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Lemon Souffle
Mix a quarter of a pound of flour very smoothly with a pint and a half of milk; add a quarter of a pound of sugar which has been well rubbed upon the rind of three fresh lemons, and a quarter of a pound of butter, and boil gently until the mixture is thick and smooth. Pour it out, and stir it until it is nearly cold, then add the yolks of six eggs, well beaten. Last of all, whisk the whites of nine eggs to a firm froth, and add them, with the strained juice of two lemons, to the rest. Butter a souffle-mould thickly, half fill it with the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven. If it is necessary to fill the mould more than half, tie a band of well-buttered white paper round the top, to prevent the contents running over. Serve the souffle the moment it comes out of the oven, or its appearance will be spoilt. Time to bake, from thirty to forty minutes. Probable cost, 1s. 8d. Sufficient for six or eight persons.
A hot pudding soufflé milk base thickened with flour, rather than the lighter pastry-cream soufflés of later cookery. It is sturdier than a modern soufflé and more forgiving, but the timing at the end is not negotiable.
- The hingeFold the whites in with a light hand and get the mould into the oven at once. The lemon juice goes in with the whites at the last moment, so the mixture will not stand about; delay and you lose the lift.
- Weights and volumesA quarter pound each of flour, sugar and butter is 4 oz, about 115 g. A pint and a half of milk in an English book of this period is 30 fl oz (roughly 850 ml), not 24 fl oz.
- Oven"Moderate" is conventionally read as somewhere around 350F / 180C. Avoid opening the door while it is rising.
- Rubbing sugar on the rindThe old way to get lemon oil into a dish: drag the sugar lumps or granulated sugar over the whole fruit until it is yellow and damp. Finely grated zest works, but the flavour is less perfumed.
- Egg ratioSix yolks to nine whites, as written; the surplus whites presumably help lift the heavy flour base. Keep the ratio; the three spare yolks will do for custard.
- The soufflé-mouldThe souffle-mould -- A straight-sided dish; the quantities suggest something generous, since the mould is meant to be only half filled. Butter it thickly, as the recipe directs.
- The paper bandThe buttered paper collar is the period version of a foil collar, used only when the mould is filled above half, and tied to stand clear of the rim.
- Cooking the baseBoil the flour, milk, sugar and butter gently and stir constantly — 4 oz of flour in that quantity of milk scorches readily. It should be thick enough to hold a trail from the spoon before you cool it.
- Yield and timingThirty to forty minutes is right for a full-sized mould; it should be well risen and just trembling at the centre. Six to eight portions, and it must go straight from oven to table.
Souffles reached English cookery from French practice in the earlier nineteenth century, and by the time Cassell's was compiled they were a familiar dish of the middle-class dinner and a test of a cook's nerve. The word is the French for "blown" or "puffed", from souffler. What marks this version as Victorian rather than modern is the heavy flour-and-milk panada base. The "probable cost" of 1s. 8d. is one of the book's standard headings, allowing a household to price a dish in advance.