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Souffle, Omelet
Break two eggs, put the whites into one pan and the yolks into another; rasp a little lemon-peel or orange-flowers, beat the yolks well, add a little sugar and salt, and next beat the whites well to snow, and mix them with the yolks lightly. Then put a lump of butter into an omelet-pan on the fire; when the butter is melted, pour the omelet into the pan; hold it over a slow fire for two minutes, or until the underside is set, then put the pan into a very hot oven for about three minutes. When firm in the centre and lightly coloured the omelet is sufficiently cooked. If left in the oven too long it will be tough and leathery. You may give it whatever flavour you think proper, but the plainer the better when served very hot and very high; you may add to it some apricot jam. Loosen the edges of the omelet with a knife, turn it upside down on a hot dish, put a little jam, made hot, on it, fold it quickly half over, sift white sugar thickly on it, and serve immediately.
A two-egg sweet souffle omelet, finished in the oven and folded over hot jam. The whole thing takes under ten minutes, and nothing about it can be prepared in advance.
- The hinge: fold, do not stirThe beaten whites carry all the lift. Cut the yolk mixture into them with a spatula in a few strokes and stop while streaks are still visible; a smooth, fully combined batter has already lost the air that makes this a souffle rather than a flat omelet.
- "A very hot oven"The original gives no temperature; read it as somewhere in the region of 425-450F, and have the oven preheated well before you start beating. The pan goes in for about three minutes only, so it must already be at heat.
- Pan choiceAn omelet-pan here means a small heavy skillet with sloping sides; something in the 6-8 inch range suits two eggs. It must be oven-safe, so no plastic handle. Well-seasoned cast iron or a metal-handled nonstick rated for oven heat both work.
- "Rasp a little lemon-peel"Rasp means to grate the zest finely, taking only the coloured layer. "Orange-flowers" is most likely orange-flower water, still sold in Middle Eastern groceries; a quarter teaspoon is ample for two eggs, as it turns soapy in quantity.
- Sugar and saltThe original leaves amounts open. For two eggs, about a teaspoon of sugar in the yolks and a pinch of salt suits a dish that is finished with jam and dredged sugar.
- The two minutes on the stoveLow heat, and do not disturb the surface. You want the base just set and pale gold. If the butter browns before the omelet goes in, the pan is too hot and the underside will colour before the centre has any chance to set.
- OvercookingThe warning about leather is accurate. The centre should still be faintly soft when you pull it out; carryover heat will finish it during the folding and sugaring.
- Yield and timingTwo eggs serve one generously or two modestly. It collapses within a minute or two of leaving the oven, so have the warmed jam, the hot dish and the sugar sifter all standing ready before you begin.
The souffle omelet, or omelette soufflée, sits between the plain folded omelet and the true baked souffle: the whites are whipped and folded rather than beaten in whole, and the oven does the last of the work. The insistence that it be served "very hot and very high" is the whole point of the technique: a souffle omelet is at its best in the first minute after it leaves the oven.