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Soufflés
The connection is immediate between the word soufflé, or the soufflé concoction, and the French verb souffler: to inflate; to swell; to blow out, etc., the foundation of soufflés being the whipped egg which rises and falls again. Two simple forms of soufflé are here given which may be adapted to any fruit or its juice.
I. Simple Soufflé Separate six eggs; add a pinch of salt to the whites and whip till "dry." Whip separately three of the yolks then fold in lightly with the whites, adding a tablespoon of any fruit juice and sprinkling sugar over the top. Bake quickly in hot oven ten minutes. 2. Soufflé With Cooked Foundation Take two tablespoons each of butter and flour; rub smooth and add to a pint of scalding milk (in double boiler). Cook till thick. Add yolks of three eggs and three tablespoons sugar, stirring two minutes, then removing and cooling. Add fruit juice or pulp as wished then fold in the stiff-whipped whites of the eggs and bake ten or fifteen minutes in individual soufflé dishes. If made into one large soufflé the baking will require about thirty-five minutes.
Two skeleton formulas rather than finished recipes: an omelette-style soufflé and a proper pastry-cream-based one. Both assume a cook who already knows what a soufflé should look like, so a few of the gaps are worth filling.
- Oven temperaturesA "quick" or "hot" oven in books of this period is usually taken as roughly 400-450F. The first soufflé, essentially a sweet omelette, wants that fast heat; the second, with its cooked base, is generally better lower, in the region of 375-400F, though the original gives no separate temperature for it.
- Whip the whites to firm, not "dry"Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century writers meant whites beaten until they hold rigidly and look matte. Modern practice stops a beat earlier, at firm peaks that still gleam; whites beaten literally dry break into grains and will not fold or rise properly.
- Fruit juice is the weak pointA tablespoon of thin juice in the first recipe is about the limit before the foam slackens. For the second, use a thick purée or a juice reduced to a syrup, and let it cool before it meets the yolks. Watery fruit sinks to the bottom and the soufflé sets around a wet layer.
- Leftover yolksThe first recipe uses six whites and only three yolks. The other three keep a day or two covered in the refrigerator and go into custard, mayonnaise or the base of the second soufflé.
- The cooked foundationTwo tablespoons each butter and flour cooked into a pint (2 cups) of scalding milk makes a comparatively light base by modern soufflé standards, though the recipe directs you to cook it till thick. Beat the yolks in off the heat or over gentle heat only, and cool the base to lukewarm before folding in whites, or the whites will deflate.
- Prepare the dishesThe original assumes it. Butter the ramekins or dish generously and dust with sugar so the batter can climb, and fill to about three-quarters.
- Timing and yieldTen minutes suits individual dishes; thirty-five for one large soufflé holds up. Both must go from oven to table at once, as the fall begins within a minute or two.
- No sugar in the first batterSugar appears only sprinkled on top, which gives a thin crackled crust and a barely sweet interior. If you want it sweeter, beat a tablespoon or two into the whites at the end rather than into the yolks.
The etymology the author offers is correct: souffl o>souffler, to blow or puff, and Antonin Carare among those often said to have shaped its form. The two versions given here reflect the standard professional division that survives today e the souffld'omelette, lightened with nothing but egg, and the heavier souffla la crme ptissire built on a flour-and-milk base that holds its rise longer and carries flavour better. A cook who mastered one base could run any fruit in season through it.