Today, in honor of National Chocolate Souffle Day we are learning all about souffles. What is a souffle? A soufflé is a baked dish made basically of milk and eggs, to which separately beaten egg whites give it an airy lightness. The French it literally means “puffed-up”. Souffles can be any type of dish, from morning egg breakfasts, to desserts, entrees or whatever your culinary imagination can whip up. Many cooks believe that a souffle has to be handed very carefully and not wrestled out of the oven only to fall flat. It is the puffiness that really makes a souffle. So when your dish is done, gently set it on a rack and let it cool slightly.
Five Fun Facts:
- It is traditional to make souffles in individual ramekins.
- There are a number of variations on the soufflé theme. One is an ice cream soufflé, which combines a soufflé with ice cream and either a fruit or a hot sauce.
- The word soufflé first appeared in English in Louis Ude’s The French Cook, 1813, and by 1845 was so commonly accepted that in Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery(1845) a recipe for soufflé was included as just another recipe.
- Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages says”Patrons of La Grande Taverne de Londres, which opened in Paris in the 1780s, were perhaps the first to enjoy this dessert souffle. It comes from the repertoire of Beauvilliers, who, wrote, Brillat-Savarin, “was for more than fifteen years the most famous restauranteur in Paris”.
- The Oxford English Dictionary defines a soufflé as ‘a light dish, either sweet or savoury, made by mixing materials with white of egg beaten up to a froth, and heating the mixture in an oven until it puffs up.’
Five Souffle Recipes:
- Chocolate Fallen Soufflé Cake – This is the perfect Shabbat dessert because unlike regular souffle which has to be eaten right away, this is designed to eat later, once it has fallen and it is delicious.
- Chocolate Souffle– Easy to make; nothing compares to the exquisite taste and velvety texture of a souffle warm from the oven.
- Blintz Souffle-Blintzes are classic in the Jewish cooking world and every chef has his or her own version of this souffle. You really can’t go wrong with all that butter, cream, sugar and eggs.
- Broccoli & Goat Cheese Souffle– Surprisingly easy to make, this broccoli and goat cheese souffle will wow your family and friends.
- Tuna Souffle – Prepare this souffle after Shabbos and bake it the next morning for brunch. All you need is a fruit salad as an accompaniment. Yum!
Click for more souffle recipes.
Nutritional Information per one serving of chocolate souffle:
Calories: 331
Fat: 15 g
Carbohydrates: 43 g
Cholesterol: 113 mg
Sodium: 235 mg
Protein: 10 g
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