Day 7: Rise and Shine!

 Ah, the soufflé, what a classic and luxurious French dessert. Well, full disclaimer, I don’t think I’ve ever actually had a dessert soufflé, but I’m positive I’ve had at least one of the infinite variations to this sweet or savory treat. Soufflé’s are baked dishes made with a base of egg yolk folded with beaten egg whites, which expand in the oven and puff over the edge of the dish. They can be served individually (which is how they are done as desserts) or in a big dish (which is a more common way to find the savory version). After the eggs are whipped and combined with sugar, they are carefully combined into the base mixture, then baked. While baking, the air bubbles from the whipped egg whites expand causing them to poof up, in fact, that is where the name comes from. In French, the verb souffler means to blow or to puff, exactly like the soufflé does in the oven. Although they are quite impressive when done properly, they are a little finicky and will not rise if overmixed, and, even if they are properly mixed they deflate within 10 minutes of being removed from the oven. That is why it is critical that they are served ASAP! 

As classic and timeless as they are, there is actually very little documented history about the soufflé. It is believed to be first created around the 1800s by Marie-Antoine Carème who was cooking for a wealthy family at the time. Before the 1800s it wasn’t really possible to create a dish like this because ovens were heated by coals. Once ovens used hot air to bake, the soufflé was able to rise, and thus this beautiful and fluffy treat was created. 

Throughout the 1900s the soufflé rose to fame, being served commonly at fancy restaurants or on special occasions. Julia Child became a soufflé master, and helped it to gain popularity in the US. Although known for her savory cheese soufflé, she called the dessert version, “The epitome and triumph of French cookery.”

One of the most popular sweet soufflés in France is the Grand Marnier, which uses orange flavored liqueur and orange zest, other popular variations are chocolate, white chocolate, or really any kind of fruit you can think of. Savory soufflés tend to not rise as high because they contain heavier ingredients such as cheese, crab or spinach. In Austria a Salzburg style omelette soufflé is commonly found, which is fluffy and quick to bake, containing golden mounds on a large dish. Soufflé pancakes can be found in Japan, while anywhere else around the world different ingredients can be found going into soufflés. Whether sweet or savory, they are meant to impress and take skill and patience to master. 

Or do they? 

One of the reasons the soufflé is not as popular of a dish in the US as some other French confections is because of the bad reputation it has gained. Many chefs, especially amateurs, are afraid of the difficulty, and it can be hard to serve in restaurants because of the time it takes to prepare. Many restaurant desserts have many elements, the soufflé could even be considered simple by comparison, although they can also be a risky dessert to serve because of the potential disaster that could occur. But soufflés really don’t have all that much to them. As long as the eggs are not over folded into the base, and they are served immediately they should rise and end up beautiful. 

So was I scared to make a soufflé? Yes. I wasn’t too worried about taste, I was just weary of the potential downfall of my tower of fluffy goodness. So after reading numerous articles about the best way to avoid these, I had built up the courage to start souffléing©!

The first step is preparing the ramekins; a.k.a. the cute little dishes the soufflés goes in. You brush them with butter then add a little sugar so the egg can gather traction to climb up the side of the dish. Next you make the bechamel sauce. Bechamel is one of the five must know French sauces, and is made from roux and milk. Roux is the mixture of butter and flour and serves as the base for the bechamel. The French word Roux means browned butter, and it is commonly used to thicken dishes. Bechamel originally came from Italy, but was quickly adopted into rich French cuisine. 

So once the roux was made, the egg yolks are added one by one along with some vanilla and salt. This finalizes the bechamel and the base of the soufflé. The other step is the egg whites. I must say: I have become quite proficient at whipping egg whites to perfection from the macarons, sponge cake and now this. So, after forming stiff peaks, I carefully folded the egg whites into the bechamel taking extra caution not to smush the air out of them. Once they were incorporated the only thing left to do was bake! 

In the oven the soufflés were looking pretty darn good. They rose nice and tall and had a beautiful brown color. 

Then I took them out of the oven. 

Most of the articles I read said it takes them about 10 minutes to collapse. I would have to disagree and say it’s closer to 1. Apparently this could be from removing them from the oven too soon, but I suspect it also had something to do with the not so delicate handling that was achieved due to my oven mitts. Nonetheless, they were browned beautifully, and smelled eggscellent! 

So it was time to taste. 

Even without the added height it was like biting into a cloud. Soft layers, with a mild vanilla flavor disappeared from the ramekin in a matter of seconds. Although I was a little disappointed at how quickly they collapsed, I was not at all disappointed by the taste. I can see why these are a popular dessert after a long meal. They are so light and it’s hard to stop yourself after just one!

Even though my soufflés ended up deflated, they were still delicious and made the perfect afternoon snack. I guess I’ll just have to not be a chicken and hatch a plan to make some more!