There are some recipes that make you feel like more of a cook. Those recipes that seem daunting or undoable, but, once mastered, make you feel like you put your big girl pants on when it comes to your kitchen skills. This Soufflé Au Fromage | Classic Gruyere Cheese Souffle is one of these recipes.
A lot of time those recipes are personal to you and your cooking experience. While homemade ice cream might be hard for some, it might be from scratch pasta that has others flummoxed.
From the time I first traveled to France, cheese soufflé was that recipe for me. As I cooked more and more, I realized that eggs were that thing, though I loved eating them, weren’t second nature for me to cook. So I tapped my French stepmother for all her tips and after many fails, finally got the hang of it. The truth is a successful soufflé comes down to a few key tips. Stay within those culinary guardrails and you can riff all you want within it.
Here are all the tips I’ve learned along with a recipe for a super classic cheese soufflé that’s sweet, savory, and uber airy and can be made in under an hour.
Tips To Make A Successful Savory Cheese Soufflé
- Use A Straight-Sided Baking Dish: If you have a 1.5 quart soufflé dish, now is the time to pull it out. But the reality is any 6-cup baking dish will work. Ideally it would have straight sides (to help the soufflé rise!) but you could even use a square glass baking dish if needed — just know it won’t rise quite the same!
- Line The Dish With Butter And Cheese: Prep the baking dish with a serious covering of butter and then add some cheese to coat the dish (like you would do with flour for a cake). The cheese will not only help the soufflé base climb as it bakes but also it will provide an evenly brown crust and a dash of extra salty savory flavor.
- Have Everything Measured Out Before You Cook: In an ideal world, you’d always have all your ingredients measured out and prepped before you start a recipe but we know that isn’t real life. But this recipe is one where you really truly need everything ready to go before you start cooking.
- Separate Eggs Before You Cook: Speaking of prep you’ll also want the eggs separated into yolks and whites before you start cooking.
- Whisk By Hand For Precision: If you want to make quick work of whipping the egg whites, go ahead and pull out your stand mixer. But, if you want to make sure you don’t over whip the egg whites, well, that’s easier to monitor if you whisk by hand. FYI it will be easier if you use a French-style wire whip (aka a balloon whisk which will bring way more air into the eggs as you whisk as opposed to a flat or other style of whisk.
- Rinse Everything In White Vinegar: You may already know that egg whites will not whip up properly if they have egg yolk (or really any bits of fat) in them. That means you not only want to carefully separate the egg whites and yolks but also that you want to make sure everything you use to whip the egg whites is impeccably clean. The easiest way to do this is to clean everything in hot soapy water before you get going and then rinse it quickly with white vinegar, which not only will eliminate any grease, but also stabilize the egg whites so they hold together better!
- Add Cream Of Tartar To Your Egg Whites: For extra insurance that the egg whites hold up well, add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites before you whip them. Generally, you want 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar for each cup of egg whites!
- Bake Less For A Custardy Center Or More For Firm Eggs: Just like with scrambled eggs, you can have your soufflé on the slightly runnier or custard-y side or firmer and drier. We recommend you bake it about 30 to 35 minutes (at 400°F) for a more custard-y soufflé and closer to 40 minutes for a firmly set soufflé.
How To Make A Soufflé Ahead Of Time
Yes, it is totally possible to make a soufflé ahead of time. Well, let’s be 100% clear: you can prepare the soufflé base ahead of time and then just bake it when you’re almost ready to eat.
To make the soufflé ahead of time, you have a couple options. You can just make the base with the egg yolks added up to 1 hour ahead and keep at room temperature then whisk and add the eggs when you’re ready to bake the soufflé.
Or, more commonly what people do is they make the complete soufflé but put it in the refrigerator or freezer (just defrost fully before baking it). The soufflé will definitely deflate a bit as it sits but it will still rise a bit and, of course, it will still be delicious.
Now you’re armed with all the top tips you need to know to make your own soufflé. We like to have our Potato Leek Soup as a first course then have this soufflé with a vinegar-y salad as a main course. Or serve it as a twist on Mother’s Day brunch along with some bubbles and a fruit salad. No matter how you serve it, we can guarantee you it will be delicious!
Now go stock up on all your cooking essentials, then head into the kitchen, make this, and share it with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!
{Soufflé Au Fromage} Classic Gruyere Cheese Soufflé Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more to coat the baking dish
- 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese plus more for coating the baking dish
- 1 cup whole milk or half-and-half
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs or parsley or marjoram (optional)
- 1/2 medium shallot or 2 garlic cloves (optional)
- 4 black peppercorns (optional)
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour
- 4 egg yolks room temperature
- 6 egg whites cold
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
- 4 ounces shredded Gruyere, aged Cheddar, or aged Gouda or Comté cheese
Instructions
- Prepare The Soufflé Dish: Heat oven to 400°F, arrange rack in lower third, and place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack. Generously coat a 1.5 quart soufflé dish or 6-cup baking dish with butter. Add a spoonful of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (above and beyond the measured amount), rotate the dish to fully coat the inside with flour, then turn over and tap to get rid of any excess. Place the soufflé dish in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make The Soufflé Base: Place the milk and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a small saucepan and add in any flavorings you'd like (such as a few sprigs of thyme, marjoram or parsley, a grating of nutmeg, a bay leaf, a few garlic cloves or shallots, or even a few peppercorns). Heat over medium-high until it just comes to a boil, about 5 minutes, then set aside.Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once it foams, sift the flour over the butter and whisk it in and cook until the raw flour taste is gone, about 2 minutes. While continuously whisking, slowly pour the milk or half-and-half in a constant stream. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and cook until the mixture is as thick as Greek yogurt and pulling away from the sides, about 3 minutes.Remove from the heat and stir in the measured cheeses and stir until all the cheese is melted. Add the egg yolks one and a time and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool while you whisk the egg whites.Place egg whites in the impeccably clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cream of tartar, if using, then increase the speed to high and beat until peaks are stiff but not dry, about 1 minute more. Add 1/3 of the whites into the cheese mixture until blended and no white streaks are visible. Add remaining whites and gently fold until thoroughly combined.
- Bake The Soufflé: Immediately turn the mixture into the prepared dish and, if desired, use an offset spatula to even out the top of the soufflé. Place the soufflé on the heated rimmed baking sheet and bake until it is well risen, the top is browned, the edges appear dry, and the center is just set (it will just a bit), will lightly jiggle (like J-ELLO), about 30 minutes if you want it slightly custard-y or more like 35 minutes to have it fully set.Serve immediately along with a vinegar-y salad and crusty bread.
