Ham and Cheese Egg Soufflé - A Delicious Soufflé Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to a good soufflé? ›

Ensure all your ingredients, especially the eggs, are at room temperature. Do not use cold eggs. Prepare and grease the soufflé dishes before you start making the soufflé mixture. Preheat the oven so once the soufflé is made and in the dish, it can go directly into the oven.

If the egg whites are not mixed enough, they will be too heavy to rise, but if they are over-whipped they will collapse in the oven. Finally, and most problematically, any cross-contamination between yolks and whites will cause the whole concoction to collapse, which is the bane of many dessert chefs' days.

A soufflé is made up of a base (usually white sauce or creme patissiere enriched with egg yolks), a flavor (added to the base) and whipped egg whites gently folded in and baked in the oven. While it's cooking, the air trapped in the egg whites expands, causing it to rise.

Souffles can be either hot or cold, with hot souffles that are hearty enough to serve as the main dish. Others make savory accompaniments to an entrée. Souffles can also be cold and served as dessert. Hot souffles are usually made from cheese, fish, vegetables, fruit, chocolate and other flavorings.

Most can sit for up to 30 minutes before baking. Others can even be prepared hours in advance. The key is in the ingredients. The lighter the base mixture, the longer it will hold.

Turn into soufflê dish and bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Do not open the oven door. Serve at once. Souffle may be made up ahead and refrigerated as long as 24 hours.

The Washington Post explains that the protein in egg whites can only expand so much; if you over-whip them, they won't have the elasticity needed to continue to expand in the oven heat, which causes the soufflé to collapse.

Mustard and cayenne pepper or hot sauce add subtle flavor to the soufflé but are not absolutely necessary. Cream of tartar is not required, but it can help prevent accidentally overbeating the egg whites; if you have it, you might as well add it.

Believe it, it's true: soufflé you can make ahead and freeze or refrigerate.

Egg whites can expand up to eight times their volume. They provide volume and structure to soufflés, angel food cake and meringues. Room temperature egg whites create the best foam volume and stability. Adding an acid (e.g. cream of tartar, vinegar, lemon juice) will help to strengthen and stabilize a foam.

What can you use instead of a soufflé dish? ›

Substitute Soufflé Pans: If you don't have a real soufflé pan, you can use any straight-sided pan that's deeper than it is wide. They'll bake more evenly and with better lift if you use a round pan instead of a square or rectangular one. You could use any baking dish or even a deep, oven-safe saucepan!

Bake 17 — 20 minutes until souffles are puffy but still jiggle slightly when the baking sheet is gently nudged. Remove the souffles from the oven and immediately place each ramekin on a small plate topped with a napkin or doily to keep the ramekin from moving while in transit.

What does a soufflé taste like? Deliciousness. But seriously though, they are very light and airy with a subtle egg flavour that enhances the ingredients that you add — they can be sweet or savoury. In the case of the two recipes we discuss in this blog post, both of our soufflés were cheese-based.

You can either butter only the bottom of the souffle dish, leaving the sides ungreased so that the souffle can climb, or you can grease the whole thing and then coat the bottom and sides with fine breadcrumbs or grated cheese so the rising souffle has something to grab onto.

Souffle Logic: A soufflé is made up of three elements: A base sauce enriched with egg yolks (pastry cream for sweet, béchamel for savory), a filling (anything from cheese to chocolate), and whipped egg whites.

If your Soufflé Cake tastes eggy, it's either undercooked or overcooked. Make sure that you don't increase the temperature, this will also make the eggs rubbery and taste eggy. Stick to a low temperature.

The two main parts of a soufflé are a custard base (a creamy sauce) and egg whites that have been beaten to form a meringue. The custard base provides the flavor and the meringue provides the rising effect that soufflés are famous for. Egg whites, which are pure protein, are beaten to add air to them.