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La Belle Cuisine
Julia Child's
Dessert
Soufflés
 
The Way to Cook
© 1989 by Julia Child (A Borzoi Book
published by Alfred A.
Knopf, Inc.)
Dessert Soufflés
“Soufflé for
dessert – it invariably brings excitement and always pleasure.
You can make a dessert soufflé using the usual
béchamel white-sauce
base, or a pastry cream crème pâtissière base, but I prefer the following
bouillie,
which I think makes a lighter soufflé."
Master Recipe
Vanilla Soufflé
“Like vanilla
ice cream, vanilla soufflé is always attractive since,
good as it is by itself, you can add to your pleasure by accompanying
it
with fruits or a marvelous sauce…”
For a
6-cup dish, serving 4
A little soft butter and granulated sugar for the dish
The bouillie sauce
base
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons soft butter, optional
5 egg whites, beaten to soft peaks
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar in a fine-meshed sieve
Special Equipment Suggested:
A 6-cup baking dish such as a charlotte mold 3 1/2 inches deep;
aluminum foil; a 2 1/2-quart stainless saucepan; a whisk, a wooden
spoon,
and a rubber spatula; egg-white beating equipment
Preliminaries: Butter the baking dish, roll the sugar
around in it to cover
the bottom and sides, and pin on an aluminum foil collar
[see master soufflé recipe]. Preheat the oven to 400
degrees F, and set the rack in the lower
third level. Measure out all the ingredients listed [mise
en place!].
The bouillie sauce base. Whisk the flour and half of the
milk in the sauce-pan to blend; beat in the rest of the milk and the sugar. Stir
with a wooden spoon over moderately high heat until the sauce thickens, then
whisk as the sauce comes to the boil; continue boiling and whisking for 30
seconds. The sauce will be very thick; let cool for a moment, then beat the egg
yolks one
by one into the warm sauce. Beat in the optional butter.
The egg whites. In a clean separate bowl with clean beaters, beat the egg
whites until foaming; add the salt and beat to soft peaks. Sprinkle in the
sugar, and beat to stiff shining peaks as described [master soufflé recipe].
Finishing the soufflé. Whisk the vanilla into the sauce base, and stir in
a quarter of the egg whites to lighten it. Delicately and rapidly fold in the
rest
of the egg whites and turn the soufflé into the prepared mold.
Ahead-of-time note: The soufflé may be completed to this point 1/2 hour
or more ahead; cover loosely with a sheet of foil and set away from drafts.
Baking - 30 to 35 minutes at 400 degrees F and 375 degrees F. Set in
the
lower third of the preheated oven, turn the thermostat down to 375
degrees F,
and bake until the soufflé has begun to puff and brown - about
20 minutes.
The confectioners sugar, and finish. Slide the rack out gently; quickly
dust
the top of the soufflé with sifted confectioners sugar, and continue
baking
until the soufflé has puffed 2 to 3 inches over the rim of the
baking dish into
the collar, and the top has browned nicely under the
sugar coating – see “When
is it done?” [in the master soufflé recipe].
Serving. As soon as it is done, bring the soufflé to the table. To keep
the
puff standing, hold your serving spoon and fork upright and back
to back; plunge
them into the crust and tear it apart.
Special Note
Vanilla Beans
Vanilla beans have lost their savor for me and I have sadly given them up.
However, if you are lucky enough to find good ones, you can, for instance,
slit
2
of them in half and bury them several days in a jar with a pound of
granulated
sugar, or warm a whole bean for 20 minutes in a covered
saucepan with the milk
you are using for the soufflé.
Orange Soufflé Grand Marnier
Follow the
directions for the master recipe but make a fresh orange flavoring by puréeing
in a blender or food processor the zest (orange
part of the peel)
of 1 large orange with the sugar called for in the sauce base. After completing
the sauce base, beat in 3 tablespoons of orange liqueur but only 2 teaspoons
of vanilla. Proceed with the recipe. You
might accompany the soufflé with
prettily prepared and arrange fresh skinless orange segments flavored with a
little sugar and orange liqueur.
Special Note
Fresh strawberry or raspberry sauce is attractive with the
soufflé, or
fresh berries, or sliced fruits such as mangoes or peaches tossed
with
sugar and lemon.
Chocolate
sauce,
Zabaione sauce, and
caramel sauce
are other
ideas. [Julia’s sauce recipes are included in the cookbook.]
Chocolate Soufflé
"This is the best formula for chocolate soufflé I have run into so far – it has
a fine chocolate flavor, a subtle texture, and it holds up well for serving.
The secret is
in the egg whites, which are beaten into a meringue – 6 egg
whites held up with
1/2 cup of sugar. The formula is slightly different
from the preceding master
recipe, but the technique is the same.”
For
a 2- to 2 1/2-quart baking dish, 7 1/2 to 8 inches in diameter, serving 8
7 ounces sweet baking chocolate smoothly melted with
1/3 cup strong coffee [method below]
The sauce base
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter, optional
A big pinch of salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
6 egg whites (3/4 cup)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Confectioners sugar in a fine-meshed sieve
Optional accompaniment: lightly whipped cream flavored
with confectioners sugar and pure vanilla extract
Preliminaries. Melt the chocolate, measure out all the
other ingredients listed, butter the soufflé dish, surround it with a foil
collar [see master
recipe], and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
The soufflé base. Following directions in the master [dessert] recipe,
whisk the flour and milk together and boil slowly, this time for 2
minutes,
whisking. Off heat, whisk in the optional butter, the salt, and
the vanilla,
then the egg yolks, and finally the smoothly melted chocolate.
The egg whites. In a clean separate bowl with clean beaters, beat the
egg
whites to soft peaks, gradually sprinkle in the 1/2 cup sugar, and
beat to stiff
shining peaks, as described [in the
master recipe].
Combining ingredients. Ladle the chocolate sauce base down the side
of
the egg-white bowl, rapidly fold the two mixtures together, and turn
the soufflé
into the prepared baking dish.
Baking – 50 to 60 minutes at 425 degrees F and 375 degrees F. Set
the
soufflé in the lower level of the preheated oven and turn the thermo-
stat
down to 375 degrees F.
Confectioners sugar, finishing, and serving. In 35 to 40 minutes the
soufflé will have puffed and risen an inch or so over the rim of the dish.
Following directions in the preceding master recipe, rapidly sprinkle the
top
with confectioners sugar, then finish the baking, and serve as
directed;
pass
the optional whipped cream separately.
To Melt Chocolate
“Chocolate can
be a complicated subject when you are making candies or chocolate coverings that
must be utterly professional, clear, and shining. Fortunately we are not going
into such mysteries here – the main concern is that the chocolate be smoothly
melted, and that means not overheating it. Overheating will cause it to seize,
to turn hard and grainy; it will melt smoothly at around 100 degrees F. I
know that some cooks swear by the microwave, but I prefer the following simple
and straightforward system, where I am in complete control.”
To Melt Chocolate
with Liquid Flavoring
Most of the
recipes in this book call for chocolate melted in a small amount of liquid
flavoring, such as coffee or rum. The minimum amount of liquid is 1 tablespoon
per 2 ounces of chocolate – you can add more but not less or the chocolate will
stiffen.
[Ingredients listed above]
Special Equipment Suggested:
A 2-cup moderately heavy saucepan with tight-fitting lid;
a larger saucepan or frying pan to hold it
Break up the chocolate into the 2-cup pan and add the rum or
coffee.
Pour 2 to 3 inches of water into the larger pan and bring it to the simmer.
Remove from the heat, let cool 15 seconds, cover the chocolate pan tightly, and
set it in the hot water. In 5 minutes the chocolate should be smoothly melted –
if not, reheat the water in the larger pan to below the simmer, remove from the
heat, return the chocolate pan to it, and stir until the chocolate is smooth and
glistening.
[Click for
Chocolatier's
Chocolate Key.]
Julia's Superb Savory Soufflés
Featured Archive Recipes:
Chocolate Soufflé (Jacques Torres)
Hot Chocolate Soufflés
(Alice Medrich)
Chocolate Molten Soufflé
(Commander's Palace)
Chocolate Soufflé Cakes with
White Chocolate Sauce
Floating Islands
Frozen Peach and Amaretti Soufflés
Meringues Glacées
A Tribute to Julia Child
More Lagniappe Recipes!
Index - Main Dish Recipes
Index - Miscellaneous Dessert Recipes
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Recipe Archives Index
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