To qualify, I have not done ANY research whatsoever - from my limited google searches, there are all sorts of souffle, but falling into 2 general categories of sweet and savoury. I made a sweet pistachio souffle one day (Nigella Lawson recipe) and a cheese souffle the next and you know what, it really is SO EASY to make; not to mention versatile and hardy too. The instant deflation was indeed a fallacy.
Simple basic recipe taken from Nigella (cut and paste - comments in purple) :
30g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing souffle cups
60g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting souffle cups and 1 Tbsp for the egg whites (may want to cut the sugar to 40g - found it a bit too sweet since pistachio already has natural sweetness)
20g plain flour
150 ml full-fat milk (I used skim milk)
4 large eggs separated
100g unsalted pistachios, ground
2 drops almond extract, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp orange-flower water (didnt have any of these so just replaced with 1 tsp vanilla - still turned out ok - think there may be more character if a little lemon juice is added)
5 larges egg whites
pinch of salt
6 x 10g good quality dark chocolate
6 x 250ml ramekins or souffle dishes
Preheat the oven at 200C / gas mark 6 and put in a baking sheet. Use a little butter to grease the ramekins and then dust with sugar, tipping out the excess (the sugar is essential to help the souffle rise by gripping the sides of the ramekins; for savoury souffles, use breadcrumbs)
Put the flour in a saucepan and add a little milk, just to blend. Then, stirring (whisking), add the rest of the milk and 60g sugar. Whisk over medium heat until it comes to boiling point, then whisk for 30 seconds and take off the heat, by which time it should be very thick. Let it cool a little and add the yolks gradually. Beat in the butter. Add the gound pistachios, the almond and vanilla extracts and the orange-flower water, and mix in well.
Then, whisk all 5 egg whites together with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form. Sprinkle over the tablespoon of sugar and then carry on whisking until thick and glossy (some websites say it has to be stiff enough such that when you tip the bowl upside down, the whipped egg-whites stay stuck to the bowl) Lighten the mixture with some - up to a quarter - of the whites. Nigella says that we dont have to be afraid to just splodge the whites in at this point. Now fold in (firmly but gently) the remaining whipped whites.
Pour 1cm of the mixture into each ramekin, then lie chocolate pieces on top and pour over the remaining mixture. Open the oven and as quickly but unhurriedly as possible, arrange the dishes on the heated baking sheet (I didnt have a baking sheet). Immediately, turn the oven down to 180C / gas mark 4 and bake for 12-15 minutes, when the tops will be scorched gold and risen high above the ramekins' rims. Remove from the oven, dust with icing sugar and serve at once . But one note of reassurance: you can open the door oven during baking; they won't fall just because you've got the temerity to check in them)
This was my first attempt. I really liked it - soft and creamy, yet light and fluffy on the inside - I am hooked. I rationalise that as souffles are mostly made up of eggs and egg whites (very little butter, flour and sugar), it is actually quite healthy. Note : although probably best eaten immediately, I had one about 3 hours after, a little deflated but the texture was still pretty good.
I made a savoury one the next day using the recipe above as a base, but replacing the pistachio with 1 cup of cheddar cheese (can probably use all sorts of tasty cheese), excluded the sugar (safe for the 1 tbsp used to beat the egg white), the vanilla essence and the chocolate. I also replace the sugar dusting for the ramekins to breadcrumbs. One can also finely chop chives and add to the mixture. The success of the cheese souffle shows that the original recipe is really versatile and flexible. The kids loved it.
No pictures but the cheese souffle doesn't look as puffy as the sweet one (as cheese has oil, I guess) but still creamy and fluffy in the middle.
So...SOUFFLE away. It's really good.
