“A woman happy happy in love, she burns the soufflé. A woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven.” In Sabrina (1954)
Soufflé, the name is fancy but making soufflé is easier than you think. Make this delicious French at home and please everyone.
Souffle is just a matter of time. The time gap from the oven to the table. So, there is famous French saying: Le soufflé n’attend pas, on attend le soufflé. Meaning le soufflé doesn’t wait, we (the guests) wait. But today I will not wait for le soufflé, but I will make the soufflé.
Let’s start to gather ingredients. As you see, souffle doesn’t need a lot of ingredients.
First, make bechamel sauce, white sauce.
Over medium heat, add butter in the sauce pan and melt it.
Add in the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring with a wooden spoon. This is white roux.
Remove the pan from the heat, gradually add hot milk, and stir until smooth and combined. Back to medium heat stir constantly until it comes to a boil. The sauce should form ribbons. This is white sauce. Remove from the heat.
Add in salt and vanilla extract and stir until combined. Separate the egg white and egg yolk and add in the egg yolks one by one and stir to combine. The sauce pan is still warm, so pour the sauce into a separate bowl to prevent unwanted evaporation; set aside.
Now make French meringue. Whisk egg whites. It is not mixing. It is incorporating the air. Keep whisking until firm peaks form. Add gradually sugar while slowly whisking.
Keep whisking until soft peaks form. This is French meringue. It takes about 20 minutes with hand.
Add about one third of the French meringue into the white sauce and whisk until homogeneous. Then, pour all white sauce into meringue and whisk until just combined. Be careful not to crush the delicate meringue.
Spoon the mixture into ramekins. Run thumb around inside of rim. This will help the soufflé to rise straight.
Bake in the oven preheated to 390° F. (200° C.) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until well risen. These are perfectly risen soufflés in the oven.
(In the movie Audrey Hepburn forgot to turn on the oven when making soufflé.)
Place on a plate because ramekins are very hot. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately out of oven.
This is classic French vanilla soufflé. Well risen. Golden brown top. Pale yellow inside. The texture is mousse like, very delicate and hot mousse.
- 1 tablespoon softened unsalted butter (14g)
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (10g)
- ½ cup milk, hot (120 ml)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar (30g)
- 2 eggs, medium-sized, seperated
- Pinch salt
- Confectioners’ sugar, to serve
- Additional butter and sugar to prepare the ramekins
- PREPARE RAMEKINS: Brush the ramekins with softened unsalted butter. Brush from bottom upwards. This will make the soufflé to rise evenly. Then, coat the ramekins with sugar. And shake out any excess; set aside.
- BECHAMEL SAUCE (white sauce: step 2-4): Over medium heat, add butter in the sauce pan and melt it. Add in the flour and cook for 1 minute stirring with a wooden spoon. This is white roux.
- Remove the pan from the heat, gradually add hot milk, and stir until smooth and combined. Back to medium heat stir constantly until it comes to a boil. The sauce should form ribbons. This is white sauce. Remove from the heat.
- Add in salt and vanilla extract and stir until combined. Separate the eggs and add in the egg yolks one by one and stir to combine. The sauce pan is still warm, so pour the sauce into a separate bowl to prevent unwanted evaporation; set aside.
- MAKE FRENCH MERINGUE: Whisk egg whites. It is not mixing. It is incorporating the air. Keep whisking until firm peaks form. Add gradually sugar while slowly whisking. Keep whisking until soft peaks form. This is French meringue. It takes about 20 minutes with hand.
- COMBINE: Add about one third of the French meringue into the white sauce and whisk until homogeneous. Then, pour all white sauce into meringue and whisk until just combined. Be careful not to crush the delicate meringue.
- BAKE: Spoon the mixture into ramekins. Run thumb around inside of rim. This will help the soufflé to rise straight. Bake in the oven preheated to 390° F. (200° C.) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until well risen.
- SERVE: Place on a plate because ramekins are very hot. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately out of oven.
Penelope says
Hi Eugenie! This was a fun recipe, so sweet and light and the first time I have ever made a soufflé. I was wondering if you have a rice pudding recipe or a brioche recipe? Thanks for another great cooking experience! :)
EugenieKitchen says
Hi Penelope, glad to know you successfully baked souffle :) And thanks for your suggestion, that’s a good idea. I noted. Happy baking always!
Krystina Tran says
Hi Eugenie! Im so proud of myself for successfully completing this recipe. This is the first time i have ever made and tasted a souffle so Im not sure how it should be like. But, it looked quite identical to the picture so maybe i did it right! :D thanks for sharing your recipe!
EugenieKitchen says
Sorry, I’m replying back so late but I’m so happy to hear that from you Krystina! Bravo. :)
Samantha Cheok says
Hi Eugenie! Wow! Thanks for this WONDERFUL recipe! I watched your video many times and followed all the steps… But it collapses the moment I open my oven (I’ve tried for like 4 times!) and the finished product just doesn’t look quite the same as yours… =( any tips on where I might have gone wrong? Helpppp… =)
EugenieKitchen says
Hi Samantha, your souffles were not baked enough. You can either: try higher oven temperature, bake a little more, or use smaller ramekins. Good luck!
Samantha Cheok says
Ahhhh I did it! Thanks Eugenie!!! =)
ibnu shiyam says
hi genie what kind of milk you use? liquid milk or sweetened condensed milk
ibnu shiyam says
hi genie what kind of milk you use? liquid milk or sweetened condensed milk
Eugenie says
Hi Ibnu, just regular whole milk is used here, not scm. Happy cooking!
EugenieKitchen says
Hi ibnu, I used regular whole milk.
Michael C. says
Hi Eugenie, thanks for the video and your receipe. I tried making it over the weekend but the souffle just collapsed the moment I opened the oven door. I did bake it longer the 2nd time but the same result! I wonder if my ramekins were too big for your receipe as the culprit? Is there any reason why the ramekin should be filled almost to the rim?
Can you advise me?
EugenieKitchen says
Hi Michael, 1) if it collapses too fast, the souffle wasn’t baked enough. Try to bake a few minutes more. And also adding a little bit of cornstarch in the mixture will help regarding this issue. 2) you don’t have to fill the ramekins completely. But if the baking dishes are full, the souffles will rise more, which is traditionally desirable for a souffle. :)
ridhima says
hey hi!Just one question,if i don’t have ramekins, can i just double the recipe measurements and use a cake baking dish instead? Will it affect the end result in any way?
ridhima says
hey hi! Just one question, If I don’t have ramekins with me , can i just double the recipe measurements and use a cake baking dish instead? Or will it affect the end result in any unwanted way?
EugenieKitchen says
Hi, souffle is really delicate. Using individual size baking dishes is recommended for souffle.
EugenieKitchen says
Hi, glad to know that you liked the taste of your souffle. As for the cracks on top, run your thumb around the inside of the dish below the rim before putting it in the oven next time. Happy cooking!
Chloe says
Hello Eugenie! Thank you for the recipe and video. I want to ask, what size are the ramekins used to hold the soufflé?
Samantha Scott says
Thank you so much for the recipe I make and it rose beautifully but only side started to drip over a bit and hang off. I am making it tonight again because my parents loved it and was a special request. I will rub my thumb a little more and hopefully it will be a perfect level. I wish I could post a picture of it. It was a little piece of heaven
Gomez says
Hi Eugenie
Let me say that the recipe was so easy to follow and mine turned out brilliant.
Many thanks
EugenieKitchen says
Thanks for letting me know, Gomez. Happy cooking and happy new year! :)
EugenieKitchen says
Glad to hear that your souffle turned out successfully. :) Thank you so much for inviting me, Gomez. I don’t have a restaurant in London but I loved summer schools in London. I wish you and your family good luck in 2016. Happy new year!