Is a very good souffle impossible to make at home? Absolutely not. In fact, I think it is one of the easier home made desserts to make and is almost always a HUGE crowd pleaser when it makes its appearance at the end of a home-cooked meal. Last night’s impromptu souffle grand marnier is a perfect example why we should all do this at home more often…
A couple of friends/neighbors were coming over for dessert last night and we agreed everyone was super game for a souffle grand marnier, a light flavorful souffle that seems luxurious but really is not. We had everything in the pantry/fridge to make this dessert, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, sugar, flour, grand marnier, salt. I couldn’t find my several times tried and tested recipe so I looked one up on line at Epicurious, here. It worked just fine… So here are some Marketman tips to help ensure your souffle success. Lightly butter and sugar the insides of your ramekins or souffle dishes. Then let them chill in the fridge or freezer until firmed up, say 30 minutes in a fridge or less in a freezer. Then REPEAT the butter and sugar trick and chill again. I use caster sugar so the sugar coating is finer. That should take you just a few minutes and that can be done before dinner. Then follow the epicurious recipe, except that in the Philippines, I used 8 egg yolks and 8 egg whites, as I find the eggs here have more whites proportionally that eggs in the U.S. I didn’t have the orange oil so I left it out. Make sure your oven is pre-heated and at 400F, make sure you beat your eggwhites well, as the air bubbles trapped in the egg whites is what makes a souffle rise. If you do everything as described in the recipe, you should end up with a pretty darned good souffle, something like the one in the second picture above…
One of our crew who is interested in baking took it upon herself to open the oven midway through the baking and turn the souffles around for even browning, and while that is great for cookies, it can spell instant death for a souffle. DO NOT OPEN your oven until the souffles are done. I had to explain to her why the drop in temperature, draft, etc. could kill the dessert, but bottom line is, do not mess with the oven heat/bubbles rising combination. Despite the gaffe, the souffles still rose reasonably well (probably would be 3/4 inch taller without opening the door), and they tasted brilliant. So what happened to the souffle in the first photo above? We had extra batter and we were wondering if it really made a difference whether you cooked your souffle in a water bath as epicurious had instructed, or would it also fare well as a dry bake, without any water. Well, the first photo is the experimental dry bake trial, and it both exploded and collapsed. So the moral of the story is to follow the recipe as it is written until you are comfortable enough with it to tinker. As for the taste of the souffles in the first picture, they were brilliant as well, almost like soft chewy meringue and we consumed both of those “experiments” as well! Once you get the hang of a basic souffle, explore chocolate ones, apricot or raspberry ones, etc… you’ll be less likely to shell out a huge sum at a snazzy restaurant when you realize you can make an equally or better tasting version at home! Enjoy! P.S. you can sprinkle the souffles with powdered sugar for arte, and if you are up to it, make a creme anglaise to serve with the souffles. :)
30 Responses
They look like mamon, yum.
Creme anglaise, please!!
My family loves souffle will definitely try this at home. Thanks a lot!!!
Coincidence…I actually also baked Grand Marnier Souffles for desert in one of our Chrstmas dinners. I used the recipe in the Time/Life ‘Cooking of Provincial France’…turned out really well…fluffy, very subtle G. Marnier flavor. It didn’t require a water bath and rose quite well..admitedly not as high as the one in your pic. I’ll try it again with the prep tips you suggested for the ramekins. Happy New Year to everyone!
Looks very good. You could use some orange zest in place of orange oil and add a couple of tbsp. of chopped candied orange peel to the cream anglaise for a contrast in texture.
Hi MM, i finally got my rhubarb today !!! I’m so excited to try thr strawberry rhubarb pie….i followed your recipe…the pie crust is delicious but my filling is super sour! what happened, is rhubarb sour?
rose, yes, rhubarb is tart. Did you add sugar to your filling mix? And were your strawberries nice and sweet or also sour?
I have to confess I am not a fan of souffle. It tastes a little too “eggy” for me. I ordered Grand Marnier at a high end resto once and it looked and smelled good. The taste was ok. Just too… eggy. So i never repeated the experience or attempted it at home.
yum!! would love the chewy one on top…
Do you think it would have risen more had you tied a paper collar around the ramekins?
looks yummy! can’t wait to try a chocolate one..
zena, you might try a chocolate one, they might strike you as being less eggy. Mikey, this one would have risen another 3/4-1 inch if the oven door wasn’t opened mid-way… I like the souffles wihtout a collar so that the sides also get hit by the heat directly…
hi marketman, speaking of vanilla, got some from Madagascar. Any suggestions on its use if you just have toaster oven?
Hi MM!..i added sugar, some of the strawberries are sour.though, there are some parts of the pie which is ok.. the rest too sour…i really love the pie crust..i till have more than a kilo of rhubarb and pie crust. what can i do with them? do you have rhubarb pie recipe? i have to try again making this strawberry rhubarb pie , next time.
Rose, rhubarb is great in creme brulee. This was the special dessert of Sala in Malate before. Don’t know if they still have it. It was wonderful a combination of mild sweetness with the touch of tartness from the rhubarb. I guess you have to adjust your sweetness to the tartness of your rhubarb. Strawberry and rhubarb jam is great too. Pity to waste such goodness. Good luck.
i definitely like souffles a lot…..will try this one…..
Hi lex!!!!
nope it didn’t entirely went to waste….i placed the remaining pies in the refrigerator last night.i didn’t remember the note that it is best eaten cold. But just now, i had them (hahaha).. the sourness was gone… maybe my prayers were heard!lex i hope you have recipes for rhubarb . i still have more than a kilo. though, i’m aiming another attempt of my strawberry rhubarb pie.. if i can get ripe strawberries this week.and besides MM posted another recipe for me to try the souffle.he read my mind! (bec i thought i wont be able to get rhubarb.anyways,thanks Lex and MM
Rose…if I may make a suggestion: If you are going to incorporate tthe rhubarb in something like crem brulee in which the texture is so silky, you might want to make a compote out of it first, …like a rhubarb orange one MM featured giving your creme brulee a pretty pinkinsh hue.
You could also make a rhubarb custard pie or a really simple comforting strawberry-rhubarb crisp ( i bake them in white square ceramic dishes for individual servings)
If you can get mixed frozen berries (strawberries, bluberries, blackberries, raspberries), you could add some rhubarb and apple to make a bumbleberry pie one of my favorites!)
Or how about making a plain vanilla cheesecake (have you ever tried the cheesecake at CHEESECAKE, ETC? …I have been on this quest like any obsessive cook such as MM, for over 10 years. It is a very closely guarded secret like Fort Knox BUT I think I am really, really close to achieving that goal – unforgettable texture and taste!!!!) , then make a compote using your rhubarb with some strawberries and serve it alongside the cheesecake. I know some people will say just incorporate it into the cheesecake. HOWEVER, I am sure that a lot of people out there who has eaten the cheesecake at ChEESECAKE, ETC. here in Vancouver will DEFINITELY say its a NO_NO!!!…I will not mess with the simple unadulterated taste of pure delight and an unforgettable one at that!
Thanks for the tips in embarking to successful souffle making. The dos and do nots really help. Bettyq thanks also for the berries journey and any additional tips on souffle making is greatlly appreciated. I had a bibingka souffles from a friend last Christmas which were excellent. One was I believe is feta cheese and salted eggs and the another one was with macapuno. I inquired where she got them from and she said from a lady that lives somewhere up in the hill! My inquiry mind never stopped and one question I have how did they do them that after a day or two they kept their height and did not come down?
Good morning Maria Clara! A while back in one of MM’s GAZILLION posts, spomeone mentioned Bibingka souffle…curiosity got the best of me and I googled it….there is a recipe for it on the web which I am absolutely, positive the lady from up the hill got it from! The lady who created it has a cookbook as well…something Coconut (forgot the whole title!). I think her name is Annie Guerrero. She is gracious enough to share here rcipe on the web. If you cannot find it..here it is:
4 cups coconut milk
2 cups sugar
Heat until dissolved. I think I will decrease the amount of sugar esp. if the coconut milk is a bit sweet.
4 whole eggs
1 1/2 cups cornstarch 4 pcs. chopped salted eggs
Combine the cornstarch with half of warm coconut milk. Then put back the mixture into the pot and cook until thickened. Off the fire, add HOT LIQUID into the yolks and then put the mixture back into the pot and cook until it coats back of spoon or thickened. Cool and add salted eggs.
Clean glass or metal bowl, whip 3 cups of eggwhites, pinch of salt or cream of tartar ….her recipe did not have cream of tartar….(remember there is salted egg in the souffle plus feta cheese pa….haaay!) till foamy..like soft shaving cream. Add sugar gradually(2 cups with 6 tbsp. CORNSTARCH added) and whip until it looks like shaving cream…stiff but not dry. FOLD the meringue in batches. Initially, as you incorporate the meringue, it will look runny (your mixture) but as you add the meringue esp. the last 1/3 of it, it will come together. Remember what I said to you about the chiffon cake?
Pipe the mixture in your buttered and sugared ramekins. Bake 350 degrees. NEVER OPEN iT.
I think the added cornstarch in the meringue holds it up even the next day.
There you go , my dear friend, thanks to Ms. Guerrero, you can also make it and give it to the lady up the hill!
Thanks Bettyq you always come to my rescue. Yes, when she gave me the vague answer of lady up the hill, I shut my mouth. They were very good bibingka souffles though.
thanks Bettyq!!!!!BTw, to you have any rhubarb compote recipe? i saw some but, i’m not sure if they are ok to follow.i want a recipe that has been tested.thanks again!!!!
sorry for the pressure bettyq,, can you also give the recipe of your starwberry rhubabr crisp? if you can only… thanks so much ..i highly appreciate it. i still have a kilo of rhubarb, i want to try something different other than a compote..thanks
Hey Rose..Ok..compote …sorry..but I do not have definite measurements for compote…I use the tancha method. Now, if I want the strawberry taste to predominate, I add more berries than rhubarb. Cut both into approximately same size chunks. If your berries are fairly small, really tiny, leave tthem whole and cut the rhubarb same size as the berries. Add sugar. Depending on how sweet your berries taste, just approximate. You can always add more sugar as you go along.Say for instance, if you have 3 cups total of straw/rhubarb mixture, maybe start with 1/2 cup sugar. Let that macerate for a few hours. You will have a lot of liquid that exuded from the fruit. Bring it to a gentle boil. Once it starts to boil, turn off the heat and set it aside. This way, you can be guaranteed your fruit will not turn to mush. Let it cool in the liquid. If you want more fruit than liquid in your compote, scoop the fruit with a slotted spoon and transfer to another pot. Boil some of the liquid in another pot. Dissolve maybe 1 or 2 tbsp. cornstarch in water. When boiling, add it to the liquid. add some orange zestand pinch of cinnamon. Fold it into the fruit adding more liquid if too thick. For the leftover liquid, you canmake it into jelly. I like my compote a bit runny.
For the crisp….do you have Maida Heatter’s book? She has a blueberry Crumble recipe that is really good. But I would addjust a touch of blitzed Minute Tapioca in the filling together with the flour. For the filling, if you have a total of 6 cups straw/rhubarb mixture, add maybe 3/4 cup sugar. Taste it. Let that fruit stand for about 30 mi nutes to allow the minute tapioca to absorb some of the liquid so it will not be grainy when it is baked.
But I would like you to try this Straw/Rhubarb Bars. It is like a crisp with a crust. This is really good. I make this every spring and I have to control myself or I can finish a whole tray .
For a 9×13 pan:
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup butter
pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg white
Mix everything except the egg white until crumbly. Then remove 2 cups of it and set aside. Now to the rest add the eggwhite and press into bottom of foil lined and buttered pan. Bake it 350 for 10 minutes. Mix the filling:
3 cups strawberry.rhubarb mixture, cut into small pieces.
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
zest of 1/2 orange
pinch of cinnamon
2 tbsp. cornstarch
Mix everything in a bowl and then spread into the top of crust. Mix 1 can condensed milk, 1 egg yolk, 1 tbsp. lemon juice some zest. Drizzle it on top of the rhubarb mixture. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes first and then put the reserved 2 cups of topping and bake for another 25 to 35 minutes. cool before cutting into bars.
Oh, MC..how about adding Malibu Coconut -Rum in your Bibingka Souffle!
For a savouiry souffle (cheese, asparragus, smoked salmon) you can line the dish with butter and flour, rather than butter and sugar. I use a french copper bowl to whip the egg whites – it is supposed to make the egg whites stiffer due to the incorporation of the copper molecules – but I haven’t done comparison tests. I have never tried the bain marie suggested by the epicurious recipe, dry baking seems to work fine. A collar wil make it rise higher, or for variation, you can run your finger n the inside edge of the bowl, and ony the middle will rise.
betty Q. Thanks for the bibingka souffle recipe, I’ll try it this weekend.
thanks so much bettyq!!!!!!!!!!!
How would you know if the souffle is ready to be eaten? Before I made a chocolate souffle I thought it’s ready because it already rose but when we devour it the middle is a bit still wet. what do you think happened? and how do i avoid this?
Your souffle is awesome! So beautiful! I want one : )
Your souffle is so pretty. In the past I thought souffle is only suitable to order when eating out, I agree with you, it’s pretty easy to make. I was thinking of making the grand marnier creme anglaise sauce but no cream at home so came up the orange juice + liqueur version.