If you want to impress at the dinner party table, one of the most effective starts to the meal is to serve your guests a double-baked souffl?. Far too risky, you are probably thinking, it surely goes against all the rules of souffl? making.
Not so, part-cooked souffl?s, like baked potatoes, come back from the dead after a brief return to a very hot oven. They have less of a soft gooey middle than regular souffl?s but double-baked style offers a pleasing contrast of textures with plenty of crusty edges. They are always served free-form, as it were, turned out of their portion control ramekins.
The classic Escoffier way of presenting a double-baked souffl? is surrounded by cream in individual gratin dishes. They are served golden and bubbling and make a rich and luxurious start to the meal. Cheeses such as Gruyère and goat’s cheese, both soft and hard, with added Parmesan, suit these little souffl?s perfectly, giving a delicious, mellow flavour that could be pointed up with chopped thyme or a hint of sage.
The other, lighter style of presentation is to serve the turned-out souffl? surrounded by salad leaves with a dressing that complements the flavours. Goat’s cheese, for example, with walnut oil vinaigrette on a lambs leaf salad with fresh walnut, looks pretty and tastes interesting.
At Langan’s Coq d’Or, offspring of Langan’s Brasserie, the home of the famous spinach souffl? with anchovy sauce, they push a sliver of quince paste into part-cooked Gruyère souffl?s. By the time the souffl? is served, the membrillo has melted. It inspired me to tuck a few chopped black olives into goat’s cheese souffl?s. I served them surrounded by sprigs of peppery watercress dressed with roasted tomato vinaigrette made with my best extra virgin olive oil from the South of France.
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I particularly like a hint of anchovy with egg dishes and serve both styles of double-baked souffl?s with triangles of toast thinly smeared with anchovy paste. You could use paste from a tube, Gentleman’s Relish or anchoïade. The salty crunch goes well with the soft, cheesy egg and it’s an idea pinched from Rowley Leigh at Le Caf? Anglais upstairs at Whiteley’s, who serves anchovy soldiers to dip into soft, wobbly Parmesan custard.
My recipes are sufficient for eight ramekin souffl?s but they don’t all have to be cooked at the same time. In fact, it’s jolly nice to have a couple of part-cooked souffl?s in the fridge ready to eat piping hot from the oven in just over ten minutes.
Double-baked Gruyère souffl?s with cream
Serves 8
Prep: 25 min
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Cook: 45 min
Ingredients
25g soft butter
4 large, free-range eggs, at room temperature
50g butter 50g plain flour
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300ml milk
Generous pinch cayenne pepper
250g grated Gruyère cheese
2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
600ml double cream
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Method
Heat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5. Lavishly butter 8 ramekins. Melt 50g butter in a small pan. Stir in 50g flour to make a smooth thick roux. Increase the heat slightly as you gradually add the milk, whisking constantly as the sauce thickens and comes to the boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes to cook the flour. Stir in 150g grated Gruyère cheese, and season with salt, black pepper and cayenne. When the cheese has melted, transfer to a mixing bowl.
Separate the eggs. Whisk the whites until firm. Beat the yolks, one at a time, into the warm b?chamel sauce. Using a large metal spoon, stir 1 tbsp egg white into the mixture to slacken. Gently but quickly fold in the rest of the egg white. Spoon mixture into the ramekins, filling to just below the lip. For an impressive cap, run your thumb round the inside edges, making a deep groove. Dust with Parmesan. Place the ramekins in a roasting tin and pour in boiling water to half way up the dishes. Cook for 20-25 minutes until the souffl?s are puffed and lightly golden. Remove from tin and leave to cool and deflate. They keep, covered with cling film, in the fridge for up to 3 days.
To serve, turn out and place in individual gratin dishes. Pour over 4-6 tbsp cream. Top with the remaining Gruyère. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 220C/ gas mark 7 until the souffl?s are bouffant and golden, the cream bubbling enticingly. Serve immediately with anchovy toast.
Double-baked goat’s cheese souffl?s with watercress
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Serves 8
Prep: 40 min
Cook: 45 min plus 1 hr for the tomatoes
Ingredients
25g soft butter
4 large, free-range eggs, at room temperature
50g butter
50g plain flour
300ml milk
Freshly grated nutmeg
250g hard goat’s cheese
4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
16 pitted black olives
Tomato vinaigrette
8 plum tomatoes
Olive oil
Few sprigs of rosemary
Sugar or honey
4-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
150g sprigs watercress or mix of watercress, rocket and spinach
Method
Begin with the roast tomato vinaigrette. Turn the oven to 150C/gas mark 2. Halve the tomatoes lengthways. Lay, cut-side uppermost, on a foil-lined baking tray. Smear with olive oil and put the sprigs of rosemary over the top. Place in the oven; not bothering to wait for it to come up to temperature. Cook for at least 1 hour until the tomatoes feel squashy and are slightly dried. Allow to cool, then slide the tomatoes off their skins into a sieve placed over a bowl. Force the flesh through with a wooden spoon, scraping underneath so nothing is wasted. Season to taste with salt, pepper and honey or sugar if you think it necessary. Beat in sufficient olive oil to make a thick, voluptuous dressing. Cover and chill. This could be made up to 48 hours in advance. Bring to room temperature and give a final beating before serving.
To make the souffl? to the end of the first stage, proceed as for previous recipe using 150g grated hard goat’s cheese and 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan instead of the Gruyère.
To serve, chop the black olives. Make a 1cm x 2cm deep cut in the top of the cold, part-cooked souffl?s and fill with 1 tsp chopped olives. Have ready a buttered baking sheet lined with buttered baking parchment. Top the souffl?s with the remaining grated goat’s cheese and dredge with Parmesan. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the souffl?s are bouffant and the cheese molten and golden.
Use a fish slice to transfer to the serving plates. Surround with salad. Scatter any remaining scraps of olive over the top and dress with the vinaigrette, decorating the plate with restaurant-style swirls if liked.
NB If you wrap cold, part-baked souffles individually before freezing, they will behave perfectly when defrosted.