Soufflé
Encyclopedia
A soufflé is a light baked
cake made with egg
yolks and beaten egg white
s combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert
. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French
verb
souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up"—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard
and egg whites.
Every soufflé is made from two basic components:
The base provides the flavour and the whites provide the "lift". Foods commonly used for the base in a soufflé include cheese
, jam, fruits, berries, chocolate
, banana
and lemon
(the last three are used for desserts, often with a good deal of sugar
).
When it comes out of the oven, a soufflé should be puffed up and fluffy, and will generally fall after 5 or 10 minutes (as risen dough does).
Soufflés can be made in containers of all shapes and sizes but it is traditional to make soufflé in ramekin
s. These containers vary greatly in size, but are typically glazed white, flat-bottomed, round porcelain
containers with unglazed bottoms and fluted exterior borders.
There are a number of variations on the soufflé theme. One is an ice cream
soufflé, which combines a soufflé with ice cream and either a fruit or a hot sauce.
Another kind of dish entirely is soufflé potatoes, which are puffed-up sauté
potato slices, traditionally served with a chateaubriand steak
.
Baking
Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...
cake made with egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
yolks and beaten egg white
Egg white
Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around either fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks...
s combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert
Dessert
In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...
. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely "puff up"—an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard
Custard
Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce , to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as...
and egg whites.
- a French crème pâtissière base/flavoured cream sauce or puréePuréePurée and mash are general terms for cooked food, usually vegetables or legumes, that have been ground, pressed, blended, and/or sieved to the consistency of a soft creamy paste or thick liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., mashed potatoes or apple sauce...
- egg whites beaten to a soft peak meringue
The base provides the flavour and the whites provide the "lift". Foods commonly used for the base in a soufflé include cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, jam, fruits, berries, chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
, banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
and lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
(the last three are used for desserts, often with a good deal of sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
).
When it comes out of the oven, a soufflé should be puffed up and fluffy, and will generally fall after 5 or 10 minutes (as risen dough does).
Soufflés can be made in containers of all shapes and sizes but it is traditional to make soufflé in ramekin
Ramekin
A ramekin or ramequin, also known as a bouillon bowl, is a small glazed ceramic or glass serving bowl used for the preparation and serving of various food dishes...
s. These containers vary greatly in size, but are typically glazed white, flat-bottomed, round porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
containers with unglazed bottoms and fluted exterior borders.
There are a number of variations on the soufflé theme. One is an ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
soufflé, which combines a soufflé with ice cream and either a fruit or a hot sauce.
Another kind of dish entirely is soufflé potatoes, which are puffed-up sauté
Sautéing
Sautéing is a method of cooking food, that uses a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat. Ingredients are usually cut into pieces or thinly sliced to facilitate fast cooking. The primary mode of heat transfer during sautéing is conduction between the pan and the food being...
potato slices, traditionally served with a chateaubriand steak
Chateaubriand steak
Chateaubriand steak is a recipe of a particular thick cut from the tenderloin, which, according to Larousse Gastronomique, was created by personal chef, Montmireil, for François-René de Chateaubriand, the author and diplomat who served Napoleon as an ambassador and Louis XVIII as Secretary of State...
.