Daring Cooks: Souffle (November 2010)
Possibly the most terrifying challenge ever, methinks. I was freaking out on Twitter the day the challenge was released. The souffle. The souffle. Cue much panic on my part. It didn't help that I don't own an electric mixer of any sort, and would as such have to whisk any egg whites by hand.
Somehow, I ended up doing two kinds of souffles, both of which were successful. I'm still in shock, actually. Though I may have overcome my fear of souffles, which is yay-worthy. *g*
Left: Blackberry Souffle
Right: Cheese, Smoked Salmon & Dill Souffle
The only mandatory aspect of this challenge was to make a baked souffle. We were also given three souffle recipes (found here), though we were free to use others if we so desired. I took the latter option.
Blackberry Dessert Souffle
My first souffle was based on this recipe from Stonesoup. It seemed particularly appropriate, because:
a) I was really, really terrified nervous about it;
b) I knew I would have to whisk the whites by hand, and it seemed comforting to have a recipe which said explicitly that you could; and
c) I figured that the fewer ingredients there were involved, the less likely I was to screw up.
What I used for the souffles:
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 cup blackberry jam
- pinch of salt
- melted butter to brush the ramekins
I whisked the egg whites with the salt together until soft peaks were obtained. Sugar was gradually added at this point, and I kept whisking until stiff-ish peaks were reached. Jam was folded in, and I baked it at 200 deg C for 8 min, then lowered it to 50 deg C for another 5 to 7 min.
Stiff peak! Yay!
Incidentally, it took slightly more than 40 min for me to whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks. I recommend putting on a film while doing the whisking.
Before-oven and after-oven shots. I love how much they've risen.
In the oven. I was all OMG THEY ARE RISING!!!!! on Twitter.
These were pretty much a success. The souffles were light and airy and an absolute treat to eat. Strangely enough, they got a bit too sweet after they'd sat for a while, though the batter (I'd tasted it!) was just right, and the sweetness hadn't bothered me either when the souffles were fresh out of the oven. Guess I'd be using less jam in the future.
A shot so you can actually see the colour on top.
Pretend it's not sitting on top of my radiator (cover).
I had these with Green's white chocolate and raspberry swirl ice cream.
Cheese, Smoked Salmon & Dill Savoury Souffle
Emboldened by my success with the dessert souffle, and confident that I'd grasped the basic idea behind the souffle, I decided to challenge myself with a savoury souffle that was a little more complex.
After studying Nigel Slater's cheese & tarragon souffle, I came up with this:
- 4 eggs, separated
- 50g smoked salmon, finely minced
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar
- 1/2 cup shredded gruyere
- 50g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- pinch of salt
- 300ml milk
- dill, finely chopped, about 2tbsp
- 1 small onion
- 1 bay leaf
- melted butter & grated parmesan for the ramekins
I began with the milk. Heated it up, let it steep with onion and bay leaf. Then came the basic white sauce of butter, flour, and milk, whisking until smooth and creamy.* Took it off heat, beat in the yolks. Set aside.
* Nigel Slater stated in his recipe to simmer the sauce for at least 5 min until thick and smooth. I didn't, so mine was probably more watery than his. Which probably explains why his recipe was for 2, but what I did would have served 3.
Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to stabilise. This time, I timed myself against the first LotR film: 54 min 6 s. This was considerably more nerve-wrecking as, without the sugar to stabilise it further, the 'stiff peaks' never became quite as stiff as I'd liked, and I was paranoid about over-beating the whites. (Starting over would have been a massive pain. Literally. Particularly for my arms.)
The whites one minute or so before I stopped whisking. I had to go with what was in my bowl, not on my whisk, as it just wouldn't collect on my whisk.
Didn't dare beat much more either, because subsequent passes of the whisk made the whites a little 'watery' and the 'peaks' even smaller. :X
Once the egg whites were done, I returned to the sauce. Any 'skin' formed over the hour just gone was skimmed away, and I stirred in the smoked salmon, dill, and cheeses. I folded some of the sauce into the whites, then the whites+sauce into the rest of the sauce. Was a tad worried here, because it looked really watery. Another worry was the smoked salmon; I wasn't certain whether the smoked salmon I'd added would weigh the souffle down enough that it wouldn't rise. However, I decided to just go ahead with the oven bit anyway.
Yellow sauce is yellow.
Ramekins had been brushed with butter and dusted with parmesan. (Oh. Almost forgot to mention. For both souffles, when brushing the butter, I did my best to use upward motions, since I'd read somewhere that it'll encourage the souffle to glide up and rise more.) I spooned the fillings in, sprinkled more parmesan on top, and baked for about 27 or 28 min at 200 deg C. Interestingly enough, while I did the knife-around-edges thing for both the souffles, only the dessert one rose as I imagined souffles should. This savoury one just took on the appearance of a demented cupcake.
In the oven. Forgot to take a pre-oven shot.
I trust you see my point about demented cupcakes.
Out of the oven.
I have to say this about these souffles: they deflate really, really bloody fast. Notice how high they were post-oven? In the approximately 5 seconds it took for me to transfer it from the tray to the pre-dressed dish, it'd lost most of its rise. Yikes.
I had these souffles with a pear, fig, and walnuts salad.
Taste-wise, it's definitely not quite as airy as the dessert souffles. (I wonder if this might have something to do with my whisking?) However, it was absolutely delicious, and it had strings of melted cheese with every bite. Yay!
All in all, I've definitely overcome my fear of souffles, and I think I can say that I've vaguely managed to grasp its principle, and can probably add it to my list of culinary-things-I-know-I-can-do. However, I probably won't be making them much, if again/at all, unless I finally get an electric mixer. Almost an hour just to whisk your egg whites by hand is insane. I've no idea how souffle-makers did anything else before the invention of the electric mixer.
Hurrah for one of the most fun challenges to date! :D
Blog-checking lines: Blog-checking lines: Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.
Somehow, I ended up doing two kinds of souffles, both of which were successful. I'm still in shock, actually. Though I may have overcome my fear of souffles, which is yay-worthy. *g*
Left: Blackberry Souffle
Right: Cheese, Smoked Salmon & Dill Souffle
The only mandatory aspect of this challenge was to make a baked souffle. We were also given three souffle recipes (found here), though we were free to use others if we so desired. I took the latter option.
Blackberry Dessert Souffle
My first souffle was based on this recipe from Stonesoup. It seemed particularly appropriate, because:
a) I was really, really terrified nervous about it;
b) I knew I would have to whisk the whites by hand, and it seemed comforting to have a recipe which said explicitly that you could; and
c) I figured that the fewer ingredients there were involved, the less likely I was to screw up.
What I used for the souffles:
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1/2 cup blackberry jam
- pinch of salt
- melted butter to brush the ramekins
I whisked the egg whites with the salt together until soft peaks were obtained. Sugar was gradually added at this point, and I kept whisking until stiff-ish peaks were reached. Jam was folded in, and I baked it at 200 deg C for 8 min, then lowered it to 50 deg C for another 5 to 7 min.
Stiff peak! Yay!
Incidentally, it took slightly more than 40 min for me to whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks. I recommend putting on a film while doing the whisking.
Before-oven and after-oven shots. I love how much they've risen.
In the oven. I was all OMG THEY ARE RISING!!!!! on Twitter.
These were pretty much a success. The souffles were light and airy and an absolute treat to eat. Strangely enough, they got a bit too sweet after they'd sat for a while, though the batter (I'd tasted it!) was just right, and the sweetness hadn't bothered me either when the souffles were fresh out of the oven. Guess I'd be using less jam in the future.
A shot so you can actually see the colour on top.
Pretend it's not sitting on top of my radiator (cover).
I had these with Green's white chocolate and raspberry swirl ice cream.
Cheese, Smoked Salmon & Dill Savoury Souffle
Emboldened by my success with the dessert souffle, and confident that I'd grasped the basic idea behind the souffle, I decided to challenge myself with a savoury souffle that was a little more complex.
After studying Nigel Slater's cheese & tarragon souffle, I came up with this:
- 4 eggs, separated
- 50g smoked salmon, finely minced
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar
- 1/2 cup shredded gruyere
- 50g unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- pinch of salt
- 300ml milk
- dill, finely chopped, about 2tbsp
- 1 small onion
- 1 bay leaf
- melted butter & grated parmesan for the ramekins
I began with the milk. Heated it up, let it steep with onion and bay leaf. Then came the basic white sauce of butter, flour, and milk, whisking until smooth and creamy.* Took it off heat, beat in the yolks. Set aside.
* Nigel Slater stated in his recipe to simmer the sauce for at least 5 min until thick and smooth. I didn't, so mine was probably more watery than his. Which probably explains why his recipe was for 2, but what I did would have served 3.
Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to stabilise. This time, I timed myself against the first LotR film: 54 min 6 s. This was considerably more nerve-wrecking as, without the sugar to stabilise it further, the 'stiff peaks' never became quite as stiff as I'd liked, and I was paranoid about over-beating the whites. (Starting over would have been a massive pain. Literally. Particularly for my arms.)
The whites one minute or so before I stopped whisking. I had to go with what was in my bowl, not on my whisk, as it just wouldn't collect on my whisk.
Didn't dare beat much more either, because subsequent passes of the whisk made the whites a little 'watery' and the 'peaks' even smaller. :X
Once the egg whites were done, I returned to the sauce. Any 'skin' formed over the hour just gone was skimmed away, and I stirred in the smoked salmon, dill, and cheeses. I folded some of the sauce into the whites, then the whites+sauce into the rest of the sauce. Was a tad worried here, because it looked really watery. Another worry was the smoked salmon; I wasn't certain whether the smoked salmon I'd added would weigh the souffle down enough that it wouldn't rise. However, I decided to just go ahead with the oven bit anyway.
Yellow sauce is yellow.
Ramekins had been brushed with butter and dusted with parmesan. (Oh. Almost forgot to mention. For both souffles, when brushing the butter, I did my best to use upward motions, since I'd read somewhere that it'll encourage the souffle to glide up and rise more.) I spooned the fillings in, sprinkled more parmesan on top, and baked for about 27 or 28 min at 200 deg C. Interestingly enough, while I did the knife-around-edges thing for both the souffles, only the dessert one rose as I imagined souffles should. This savoury one just took on the appearance of a demented cupcake.
In the oven. Forgot to take a pre-oven shot.
I trust you see my point about demented cupcakes.
Out of the oven.
I have to say this about these souffles: they deflate really, really bloody fast. Notice how high they were post-oven? In the approximately 5 seconds it took for me to transfer it from the tray to the pre-dressed dish, it'd lost most of its rise. Yikes.
I had these souffles with a pear, fig, and walnuts salad.
Taste-wise, it's definitely not quite as airy as the dessert souffles. (I wonder if this might have something to do with my whisking?) However, it was absolutely delicious, and it had strings of melted cheese with every bite. Yay!
All in all, I've definitely overcome my fear of souffles, and I think I can say that I've vaguely managed to grasp its principle, and can probably add it to my list of culinary-things-I-know-I-can-do. However, I probably won't be making them much, if again/at all, unless I finally get an electric mixer. Almost an hour just to whisk your egg whites by hand is insane. I've no idea how souffle-makers did anything else before the invention of the electric mixer.
Hurrah for one of the most fun challenges to date! :D
Blog-checking lines: Blog-checking lines: Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.