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The rise and fall of souffles
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: Give elegant dessert another try
Breathe the word "souffle" and one of two thoughts is likely to come to mind: sublime elegance or complete frustration.
Indeed, souffles can be among the most elegant and divine desserts, desserts we're more likely to order off the menu at an expensive restaurant than make at home. They usually have to be special-ordered because they're rushed from the oven to the table.
The timing needs to be perfect before they deflate. Often a server almost immediately appears with a sauce. He stabs a knife into the center of the glorious puff, causing it to deflate on purpose, and fills it with the sauce. I think he does this to distract the diner so you don't notice the souffle as it sinks back into its dish.
Maybe with the realization that hot souffles are supposed to fall, you can return to the kitchen to try your hand at making one. They really aren't all that complicated, though you do need to pay attention to the beating and folding of the egg whites to ensure success.
The temperature of the oven also contributes to the rise and stability of the souffle. The hotter the temperature, or over 400 degrees, the quicker and possibly the taller it will rise - and the sooner it will fall. Baked at 375 degrees, or in a hot water bath, the souffle is more likely to sustain its rise a little longer.
There are two basic kinds of souffles, those made with a starchy base such as a bechamel sauce (white sauce) or pastry cream and those made with pureed fruit or vegetables and even with pureed cooked meat, fish or poultry. The latter are lighter in texture and depend on the pectin and starch in the fruits and vegetables and the coagulation of proteins in the egg whites and meats for stability. They also tend to sink back into the dish faster.
When it comes to the egg whites, there are several tips to keep in mind.
* Be sure the egg whites are at room temperature for greatest volume.
* Use a clean, totally grease-free glass or metal bowl for beating them. Plastic bowls tend to retain grease.
* Egg whites beaten in a copper bowl will rise higher when exposed to heat and are more stable.
* If you don't have a copper bowl, add cream of tartar to the egg whites before or while beating them.
* Beat the egg whites until creamy and shiny but not dry and lumpy.
* Stir about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the flavored base or puree to lighten it.
* Gently fold this mixture into the remaining egg whites, using a large spatula. Slice down through the center, lifting and turning the mixture. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat until the two mixtures are completely blended.
* Resist the urge to stir the mixture because you will break the bubbles and it will deflate. According to food scientist Harold McGee, the slower your spatula moves through the egg whites, the less damage it will do to the foam.
* You can bake souffles in prepared straight-sided dishes or ramekins or you can scoop the souffl? mixture into muffin tins.
My latest favorite souffle recipe is for a spinach souffl? made with a bechamel sauce-type base and baked in 6-ounce ramekins in a hot-water bath at 375 degrees. After they cooled, I took them out of the containers and tucked them in the refrigerator for several hours. I also made and refrigerated a creamy tomato sauce to go with it. Later, I put the souffles in a shallow baking dish, surrounded them with the sauce and put them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
The results may not have risen the second time quite as much as they would have if I had served them immediately, but they still were light and foamy and delicious.
One of the chores of preparing souffles is that most recipes call for serving them immediately. The nice thing about this souffle recipe is that it can be made ahead of time and simply reheated for a short time.
It would be perfect to serve the next time I have people over for brunch. You can find the recipe in Marie Simmons' book, The Good Egg, a compendium of recipes from soup to dessert that made me hungry just to read through them.
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