A souffle can be a fairly tricky dish to master. At Wickedfood cooking school, we make a delicious one in a French cooking class. The one below is also relatively easy to make, and comes from our cookbook of the week – Cook and Enjoy. Once you have mastered this one, try some of the variations below.

¼t pepper

1½ cups hot milk

1 – 1½ cups mature cheese, grated

3 or 4 extra-large eggs, separated

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C .
2. Slowly melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan.
3. Gradually add the cake flour, salt and pepper and stir until smooth.
4. Slowly add the hot milk, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens.
5. Add the cheese.
6. Remove from the heat and gradually add the beaten egg yolks.
7. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry: when the beater is lifted the peaks must  still fold back.
8. Carefully fold in a third of the egg whites into the mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites.
9. Grease only the bottom (not the sides) of an ovenproof soufflé dish or several small, individual dishes. Pour the mixture into the dish or dishes to the rim. Place in a pan with hot water and bake for 30 – 45 minutes. If not using a pan filled with water, reduce the oven temperature to 160 °C; the baking time remains the same. Serve the soufflé immediately.

TIP
For variation use cheese such as mature Cheddar, Camembert, Parmesan, Gruyère, soft goat’s or blue cheese. You can also use chopped herbs of your choice or prepared mustard to taste. Chopped fried bacon, cooked ham or any other kind of cold meat can be added to the soufflé.

VARIATIONS
Sweet corn and cheese soufflé
1. Follow the recipe for Cheese soufflé, adding 250 ml (1 c) freshly cooked, tinned or frozen sweet corn kernels before folding in the whisked egg whites.
2. Use 1 cup grated cheese instead of 1½ c and 1 t salt instead of ½ t.

Cheese and pea soufflé
1. Substitute cooked or frozen peas for the sweet corn kernels.

Click on one of the links below for other recipes from Cook and Enjoy.

Salmon mould

Curried fish (Pickled fish)

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.