Soufflé

Today was over 80 degrees and I decided it was the perfect day to make soufflé wtf. I basically turned this

into this.

The process is not important... lol. But it was surprisingly easy to make and so not worth the $10-$22 it cost at restaurants I eaten at. Simple ingredients and made about 10 servings. Actually I will still pay for it because I ended up burning myself :( and it's only soooo delicious fresh. You can't save the batter for next day because egg whites deflate. (at least I don't think so...?) It's not worth eating a whole lot either, the cholesterol and fat! But it was yummy and I am proud of myself and it made my family and bf happy... on the other hand macarons are still elusive to me. :(

This was the recipe I found when I googled soufflé. I changed it a bit because I didn't have orange juice and lots of oranges so it was freshly squeezed juice and I wasted a lot of oranges.

1/4 c butter
1/3 c cake flour
dash of salt
1 c milk
a lot of orange zest
1/2 c orange juice
6 eggs seperated
1/4 c confectioner sugar
extra melted butter and regular sugar

 First on medium heat, you melt butter, mix in flour and keep stirring (I used a whisk) and slowly add milk. Stop when it starts to thicken into custard. Then I just dumped the orange juice and zest in and let it cool.

 I did some research beforehand (AKA during stirring and idle times) and it said to go big on flavor because there is lots of egg whites that will dilute the taste. You are suppose to serve it with a sauce but I don't like sauce since it makes the souffle mushy and the sauce is usually super sweet. I rather have a mild flavor. So the meager teaspoon of zest seemed too little and I wasted 3 oranges to get 1/2 c of juice so i pretty much  zest all 3 oranges. (Don't waste food!) To be honest there still wasn't much orange flavor (I should have added another orange) but I definitely smelled oranges. My bf guessed mangoes and lemons... wtf. He has no sense of smell.

Anyways, while it cools, (took around 20 min, to hasten the cooling transfer it into another bowl) I whisked the egg yolks. Then I  greased ramekins or bowls or whatever you want to use. I read somewhere during my downtime research, that you need to grease it to make sure it inflates. You put one layer of butter in your ramekins and put it into the fridge for 2 min. Then you take it out and put another layer and put a teaspoon of sugar or more and swirl it around to coat it. It's a lot of work but it helps the sugar stick and inflate the souffle. I also just washed bowls and cleaned up a bit and waited (to save time duh!).

After it cools to a decent temp. I guess normal to touch, not too hot. I slowly dumped the egg yolks and mixed it. It was actually lots of guessing as the instruction were too simple. Luckily there's youtube videos. I will include step by step pics if I ever do it again. Oh and set your oven to about 325. It was too hot for my lovely souffles so I went down to 315. I had not clue actually but the top of my souffle were slowly burning and the inside wasn't cooked. Trial and error!

Then the whipping of egg whites. It's suppose to be the hardest part and determines how you're souffle will look. I use a hand mixer because I can't stand hand beating. You can use cream of tarter to help it stiffen. Start at slow speed and gradually increase until it becomes fluffy foam. I don't really know when the soft and stiff peaks really look like. Solution: there's youtube videos for that too.

 Well from my knowledge soft peak is when you lift the beater and you get droopy egg foam while stiff peaks is when the egg stand on top of the beater. You add sugar during soft peaks and beat until you can form peaks and the eggs won't fall out if you turn your bowl upside down, basically not runny. Over beating will make it curdle and the souffle will crack. Under beat will make the souffle flat but the souffle will flatten when it cools so I guess that's okay. Anyways lots of beating and it takes a long time... You can do this while the flour/butter/milk/egg mixture cools but beaten egg whites cannot be kept out too long or it will DIE. Just kidding, it will deflate and not puff up and be a sad souffle.

Then the mixing. I put a big glop of egg whites into the flour/butter/milk/egg mixture and stirred it from bottom up with spatula. Something about not breaking the bubbles too much. Just mix it and not too rough? Then dump like 1/3 to the egg white and incorporate it. Again, youtube. Keep doing it until all mixed and happy. Then fill the ramekins to rim, not too rough or the sugar will move. If you want perfectly inflated, you are suppose to clean it flat. I left it as a big glop since I think a rough formed souffle looks cooler and it will deflate (Or so I heard) so no point.

Dumped it into oven and watch it rise!! took about 20-30 min for the small one. The bigger one took almost an hour. I had noooo clue the time because not all ovens are the same. Just test with a knife. Poke it in and it needs to come out clean.

I am a happy girl today despite the HOT weather and HOT kitchen and STUPID burn. It's not hard to make but does take time. I took about 2+ hrs? Probably less if I was more knowledgeable.

AREN'T THEY JUST SO CUTE AND PRETTY?!?! My adorable souffles!! <3 

I confess, I am known to talk to food as I love them oh so much. LOL

 I probably have problems