolate creme anglaise, but you can also put a tiny scoop of coffee or chocolate ice cream in the center of the souffle.
2-13-2006 @11:49AM Dmnkly said... I second that motion... contrary to popular belief, it isn't some arcane combination of culinary mastery, mysticism and particle physics that makes souffles possible. If one actually DOES fall on you, it's a little disheartening, which I think may have given rise to the myth, but they're not that hard. I got mini-souffles to rise out of eggshells for an Iron Chef competition a couple of years ago. And with the knowledge that that's possible, it should be clear that getting them to rise out of nice heat-retaining ramekins with straight sides isn't too difficult. From a selfish standpoint, it's fun to see people ooh and aah at the fact that you can actually make a souffle, but the truth is that it shouldn't intimidate anybody, and you should absolutely give it a try.
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2-13-2006 @11:59AM Brian Preston-Campbell said... I could kick myself for not paying more attention when I was a chef at a small restaurant in Greenwich, CT in 1996. We had a French consulting chef for the opening of the restaurant and he had a recipe for a souffle that could be completely prepared all the way to the point of being put into ramekins with the whipped egg whites and everything, and then frozen and stored for weeks. They then went into the oven withought thawing and came out looking like every perfect souffle you have ever seen. I should have gotten that recipe -- aside from the fact that the job was a complete nightmare and the restaurant did not last long.
Brian
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2-13-2006 @10:13PM spline9 said... I just got a bottle of Kahlua. Now if I can figure out a way I can incorporate it into this...
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2-13-2006 @10:59PM sarah said... hey spline9: if you've ever had a grand marnier souffle, you can use a similar technique of incorporating alcohol. to make it extra rich, use the egg yolks, too. basically, you'll start with something like a custard made from butter, sugar, flour, and the eggs yolks, then add the kahlua before you do the folding-in off the beaten egg whites.
otherwise, you could just DRINK the kahula with this souffle. LOL!
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2-16-2006 @4:40PM Crosius said... Is there any reason you can't pull a genuine espresso shot for this recipe? I just can't see making something this elegant with reconstituted coffee unless there's something else in the instant (a thickener, perhaps) that the souffle needs to work.
Clearly, this bears experimentation. Lots of experimentation. I'll let you know how it turns out. :-)
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