French Souffle Recipe

Learn how to make the perfect French souffle - an elegant, magical, and delicious dessert that delights kids and impresses adults. Made in 30 minutes and served right from the oven, it makes a fabulous dessert to finish a romantic dinner.

Today I am making a ramekin dessert - French souffle. It has been a long time since I wanted to make and post the souffle recipe.

Sweet soufflé is not food served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It usually is served as a dessert after the main course.

Moreover, it is best known to be served on special occasions such as birthdays or weddings.

It is one of the best impressive desserts for two made on Valentine's Day!

You might have heard that the French souffle recipe is one of the most stressful and difficult recipes to make.

The issue is that the souffle deflates quickly; it begins to flop when the souffle leaves the oven!

If you want to nail the souffle-making, I will guide you through making one of the perfect French desserts.

Some French chefs such as Gérard Idoux mastered his skills in making the perfect souffle for two decades.

Yes, he knows all the tricks of this fluffy treat: his restaurant serves over 300 soufflés daily!

However, you can easily make this French delight by following a few simple techniques.

What is a soufflé?

Souffle (soufflé spelled in French) is a French baked dish made of egg yolks and mounted egg whites.

The word soufflé is derived from the French verb souffler which means
"to breathe" or "to blow".

Souffles can be classified into savory souffle made with herbs, cheese, or vegetables, and soufflé dessert made with bananas, chocolate, berries, etc.

Souffles are usually baked in individual baking vessels - ramekins that are buttered and sprinkled with sugar before adding preparations.

What is a ramekin?

Ramekin is a small glazed porcelain or glass bowl that is used to make individual dishes: souffles, French onion soup, crème brûlée, appetizers, custard, pudding, etc.

Ramekins are sold in different forms: classic round, geometric, square, oval, heart-shaped.

They are generally sold in sets of four or six. Some of them are accompanied with lids.

Soufflé history

The first appearance of a soufflé goes back to the 18^th century and is attributed to French cook Vincent de la Chapelle.

The dessert was not popularized in France until the 19th century when the chef Marie-Antoine Carême included the souffle recipe in one of his cookbooks.

Later, in the 20^th century, Julia Child introduced the souffle to the American continent.

French soufflé recipe

To make the perfect souffle, you must understand what goes on behind the scenes.

Every souffle is made of an egg yolk base that gives the dessert flavor and helps build the souffle structure and beaten egg whites that provide the volume.

As per Harold McGee, the author of the book "On Food and Cooking. The Science and Lore of the Kitchen",

...if you manage to get any air into the mix, inexorable law of nature will raise it in the oven.

Simply saying, this is the air bubbles from egg whites that expand in a hot oven and give that famous rise to the souffle.

The water from the walls of the air bubbles evaporates and causes the bubbles to expand.

Perfect French souffle: tips and tricks

A souffle has an egg yolk base, which is pastry cream and beaten eggs.

What keeps a souffle risen is the air bubbles from the beaten egg whites that expand in the well-heated oven, giving that famous rise to the souffle.

So, preparing egg whites is the essential thing to succeed in making this dessert.

Tips for working with egg whites

Use fresh eggs at room temperature. Take them out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours before making a souffle. It helps egg whites expand quicker and easier.

Carefully separate egg whites from egg yolks: do not let any yolk into the egg whites; otherwise, it will prevent the egg whites from mounting correctly. Use an egg separator to facilitate this step.

Use a clean and grease-free metal bowl. According to Jeff Potter, the author of the book "Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Cooks, and Good Food," the best bowl for whisking egg whites is a copper bowl since the copper interacts with the protein of egg whites and helps stabilize egg whites' foam.

Add ½ teaspoon white wine vinegar, or ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar, or ½ teaspoon of lemon juice to egg whites while beating them. This step is essential to help stabilize egg whites.

Beat egg whites with a hand whisk! According to Jeff Potter,

...electric beaters won't work in as much air before the foam is set.

If this step seems tiring, use an electric mixer on low-medium speed. If egg whites are mounted quickly, air bubbles will not be incorporated into the meringue.

Keep beating egg whites until a soft peak forms (it is called bec d'oiseau in French, which means "bird beak" in English).

Once you stop whisking, you must see a curve of beaten egg whites that resembling a bird beak, but do not over-beat egg whites to be too thick!

Other tips for making the perfect French souffle

Prepare all the equipment and measure ingredients before you start making a souffle.

Butter ramekins with a silicone brush, making upward strokes, which helps the souffle surface detach from the dish easier.

Then coat the sides and the bottom of ramekins with a sugar layer, knocking out the excess, making a nice crust while baking. 

Refrigerate the prepared dishes while making the batter.

Make the egg yolk base first, then beat egg whites. First, it allows the base to cool down after cooking.

Second, the beaten egg whites, full of lots of air bubbles, have to be incorporated as soon as they are beaten.

Combine egg whites with the egg yolk base right away by folding egg whites in two stages.

Add a third of the egg whites and mix with a rubber or wooden spatula: slide the spatula under the preparation, along the bottom of the bowl, folding up and over.

Add this mixture to the rest of the egg whites and mix until egg whites are incorporated.

The mixture might look barely blended with streaks of whites, which is fine.

Once you spoon the mixture into ramekins, run your thumb around the inside rim of the dish to create a trench to help the souffle rise upwards. Tap the ramekins well before baking.

Preheat the oven well and bake the souffle in a very hot oven. Place ramekins on the lowest rack, where the heat expansion is at the highest level.

This arrangement will raise the souffle to the max. However, it also means that the souffle will deflate quicker once taken out of the oven. So, hurry up with serving!

Never open the oven while baking the souffle. Any sudden change in the oven temperature can cause the souffle to collapse.

How to serve a souffle

There is a saying that guests can wait for a souffle, but a souffle cannot wait for guests!

Mr. Idoux's daughter, who seems to have inherited the "perfect-souffle-making" gene, says,

you have two to three minutes max to get it to the table before it slumps.

As per another pastry chef Laurent Jeannin,

it has to be made to order and then consumed immediately. That's part of its legend.

To maintain the souffle's height for as long as possible, place ramekins on a plate heated in a microwave.

Sprinkle top of the souffle with powdered (icing) sugar. To appreciate the contrast of hot and cold, serve the souffle with ice cream on top or aside.

Why you should try this recipe

1. This souffle dessert freshly made and served right from the oven steals the show.
2. Pink-colored souffle is perfect for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, a girl's birthday party, and a baby shower.
3. French souffle recipe is straightforward and easy to make once you read through this post.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

Pink Praline: it is the star of this pink-colored nutty souffle. Make it yourself at home or use store-bought crushed pink praline.

Heavy cream: use heavy cream with at least 36% fat content.

Eggs: make sure to separate egg whites from the yolks carefully. To facilitate this step, use an egg separator and chilled eggs.

Flour: use all-purpose flour.

Sugar: use white granulated or caster sugar. 

White wine vinegar: it helps stabilize egg whited while whisking.

How to make French souffle

Preheat the oven to 355 F/180 C. Butter ramekins with a silicone brush and sprinkle with sugar. Chill ramekins while making the batter.

Place pink praline in a food processor and crush until fine (photo 1).

Bring heavy cream and ¾ of crushed pink praline in a saucepan over low heat and stir (photo 2).

In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, flour, and half of the sugar (photo 3).

Pour the cream/praline mixture over the egg/sugar/flour mixture and mix (photo 4).

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, bring to a boil, and stir without stopping.

Once it thickens, pour into another bowl, add the remaining crushed pink praline (photo 5), mix and let cool.

In a clean and grease-free bowl, beat egg whites using a hand whisk.

Add vinegar and the remaining sugar, and continue to whisk until they are mounted (photo 6).

Take a few tablespoons of egg whites, add to the pink praline preparation, and gently mix with a rubber spatula.

Then add the remaining egg whites to the main preparation and gently combine.

The preparation will be pink/white, not entirely homogeneous, which is fine (photo 7).

Pour the preparation into prepared ramekins (photo 8)...

run thumb around the inside of the dishes and tap ramekins well (photo 9).

Bake on the lowest rack for 10 to 11 minutes. Do not open the oven door while baking!

Sprinkle the top of the souffle with powdered (icing) sugar and serve immediately (photo 10).

Expert tips

1. Make pink praline yourself or use store-bought pink crushed pralines.
2. Crush pink praline into medium-sized pieces to make crunchy souffle. However, it might limit the lift of the souffle. 

Love Valentine's Day desserts? Try these next!

• French Chocolate Ganache Tart Recipe
• Blackberry Friands
• Raspberry Oreo Cheesecake Recipe
• Browse all Valentine's Day Recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from https://www.750g.com/. It was originally published on April 10, 2019. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.