Curd Soufflé
A soufflé stands on the air beaten into the whites — and on not letting that air out. So the whites are folded with a spatula from underneath rather than stirred; the dish is filled at once; and the oven stays shut for the first twenty minutes. It sinks anyway, which is normal, and why it is served immediately.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Total
- 1 h 10 min
- Servings
- 6
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 220 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: a 20 cm dish, 6 portions
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Prepare the dish
Butter it with upward strokes and dust with sugar. Those vertical grooves are the ladder the soufflé climbs; circular strokes erase it.
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Step 2: Blend the curd
Blitz the curd with sour cream, yolks, cornflour, vanilla and half the sugar until perfectly smooth. Any lump becomes a heavy point the soufflé collapses around.
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Step 3: Whip the whites
Beat them with salt and lemon juice to soft peaks, then add the remaining sugar a spoon at a time to a firm, glossy meringue.
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Step 4: Fold in three stages
Beat a third of the whites into the curd base to loosen it, then fold the rest in with a spatula, turning the bowl. No streaks should remain, but do not keep folding.
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Step 5: Into the dish at once
Fill the dish, level the top and run a finger around the rim to make a groove. It helps the soufflé rise straight instead of leaning.
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Step 6: Bake without opening
Thirty to thirty-five minutes at 175 °C. Do not open the oven for the first 20 — cold air stops the rise instantly.
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Step 7: Serve immediately
It starts to sink three or four minutes out of the oven; that is physics, not failure. Dust with icing sugar and carry it straight to the table.
Tips & variations
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Tip
The commonest reason a soufflé does not rise is fat in the whites. A drop of yolk or a greasy whisk is enough to stop them whipping properly.
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Tip
Fill the dish three quarters full, no more. A soufflé doubles, and the excess simply runs over the edge.
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Variation
Chocolate: 30 g of cocoa in the base and 20 g more sugar. Berry: a handful of berries scattered on the bottom of the dish.
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Storage
A soufflé does not keep — it is a dish of one minute. Sunken, the next day, it eats as a dense curd bake, and it is still good.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 6 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 220 kcal | 1,320 kcal |
| Protein | 15 g | 90 g |
| Fat | 11 g | 66 g |
| Carbohydrates | 15 g | 90 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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