Tuesday 18 November 2014

Vanilla Soufflé

I fell in love with Soufflé when I had my first taste of it at the cafe many years ago. What attracted me was the fluffy 'collar' rose above the rim of the ramekin. The sweet 'mousse-like' texture was light and airy when I made spoonfuls into my mouth ... slowly, gently and carefully cos it was hot. Well, shouldn't that to be the way to enjoy the delicate dessert ? Hee ... hee..

When I learn to bake, Soufflé is definitely on my 'to-bake' list.  Like chiffon or baked cheese cakes, I know baking Soufflé may not be as easy and perhaps need some practices to perfect it.

After watching many times the video tutorial, I finally decided to give a try ... a basic Vanilla Soufflé.



The sunken souffle when I was half-way through ...
see the mousse-like texture.

Recipe adapted from Eugenie Kitchen
Vanilla Soufflé
For 2 1-cup-ramekins or 4 1/2-cup-ramekins

Ingredients
1 tablespoon softened unsalted butter (14g)
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (10g)
1/2 cup milk, hot (120 ml)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons caster sugar (30g)
2 eggs, medium-sized, seperated
Pinch of salt
Confectioners’ sugar, to serve (I used Snow powder)
Additional butter and caster sugar to prepare the ramekins

Directions
1. PREPARE RAMEKINS
Brush the ramekins with softened unsalted butter. Brush from bottom upwards. This will make the soufflé to rise evenly. Then, coat the ramekins with sugar. And shake out any excess; set aside.

2. BECHAMEL SAUCE (white sauce)
Over medium heat, add butter in the sauce pan and melt it. Add in the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring with a wooden spoon. This is white roux.

Remove the pan from the heat, gradually add hot milk, and stir until smooth and combined. Back to medium heat stir constantly until it comes to a boil. The sauce should form ribbons. This is white sauce. Remove from the heat.

Add in salt and vanilla extract and stir until combined. Separate the eggs and add in the egg yolks one by one and stir to combine. The sauce pan is still warm, so pour the sauce into a separate bowl to prevent unwanted evaporation; set aside.

3. MAKE FRENCH MERINGUE
Whisk egg whites. It is not mixing. It is incorporating the air. Keep whisking until firm peaks form. Add gradually sugar while slowly whisking. Keep whisking until soft peaks form. This is French meringue. It takes about 20 minutes with hand.
(I used an electric stand mixer,  beat at medium to high speed for about 3 minutes)

4. COMBINE (2) AND (3)
Add about one third of the French meringue into the white sauce and whisk until homogeneous. Then, pour all white sauce into meringue and whisk until just combined. Be careful not to crush the delicate meringue.

5. BAKE
Spoon the mixture into ramekins. Run thumb around inside of rim. This will help the soufflé to rise straight. Bake in the oven preheated to 390° F. (200° C.) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until well risen. {Mine took 14 minutes}

6. SERVE
Place on a plate because ramekins are very hot. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately out of oven.

Well, they rose high above the rims when inside the oven. Once taken out, they were ... gosh ! slightly lopsided ... hee hee !

Girl : Mom, are you done with the photos snapping?
Mom : No, I need to dust some snow powder on it ... and decorate with raspberries ... and ...
Girl : Mom, QUICK !  Looks like it's sinking !
Mom : Okay!  Done in 5 minutes !



Although not perfectly rise evenly, the top crust is golden and firm, the texture tasted good.
Hmm ... yummy ! Enjoy our Soufflé ^-^!

Girl : Mom, next time you try bake Chocolate Soufflé.
Mom : Easy, just add some cocoa powder ...
Girl : No, to pour chocolate sauce into the center of the baked Soufflé ... I show you the recipe.
Mom : Huh ?! Gosh ! That’s the advanced stage ... I'm not there yet !

Have a blessed week !

28 comments:

  1. Look...what you have inspired me here. Ive never made this myself. And now your girl has a special request already. So are you ready for your chocolate sauce souffle?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mel,
      It's not too difficult. Next round I will need to adjust the oven temperature. Ha ha ... will take up the challenge to try that chocolate sauce soufflé ^-^!

      Delete
  2. Wow! Karen, I want to eat that! I still haven't bought ramekins to try my hand at souffle. Wait for sales first hee..hee...

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    Replies
    1. Hi Phong Hong, saw these lovely heart shape ramekins at Daiso so just grabbed them as not many left on the shelf.
      Yea, you should give it a try !

      Delete
  3. I bookmarked a soufflé recipe last time but not yet try. Yours look very inviting and the ramekins are nice also.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Grace, got these ramekins from Daiso. Think it would be nice to serve this sweet Soufflé during Christmas or Valentine's Day !

      Delete
  4. Your souffles look delicious and I am definitely saving this recipe! I'm new here and like your blog and will be looking around. Thanks for this great recipe!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Pam,
      Thanks for compliment and thanks for dropping by.

      Delete
  5. Hi Karen,

    I know that I have to "fast leg fast hand" when I have to bake and serve souffles... very stressful but I think you look pretty steady and pro when you baked yours :D

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha ! That's right Zoe, must be fast like Flash ... I probably still take my own sweet time to '摆pose' if not for my girl saying 'it's sinking' ...

      Delete
  6. Hi Karen I love souffles but I am too lazy to bake them! Can I come over and tao jiak? :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Replies
    1. Thanks Cheah, hope my next attempt will be much better ^-^

      Delete
  8. 用杯子不只漂亮而且容易吃哦。like

    ReplyDelete
  9. Karen,
    Oh' I love this too! Yours looks fabulous !
    Taking the picture of these must act fast or else ... you know hor!
    mui

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mui Mui. Ha ha ! Oh yes, must faster 摆 pose.

      Delete
  10. Hi Karen,
    Lovely souffle! They deflate very fast, and it is a headache taking photos of it! Haha!
    I can see why your daughter is impatiently waiting for it! Looks yummy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha ! I didn't realise that it will deflate so fast. Thanks for the encouragement, Joyce.

      Delete
  11. i remember i was so excited seeing my souffle rise when i made that the first time..and yes, everything got to be so quick when we need to take pictures and keep snapping until it stopped sinking..haha!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lena, ya truly ... that moment of joy ! Yeah! ... then my heart also goes with its 'sinking' momentum ... ha ha!

      Delete

Sharing some of my favourite recipes, some new baking/cooking "adventures". Please feel free to post your comments for my improvement. Would be great to connect with you and learn some of your recipes too. Thanks for 'dropping by'.