Cheese Soufflé

What is better on a cold rainy night than a Cheese Soufflé? They are easy to make if you follow the directions and delicious. We use the recipe from The Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. It is a classic.

Cheese Soufflé

Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Julia Child

Souffle

Mold

Preparing the mold for the soufflé

So that the soufflé may slide easily up during its rise, butter the sides and bottom of the mold heavily. Then roll grated cheese or bread crumbs around in it, paying particular attention to the inner circumference, which must be lightly but evenly coated. Turn the mold upside down and knock it on the table to dislodge excess cheese or bread crumbs.

Placement  In The Oven

A soufflé will always perform as it should if it is placed on a rack in the middle level of a preheated 400-degree oven and the temperature is immediately reduced to 375 degrees.

General Proportions

Whether your soufflé is made with cheese, fish, spinach, or anything else, the proportions with few exceptions remain the same.

Amounts for an 8-cup mold

Ingredients

Thick bechamel or veloute sauce

3-1/2 Tb butter

4-1/2Tb flour

1-1/2 cups liquid

Egg yolks, beaten into sauce: 6

Grated Cheese: 1-1/4 Cups

Stiffly beaten egg Whites: 8

When  Is It Done?

After 25 to 30 minutes of baking in a 375-degree oven, the soufflé will have risen 2 or 3 inches over the rim of the mold and will have browned on top. If you like the center creamy, it may be served at this point, but it is fragile and will sink rapidly. It will collapse less readily if you allow it to cook 4 to 5 minutes more, until a trussing needle or thin knife plunged into the center through the side of the puff comes out clean. A well-cooked souffle will stay puffed for about 5 minutes in the turned-off hot oven. As it cools, it begins to sink. Therefore, there should be no lingering when a souffle is to be eaten.

How To Serve a Soufflé

Puncture the top of the soufflé lightly with a serving spoon and fork—held vertically—and spread it apart for each serving.

SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE

[Cheese Soufflé]

The soufflé sauce base

A 6-cup soufflé mold, page

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1         tsp butter        

1         Tb grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese

Measure out all your ingredients. Butter inside of soufflé mold and sprinkle with cheese.

3 Tb butter

A 2-1/2-quart saucepan

3 Tb flour

A wooden spatula or spoon

1 cup boiling milk

A wire whip

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

A pinch of cayenne pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

Melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the flour with a wooden spatula or spoon and cook over moderate heat until butter and flour foam together for 2 minutes without browning. Remove from heat; when mixture has stopped bubbling, pour in all the boiling milk at once. Beat vigorously with a wire whip until blended. Beat in the seasonings. Return over moderately high heat and boil, stirring with the wire whip, for i minute. Sauce will be very thick.

4         egg yolks

Remove from heat. Immediately start to separate the eggs. Drop

the white into the egg white bowl, and the yolk into the center of the hot sauce. Beat the yolk into the sauce with the wire whip. Continue in the same manner with the rest of the eggs. Correct seasoning.

(*) May be prepared ahead to this point. Dot top of sauce with butter. Heat to tepid before continuing.

The egg whites and cheese

5 egg whites

A pinch of salt

3/4 cup (3 ounces) coarsely grated Swiss, or Swiss and Parmesan, cheese

Add an extra egg white to the ones in the bowl and beat with the salt until stiff. Stir a big spoonful (about one quarter of the egg whites) into the sauce. Stir in all but a tablespoon of the cheese. Delicately fold in the rest of the egg whites. Be careful not to overfold.

Baking

Turn the soufflé mixture into the prepared mold, which should be almost three quarters full. Tap bottom of mold lightly on the table, and smooth the surface of the soufflé with the flat of a knife. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Set on a rack in middle level of preheated 400-degree oven and immediately turn heat down to 375. (Do not open oven door for 20 minutes.) In 25 to 30 minutes the soufflé will have puffed about 2 inches over the rim of the mold, and the top will be nicely browned. Bake 4 to 5 minutes more to firm it up, then serve at once.