A soufflé challenge

Our challenge soufflés little party! With soufflé tips! And are you procrastibaking?

by Lili
August 6, 2015
35 comments
Cake news and fun, Special everyday cakes and treats

… I am!  And will tell you what that means later.  For now it’s time to talk soufflés.  When readers were invited to make one so we could have another little baking party together I didn’t fully comprehend the awe that soufflés inspire even amongst chefs.  Ignorance is bliss so I’ll just continue thinking they’re actually quite easy, which is another train of thought in social food media.  And I can’t wait to see how some of you and your soufflés have risen to the challenge!!  Hee hee.  Risen.  Yes, very corny.  Anyway, please link up to this article with your own soufflé post and comment below so we can all visit you and admire your soufflé creation, to have little conversations about them.  And I’ll include our soufflés in an ongoing roundup right here.  Then maybe instead of ‘soufflé challenge‘ I’ll start calling it our little ‘soufflé party’.

Soufflé party

Soufflé party!

Procrastibaking

The hilarious thing is I’ve been procrastibaking, which means ‘baking something in order to put off doing something else you should be doing’.  Anyway, I’ve been baking cheesecakes and cupcakes (which is pretty new for me) and not making my challenge soufflé!  Oops.  But am I still procrastibaking if I’m baking in order to put off baking something else I should be baking?  The mind boggles.  Sorry!  🙂  Moving on, I’m going to get on it and hopefully my soufflé post will be ready to add here later or tomorrow.  But really I’m super excited and looking forward to seeing your soufflés!  Yay!

Cherry and almond soufflés

Cherry and almond soufflé

Meanwhile, here are my recent soufflés:  Cherry and almond soufflés and Easy basil and nutmeg cheese soufflés.  You could of course make one of these if you like or adapt them with your own special ingredients and flavours.

Basil and nutmeg cheese soufflé

Basil and nutmeg cheese soufflé

Extended deadline

Now the idea was for everyone to post on August 6th but of course there’s an extended deadline so you also have the weekend and early next week if you’d like to add your soufflé a little later.  It must be a new post (or recently posted in answer to this challenge) and a soufflé you made for our party.

Checking them out

Soufflé and non-soufflé-making people, you’re very welcome to come back in a few days or next week to check out the soufflés.  There probably won’t be many (some people saw the word soufflé and metaphorically ran for the hills) but it’s always a lovely dish to look at.  Maybe I’ll conquer technology and actually reblog or repost, or something like that.  I’ll tweet entries to my little following and they’ll also be posted on our Soufflés Pinterest board and facebook fan page.

Time to link up

So do please link up your little or big soufflés my baking friends and let’s start … 🙂

First up is a beautiful and delicious Mango soufflé by Natascha at Natascha’s Palace.  I’m so impressed by Natascha’s first ever soufflés and her wonderful post full of interesting visuals and facts (want to know about a patron saint of cooks?) with great tips and information on making soufflés!

Natascha's mango soufflé

Natascha's mango soufflé Natascha’s wonderful Mango soufflé

I’m almost moved to amazed and happy speechlessness at seeing Natascha’s brilliant soufflé and entertaining story.  Click here to read it and you’ll find yourself encouraged to also love soufflés. She says:

 …  you know what? I felt pretty proud of myself!  So…the question is, how did they taste?  Fantastic! … Would this challenge motivate me to try another soufflé?  Frankly, yes!  It really is just wonderful to see the soufflé rising and it is true, you feel great when it works out well!

Next up is the Baking Hermit’s Chocolate and raspberries soufflé.  They accepted the challenge via Twitter and have also found soufflés easier than expected, producing a beautiful chocolate soufflé.

The Baking Hermit's Chocolate and raspberries soufflé

The Baking Hermit’s amazing Chocolate and raspberries soufflé

I do love the photo with the icing sugar and you’ll find their take on soufflés to be very practical and reassuring (do visit here!).  Plus they’re producing such a yummy-looking chocolate treat!  They report:

The tartness of the berries really added an extra dimension to the otherwise mundane chocolate dessert.  It was really light and fluffy…. this is definitely an impressive dessert when having people over. And it really does not cost a bombshell.

It’s also great to see Laurie here from ten.times.tea and her Caraway and nutmeg soufflés with roasted rhubarb.  Her wonderful flavour combinations are amazing everyone as always and that is a super-duper excellent rise on her soufflés!  Wow!

Laurie at ten.times.tea's Caraway and nutmeg soufflés with roasted rhubarb

Laurie at ten.times.tea’s super-duper Caraway and nutmeg soufflés with roasted rhubarb

So lovely, even and fluffy-looking.  Laurie mentions how pleased she is to have finally made a soufflé and that it was fun.  She has some great ideas for the soufflés she’ll make next time so do go over (here) and see her soufflé and interesting analysis.  Finally, she adds:

‘ … thank goodness, the souffles rose! Some rose more evenly than others but they all got a bit of a lift. I suppose I never should have doubted it!’

I’m drooling over all these soufflés.  Contented sigh. 

A few days later, here’s my contribution:  Broccoli and cheese soufflés.  Not quite pâtisserie, but a savoury snack with a nutmeg and cayenne pepper kick!

Broccoli and cheese soufflé

Broccoli and cheese soufflé

So who’s up next?  Are you motivated to make a soufflé?! 🙂

P.S.  If you’d like to follow me on social media here are the links: instagram, facebook or Pinterest.

P.P.S.  Happy soufflé-ing, looking at soufflés, procrastinating or procrastibaking sweet reader!  See you again soon and have a lovely end of the week and weekend! 🙂 x

SOUFFLÉ TIPS AND NOTES – things I’ve learnt and picked up from my baking friends, experience, books and the internet.  Loads of the information below was picked up watching Le Meilleur Pâtissier Season 2 final:  sweet soufflés signature challenge (8:15 to 32:40).

  1.  Apparently the egg whites should not be beaten too stiff (they should still be soft and shiny, and just reaching the point where they don’t fall out of an upside-down bowl). 
  2. And they shouldn’t be beaten to stiff peak too quickly.  If you whisk them slowly to stiff peak there’ll be smaller air bubbles which means your soufflé should stay up better once out of the oven (big air bubbles go down faster).  I haven’t tried this out yet but it sounds interesting.
  3. Chocolate soufflés usually stay up better than fruit-based soufflés.
  4. Sweet soufflés should rise and the top should be crusty and darker, with the sides showing above the ramekins being a significantly lighter colour.  You should be able to lift the top up to see the soft insides (see Le Meilleur Patissier episode).
  5. Savoury cheese soufflés seem to look more ‘rustic’ and knobby looking than the sweet ones!
  6. If you add little pieces in your soufflés they will probably stop the soufflés from rising as well as they could.  So it’s best to purée added fruit or vegetables.  Perhaps next time I’ll purée my broccoli even more…
  7. You shouldn’t open the oven door for the first 10 or 15 minutes.  After that if you find your soufflés are underdone you can return the soufflés to the oven and they should puff up more!
  8. You can test your soufflés with a skewer or sharp knife, which if inserted in the middle should come out clean?  I read this and haven’t tested this out myself but will next time.
  9. Sweet soufflés can be stored in the fridge and though they are denser the next day they can taste even nicer!  As confirmed by both Natascha’s Palace and the Baking Hermit.
  10. The Meilleur Pâtissier contestants didn’t use a crème patissière base but just beat the egg yolks with sugar and any fruit purée, zest or chocolate.  Then they folded in the egg whites!  Some people at our soufflé party used similarly straighforward processes.  Worth looking into and will make one like this next time.
  11. The Meilleur Pâtissier contestants had one hour to produce their two sweet soufflés, so it is pretty fast to make.   And everyone agreed that baking the right amount of time was one of the trickiest parts – one took theirs out too early but it was still delicious.
  12. Soufflés are easier to make than you think!!!  And so much fun!  One of the biggest conclusions drawn at this party! 🙂

Can you think of any other tips or notes I could add to this list?

Unknown's avatar
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Baking on Sundays with my French mum was a lovely part of my childhood. Later I experimented with baking books or internet recipes and did the pâtisserie course at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. Still trying out new recipes and inventing cakes with influences from all around the world, including some healthier ones. Yes, love cakes!!! Hope you'll love them too and have fun baking. :)

35 thoughts on “Our challenge soufflés little party! With soufflé tips! And are you procrastibaking?”

  1. circadianreflections's avatar
    circadianreflections says:

    I had every intention of joining you for this party. I even ordered individual souffle molds. They arrived and two were broken. Sigh. I requested an RMA number to send back the two broken molds and have them replaced, but they weren’t having that. I had to send back all four molds! They refunded my money, but never offered to send out or sell me a replacement set. I didn’t look for another set.

    I took that as a sign that this challenge wasn’t meant for me.

    I’m looking forward to seeing all the souffle’s that are made though.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili's avatar
      Lili says:

      Wow Deborah! I am sorry to hear about your soufflé moulds crisis. What a shame… I was luckier with Amazon but this kind of thing can easily happen. At least you got the refund. I hope you’ll be able to buy a set at some point and try out soufflées when the time is right for you. I was looking forward to seeing your soufflé at this party but it’s nice to have you visiting and commenting. There are a couple of soufflés up on the post now which might very well inspire you! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  4. tentimestea's avatar
    tentimestea says:

    Hello hello Lili! I’ve brought my souffle right here (https://tentimestea.wordpress.com/2015/08/06/caraway-and-nutmeg-souffle-with-roasted-rhubarb/ though I expect there will a pingback!) And in answer to your question, I’m quite the prolific procrastibaker. I have a list of things that I eventually want to make it it just keeps on growing… but at least your “diversions” of cheesecake and cupcakes are sounding quite delicious!
    I’m very excited by what I’ve read of the other souffles so far (because oh gosh, mango souffle! and that beautifully dynamic dusting of icing sugar on the chocolate souffle!). And of course I’m looking forwards to your new addition, and whomever else might drop by! Thanks for hosting the challenge! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili's avatar
      Lili says:

      Welcome to the soufflé party Laurie!! 🙂 I love your soufflé! That is one amazing rise on it and the caraway seeds flavouring with the nutmeg sounds wonderful – as well as the rhubarb.
      So pleased you’re enjoying the other soufflés too! Made mine now (it’s savoury) and will include it here with the link tomorrow … I’ve been publishing a lot so also want to give followers a breather between posts!
      Anyway, thank you so much for participating with such enthusiasm from the very start. Really, you motivated me to host this and I’ve loved seeing all the soufflés. 🙂
      P.S. Hey, maybe you’d like to host the next informal party/challenge??!!
      P.P.S. Welcome to our Procrastibaker’s Club! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • tentimestea's avatar
        tentimestea says:

        Thanks Lili! I think a savoury souffle should be the next sort I try now that I’ve seen a couple of your variations! I’m always happy finding your posts in my reader 🙂 As well, I really wouldn’t have such enthusiasm if you weren’t so enthusiastic yourself…it’s inspiring (and very, very contagious!)!
        I would also love to host a challenge/party! I may not manage to entice too many others to join, but it would of course be plenty of fun 🙂
        (And, finally, a perfect club to join!)

        Liked by 1 person

      • Lili's avatar
        Lili says:

        Thank you Laurie for your continued enthusiasm! Yay! And for your lovely comments. Glad you’re going to try a savoury soufflé next and look forward to seeing it.
        Also very excited you’re going to host a challenge/party!!! Can’t wait to see what you’ll be asking us to make! I’ve discovered that small cosy parties are actually really lovely… really looking forward to yours! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Alba's avatar
    alba10 says:

    Soooo, what I remember from souffles is in cooking class at school when I was 13. They were a kind of eggy gloup with a tin of Heinz spaghetti in tomato sauce at the bottom. I’m sure yours are nothing like them though. You may tempt me to try the cheesey one – I’m a sucker for all things cheese 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Lili's avatar
      Lili says:

      I’m really impressed some of you guys did soufflés at school!!! Even if Heinz was involved. We did rock cakes and they were pretty rock-like 🙂 Yes Alba, great idea… do the cheesey one!!!! You’ll enjoy eating it! 🙂 Lots and lots of cheese…!!! And you could even sprinkle some extra grated parmesan on top!! 🙂

      Like

    • Lili's avatar
      Lili says:

      Thanks Mila! Glad you’ve enjoyed the soufflés here. I’d be curious to know more about why some soufflés stay puffed up for longer too… will look into it. Not impossible hopefully 🙂 Looking forward to checking out your soufflés soon. Thanks for leaving us the links and have a great weekend too! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Lili's avatar
      Lili says:

      Thank you Naina! So glad you’ve enjoyed looking at the challenge soufflés here… I agree, I’m really impressed with my baking friends’ first soufflés!

      Like

  9. Pingback: Broccoli and cheese soufflés recipe! | lili's cakes

  10. Natascha's Palace's avatar
    Natascha's Palace says:

    Thank you so much for the lovely things you have written about my post! You made me feel great! I showed my mom and she was pretty proud of me too! Big kisses to you, Lili! 😘😘😘😘❤❤❤❤

    Liked by 1 person

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