Soufflé
Photo: jules · CC BY 2.0

History

The soufflé was codified by Antonin Carême around 1815 in his Palais-Royal patisserie, where he wrote the first recipe to call for separated eggs and gentle folding. Auguste Escoffier expanded the form in Le Guide Culinaire (1903) into both sweet and savoury versions: Grand Marnier, Suzette, cheese, mushroom. Le Soufflé restaurant in the 1er has cooked nothing but the dish since 1961, with 30 sweet and savoury versions on the carte. Le Grand Véfour has kept its Grand Marnier soufflé on the menu unchanged for six decades. The technique is unforgiving: whites to firm peaks, the folding must keep the air in, the oven door cannot open mid-bake.

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Common allergens: Dairy, Egg, Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 45 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 30g unsalted butter, plus extra for the ramekins
  • 30g plain flour
  • 300ml whole milk, warm
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 100g Gruyère, finely grated, plus extra for dusting
  • 5 large egg whites
  • Pinch of cream of tartar or a few drops of lemon juice
  • Sea salt, freshly grated nutmeg, white pepper

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Butter four 250ml ramekins, dust the insides with grated Gruyère, tap out the excess. Refrigerate.
  2. Melt the butter, whisk in the flour, cook over a low heat for 2 minutes without colouring. Off the heat, whisk in the warm milk a third at a time. Return to the heat and stir until thickened.
  3. Off the heat, beat in the yolks one at a time, then the Gruyère, salt, nutmeg and white pepper. The bechamel should be thick but pourable.
  4. Whisk the whites with the cream of tartar to firm peaks. Stir a third of the whites into the bechamel to slacken it, then fold the rest in gently with a spatula.
  5. Spoon into the ramekins to fill them just below the rim. Run a thumb around the inside of each rim to help the soufflé rise straight up.
  6. Bake on a baking sheet for 12 to 14 minutes until risen 4cm above the rim and golden. Serve immediately at the table; they fall in under two minutes.

Tip from the editors. Whip the whites to firm but not stiff peaks; over-whipped whites lose air during the fold. The oven door does not open until you serve.

Where to eat soufflé

Soufflé in Paris

Le Grand Véfour ★ 4.3

€€€€ French Fine Dining1er

Two centuries of dining-room history at Le Grand Véfour, the Palais-Royal mirror-and-velvet salon where Paris cooked dinner for Napoleon, Colette and Cocteau.

OrderThe ravioles de foie gras at the chef's prix-fixe lunch.

TipTuesday-Friday lunch is a third the price of dinner and books two weeks out, not four months.

Directions Book

Tomy & Co ★ 4.6

€€€ French Bistro7e

Tomy Gousset's Tomy & Co in Paris's 7e earned a Michelin star in 2018 and still runs the seasonal kitchen everyone in the embassy quarter books for a long.

OrderSweetbreads in winter, pithivier of game in autumn, the soufflé to finish.

TipClosed Sunday and Monday. The five-course tasting at €98 is the deal of the room on weeknights.

Directions Book

La Poule au Pot ★ 4.3

€€ French bistroUntil Open until 02:00

La Poule au Pot in Paris's 1er Les Halles cooks classic grand-mère bistro until 02:00. At 9 Rue Vauvilliers. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.

TryPoule au pot Henri IV

TipAfter midnight the room thins to regulars; the soufflé Grand Marnier is the order for a late dessert.

Directions

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