Not Healthy: Cheese Souffle

Souffle is a dish that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of home cooks everywhere. It's used on cooking shows like Masterchef as a high-stakes test for good reason. It takes many simple ingredients and transforms it into something magical purely by technique. It is 100% a test of your technique that thrives or dies in the oven. It should rise like an ominous force and then bake over into a nice browned crust. The true test of a well-made souffle is not how light it is but how long it stands erect.

Because it is a technique-heavy dish, you can expect your first few to come out imperfect but still delicious. I can almost guarantee whatever comes out of your oven will be something you will want to eat. You will improve as you get the timing down to move from step to step. I will help shorten your learning curve by giving you plenty of helpful tips to transform a very simple recipe into something very elegant.

Souffle is not as complex or difficult as you might imagine. It is just egg whites mixed with a sauce. Seriously. That's it. The problem is that you have to get a lot of basic ingredients right to make the sauce and egg whites rise and stand tall. But you can do it. A cheese souffle begins life as bechamel sauce. Then cheese is added to form cheese sauce. Then egg whites are added and it is baked. You are really dealing with those basic steps although each has its own component steps. However, by thinking about these few steps you allow yourself to keep the process more manageable. When you become comfortable with the basic steps and recipe then you can start to challenge yourself by adding extra steps, such as making a more complex bechamel or adding herbs and spices to the cheese sauce. This recipe will make an excellent dish without getting too complicated.

In addition to adding herbs and spices to the recipe to make it a unique and complex souffle, you can also change up the cheese and/or add other ingredients. It is not uncommon to find cheese souffles with sausage or vegetables like mushrooms added. These ingredients can change the consistency of the souffle so I recommend making those adjustments once you feel comfortable with the basic process. Mixing up the cheeses is the most forgiving alteration you can make and I encourage you to play around with the cheese selection even as you are trying to improve your technique. Personally I like using very firm cheeses but you can use whatever you like. I really enjoy a 50% extra sharp cheddar and 50% gouda mix. Parmesan and Gruyere are also common souffle cheeses. Well, look, let's get you walking before you start trying to run so let's talk about some basic tips before we get to the recipe.

Helpful Tips for Making Cheese Souffle at Home

1. Prepare all of the ingredients and arrange all of the equipment you need before you do anything else. That is especially true for separating the egg and shredding the cheese. Souffle requires you to bounce from one step to the next while watching temperatures and mixing so the less time you spend between steps the less opportunity to mess it up. 
2. Unless you are comfortable and experienced separating eggs by hand (or with the shell) then I strongly recommend that you use an egg separator to assist you with this step. It's important that you keep the yolk out of the egg whites and learning how to separate eggs using only the shell or your hand takes some practice. Although I can do it without the egg separator I still use this utensil as a backup. 
3. Until you become comfortable separating the eggs, you may want to separate each egg into separate containers so if you screw up you only have to redo that one egg, rather than ruining several eggs' worth of whites. You can use one vessel to keep your egg whites and another bowl to separate them and then transfer the egg whites into the first vessel each time you get it right so you only need to use two bowls for the egg whites. Either is fine. 
4. Older eggs separate easier than fresh eggs but the shells crumble easier. If you use eggs that have been in the fridge for a few days it's easier to separate them. Obviously don't use eggs that have gone bad!
5. The way in which you add ingredients to each other and even how you mix them is very important. The instructions below are very specific about how you need to mix ingredients and it is critical to getting the right consistency. Remember, this is all about technique.
6. If your roux sucks then start over. If you burn the roux or can't get it to mix then toss it and start over. A lumpy roux will make a lumpy souffle. The lumps are dried clumps of flour. You don't want that in your souffle.
7. When whipping air into the egg whites you only need to go as far as forming "stiff peaks" which means it looks like the foam on ocean waves and stays in that shape. If you go too long the egg whites will turn into a meringue, which is firmer than you need and will end up making your souffle a little too dense. However, I would rather overshoot the egg whites than not get enough air whipped in.
8. Read the entire recipe twice before you start cooking. Know what you are doing two steps ahead of where you are.
9. Souffle is normally cooked in ceramic ramekins. This dish works best with 1 cup ramekins for individual servings but you can use almost any size. You can make the souffle as one large souffle but I think it's more fun to give each person their own souffle to break open. 
10. If you do not have ceramic ramekins or a ceramic baking dish then basic coffee cups can work as a substitute. Souffle will rise in coffee cups but I do find part of what makes them stand up and form a nice browned crust is having enough volume rise above the top of the baking vessel. That's harder to do with coffee cups because they are taller and you need a lot more hot air inside the souffle to push the souffle up that tall. However, again, you can make perfectly tasty souffle that way.
11. Whatever you bake the souffle in will be extremely hot. Be very careful taking them out of the oven and serving them. Ceramic retains heat very well. It is easy to burn yourself. Use oven mitts and pot holders to serve them. If you are using personal-size ceramic ramekins or coffee cups then consider serving them on a plate and offering the dinners a pot holder to keep it in place (or place the ramekin on a pot holder on a plate). 
12. Generally one egg's worth of souffle in the recipe below will serve one person. Adjust the ingredients accordingly to make more or less. Souffles do survive until a later serving. If you have leftovers, allow them to cool and then cover with cling wrap. You can reheat them. They will not rise but it will still taste great with more of a casserole texture. I sometimes enjoy them the next day cold. They have some of a cheese bread texture that way. (Don't judge.)
13. As you start to try to mix up ingredients, use flavor combinations you might find elsewhere. If you add a lot of unique herbs to your bechamel then think about how the cheese you choose will work with those flavors. Do you find other foods with those combinations? 
14. When selecting cheeses, remember that you need cheeses that will create a nice cheese sauce. Cheddar or Gruyere are the standards for this purpose. Using only very hard or soft cheeses may not give you as pleasant of a texture. Mild cheddar is a good base for a cheese blend if you want a thick cheese sauce but let more interesting cheeses shine through.

Basic Cheese Souffle Recipe

Details

Serving: 4 people
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45-60 minutes

Equipment Required

• 4 one cup-size ceramic ramekins (or appropriate alternative)
• 1 baking sheet (any size will work)
• Oven mitts/pot holders
• 3/4 quart saucepan
• Hand mixer (or stand mixer)
• Mixing bowls (keep as many as you have available)
• Egg separator
• Measuring cups and bowls
• Grater (if your cheese is not pre-grated)
• Rubber spatula
• Small whisk
• Kitchen utensils

 Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup butter 
• 1-2 tbsp butter
• 1-1/2 cup cheese (cheddar cheese is a good starting point)
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Recipe Steps

1. If you are not using pre-grated cheese, grate the cheese to a course grate. 
2. Assemble all your ingredients and supplies.
3. Separate the egg whites from the yolk. Place the yolks in a small bowl or measuring cup and set aside. The egg whites should go into a much larger bowl than the volume of egg whites as they will expand. If you are using a stand mixer then you can add them directly to the stand mixer's bowl.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F.
5. Coat the inside of your baking vessel(s) with the 1-2 tbsp of butter. You don't need a thick layer but the inside needs to be completely coated. This helps the souffle rise straight up. I find the easiest way to apply the butter is to put a small portion of barely warmed butter (like 5 seconds in the microwave) in the ramekin and work it around with my fingers. Make sure to get all the way up to the very top of the ramekin or whatever you are using. 
6. Heat your saucepan to medium-low heat and add the 1/4 cup of butter. As soon as the butter is melted, add the 1/4 cup of flour. Whisk continuously. Break up lumps as they form and continue whisking until it you have a solid but wet lump of roux. You may have to whisk for several minutes. If the roux burns or gets too dry then start over.
7. Heat the milk in the microwave until it is warm (30 seconds is usually enough). Remove a small portion of the roux and mix it into the milk until dissolved. Then add the milk-roux mix to the remaining roux and whisk until thoroughly dissolved. Reduce heat to low.
8. Add a small amount of the white sauce to egg yolks and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Then add egg yolk mixture into the white sauce. Mix thoroughly. 
9. Add the cayenne pepper to the sauce. Add the cheese to the sauce slowly, roughly 1/4 cup at a time. Thoroughly incorporate the cheese before adding more, allowing the heat to melt the cheese. If the cheese will not melt then turn the heat up to medium-low and continue mixing until the cheese melts. Repeat until the cheese sauce is completely mixed and smooth. If you turned the heat up to melt the cheese then turn it back down to low.
10. Now you're going to turn the egg whites into a fluffy mix. Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites. Shove the mixer blades in the egg whites and turn it up to high. If the egg whites start flying out of the bowl then turn the mixer down. Keep mixing until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Then stop.
11. Add 1/4 of the egg whites to the cheese sauce. Using a spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the cheese sauce. It does not need to be uniformly mixed. Repeat until all the egg whites have been folded into the cheese sauce.
12. Gently spoon the souffle mix into the ramekins. Gently tap the ramekins on the counter to ensure the souffle mix has evenly settled and an even surface has formed. 
13. Place ramekins on baking sheet and put in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately after removing from the oven.