Wow, you did your first soufflé?
Yes. I did.
So did you succeed?
No, I failed badly.
Why?
It did rise beautifully in the oven. Read some tips that I should never open the oven while it’s still baking. But it’s way past the amount of time it’s supposed to be baked and it’s still not golden brown on top. And there are some who said, I can check if it’s done when the toothpick/skewer came out clean. So, I OPENED the oven. And, the soufflé starts to sink. And it sank all the way down.
A soufflé (soo-flay) is a light, fluffy dish baked with egg yolks and beaten egg whites with other ingredients. It can be served as a savory dish or as a sweet dessert. Made from 2 basic components, a base that gives the flavor and beaten egg whites to introduce air into the soufflé so that it will rise. In French, soufflé means “to blow up” or loosely “puff up”.
The common ingredients used for a dessert soufflé are chocolate, lemon, Grand Marnier and a lot more if you are creative enough to come up with your own flavors. Mos Burger fans might notice that Mos Burger previous promotions on Green Tea Soufflé with red beans compote which I thought was pretty unique. Green tea flavored desserts pairs up so perfectly with red beans. There’s another flavor, which I can’t remember.
The savory soufflés are usually made up of cheese, spinach, bacon, onions.. etc. I’ve yet to taste one. But it will be perfect for a morning brekkie, in another form instead of the usual bacon and scramble eggs. And you probably needs a big bowl of this, because it will be so light that you hardly feel full if you were to eat just a small serving.
Traditionally, soufflés are baked in ramekins (the bowl I used in the photo) which has flat bottoms for the soufflé to rise properly. You can also use cups, but make sure they are ovenproof.
I’ve heard so much about how intimidating it is to get a soufflé to rise nicely. And also how the egg whites have to be whipped to the right consistency to get it work. The commonly tested flavor is the chocolate soufflé, which is rich and at the same time light and fluffy. I tasted my first soufflé at Bakerzin served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and I really like it. So when I come across the lemon soufflé recipe in Donna Hay magazine, I gave it a try.
Sorry to tempt you to looking forward (if you are) to this post which is actually a flop. I just want to note down the experience. But fret not, I will attempt to succeed in making the chocolate ones or maybe even the savory ones. Somehow, the base for this lemon soufflé recipe seems too little to be mixed with the egg whites. It’s supposed to yield 8 servings and all I could get was just 2 servings. And it didn’t call for egg yolks for the base. And it’s a little too sweet, you might want to reduce the amt of sugar but I don’t know if it will affect the end result. Will any experienced baker help me try out this recipe and let me know the outcome?
It’s a pity that I didn’t take a photo of them rising in the oven. All I get was 2 ‘deflated’ bowls of unappetizing soufflés. Haha…
Lemon soufflé
Donna Hay Magazine Issue 32
Makes 8 servings
Unsalted butter, melted for greasing
Caster (superfine) sugar for dusting
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup (72⅔g / 2½oz) caster (superfine) sugar
2 egg whites
2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar, extra
icing (confectioner’s) sugar to serve
- Lightly grease 8 x ½ cup (4 fl oz) capacity ceramic cups with butter and dust with sugar. Place the cups on a baking tray.
- Combine the cornflour with the water, mix to a smooth paste and set aside. Place the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, add the cornflour mixture and cook, stirring continuously, for 1 minutes or until thickened. Set aside to cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (355ºF). Place the eggwhites in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add the extra sugar and beat until glossy. Place the lemon mixture in a large bowl and gently fold through the eggwhite mixture. Spoon into the cups and bake for 5 – 7 minutes or until risen and golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
