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Cheese Souffle
Melt an ounce of butter in a saucepan, mix smoothly with it one ounce of flour, a pinch of salt and cayenne, and a quarter of a pint of milk; simmer the mixture gently over the fire, stirring it all the time, till it is as thick as melted butter; stir into it about three ounces of finely-grated Parmesan or good Cheshire cheese. Turn it into a basin, and mix with it the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Whisk three whites to a solid froth, and just before the souffle is baked, put them into it, and pour the mixture into a souffle dish or small round tin. It should be only half filled, as the contents will rise very high. Pin a napkin round the dish in which it is baked, and serve it the moment it is taken out of the oven, as if it is allowed to fall, its beauty will be entirely gone. On this account it is better to have a metal cover over it strongly heated. Time, twenty minutes. Probable cost, 1s. 3d. if made with milk. Sufficient for six persons.
A classic small soufflé built on a very thick béchamel, with one extra white for lift. The measurements are imperial and the oven temperature is left entirely to the cook.
- The critical pointFold the whites in and get the dish into an already hot oven at once. Beaten whites begin losing volume within a minute or two.
- A quarter of a pintAn imperial quarter-pint is 5 fl oz, about 140 ml or a generous half cup. With an ounce each of butter and flour this gives a very stiff panada, which is what carries the cheese and the yolks.
- "As thick as melted butter"A confusing phrase to modern ears: it means the mixture should coat and flow heavily, not run like milk. Cook the roux and milk two or three minutes to lose the raw flour taste before the cheese goes in.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given. A soufflé of this size wants a moderately hot oven, 375-400F (190-200C), on a low shelf so the top does not set before the centre rises.
- The cheeseParmesan gives the sharper flavour; "good Cheshire" means a firm, crumbly, well-aged farmhouse cheese, which is not the same thing as most supermarket Cheshire today. Aged Cheddar or Gruyère behaves similarly. Three ounces is about 85 g.
- Egg ratioTwo yolks to three whites is deliberate, not an error. The spare white adds volume without extra fat; whisk to firm peaks that hold their shape but are not dry and grainy.
- The dishHalf-filling means a straight-sided dish with room for the mixture to at least double. Butter it and dust with grated Parmesan so the mixture can climb the sides.
- Napkin and hot coverBoth are Victorian service devices, the heated metal cover to slow the collapse on the journey from kitchen to dining room. Neither is needed if the oven is near the table.
- Yield"Sufficient for six persons" assumes a small savoury course in a long dinner. As a lunch or supper dish with salad it serves two, three at a stretch.
Soufflés came into English cookery from the French professional kitchen of the early nineteenth century — the name is simply the past participle of souffler, to blow or puff — and by the time Cassell's was compiled they had become the standard test of a cook's timing. A cheese soufflé in particular was a savoury, the small hot dish served near the end of a formal Victorian dinner after the sweets, which is why six portions can be drawn from two egg yolks. The fussing over heated covers and pinned napkins reflects a period when the kitchen was often a long walk from the dining room.