Vanilla Soufflé
A light dessert made with a vanilla custard base folded with whipped egg whites and baked until golden and airy.
Ingredients
bread flour
3 oz (90 g)
butter
3 oz (90 g)
milk
1 pt (500 mL)
sugar (for the base)
4 oz (120 g)
egg yolks
6 oz (8–9 yolks / 180 g)
vanilla extract
0.33 oz (2 tsp / 10 mL)
egg whites
10 oz (10 whites / 300 g)
sugar (for the meringue)
2 oz (60 g)
Instructions
1
Make the batter
Mix the flour and butter together and knead into a dough.
2
Heat the milk
Dissolve the sugar in the milk and bring to a boil, then remove from heat.
3
Combine
Whisk the batter into the milk, stirring vigorously to ensure there are no lumps.
4
Cook the base
Return the mixture to the heat and bring back to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for a few minutes until the mixture becomes very thick and no longer tastes of raw flour.
5
Cool
Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, cover, and let cool for 5–10 minutes.
6
Add the yolks
Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and stir until evenly combined.
7
Prepare the molds
Butter the inside of the soufflé molds thoroughly and coat them with fine granulated sugar. This recipe fills 10–12 individual molds or two 7-inch (18 cm) molds.
8
Whip the egg whites
Whip the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the sugar and continue whipping to firm, moist peaks.
9
Fold together
Gently fold the meringue into the soufflé base.
10
Fill the molds
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking molds and smooth the surface.
11
Bake
Bake at 375°F (190°C). Large molds take about 30 minutes; individual molds take about 15 minutes.
12
Garnish and serve
Optional: dust the top with powdered sugar 3–4 minutes before the end of baking. Serve immediately after coming out of the oven.
