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Cheese Souffle
1 cup cheese 3 eggs 1 cup milk 4 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons butter, or other fat 1/2 teaspoon salt Pepper Make a white sauce of milk, flour, fat and seasonings. Add the cheese and beaten egg-yolks and stir until the cheese has melted and the yolks are set. Fold in stiffly beaten egg-whites. Pour into a buttered dish, or buttered individual molds, and set in a pan of hot water. Bake fifteen minutes in a slow oven (300 degrees F.), or until the egg-white is set, and serve at once. It begins to fall as soon as removed from oven. The cheese souffle may be baked in ramekin dishes and served as a cheese course for dinner.
A straightforward bechamel-based souffle from the era when souffles were baked gently in a water bath rather than blasted in a hot oven. The proportions are generous with fat and flour, giving a sturdy base that is forgiving of overmixing.
- Don't let the yolks scrambleThe base is thick and hot, so add the yolks gradually and stir briskly, over the gentlest heat or off it. "Until the yolks are set" means thickened, not curdled; if the mixture looks grainy the souffle will be coarse.
- 1 cup cheeseMeasured grated, not by weight. A cup of loosely grated firm cheese is roughly 3-4 oz. A sharp aged cheddar or a mix of cheddar and Parmesan gives the flavor the small quantity implies.
- Oven temperature300F as printed is genuinely slow, which suits the water bath. Fifteen minutes will set individual ramekins; a single dish of this volume will need considerably longer, and the recipe's own test -- "until the egg-white is set" -- is the one to trust, with the center just firm to a light touch.
- The water bathPour the hot water to about halfway up the molds and set the pan on a rack, not directly on the oven floor. The bath is what keeps the custard tender at this low temperature.
- FoldingBeat the whites to firm but not dry peaks and fold in two additions, cutting down through the middle and lifting. Streaks of white are better than a deflated batter.
- Serve immediatelyThe recipe is right that it falls at once. Have the table ready before the souffle comes out; there is no holding it.
- YieldNo yield is given; the quantities suggest two to four as a light dish, or four to six small ramekins as the cheese course the recipe suggests.