Cheese Soufflé

Introduction & method

Most cooks and many chefs are afraid of making soufflés, because a collapsed soufflé doesn't look good. However, there's nothing you can do about it - they will deflate after a few minutes, no matter what. The best thing is to get them on the table as quickly as you can after they come out of the oven.

Prep

Before you start, generously butter the insides of 3 ramekins. Carefully separate your eggs - you don't want any yolk contaminating your whites. Preheat your oven to 220°C (428°F) for a fan/convection oven, or 230°C (446°F) for a conventional one. Put a roasting tin on the middle shelf, and almost fill it with boiling water - you need to leave enough space for displacement when the ramekins go in.

Make the Cheese Sauce Base

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and blend into the butter. Add the milk, stir well, and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Add the mustard and the grated cheese, stir well until it's all melted.Taste the sauce for seasoning and add salt if required. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the egg yolks, one at a time. Set aside.

Make the Soufflé Mix

Using an electric whisk or stand mixer, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add a pinch of salt about halfway through. Gently fold the stiff egg whites into the sauce base - you want to keep as much air as possible in them. Spoon the mixture into the ramekins. Leave a space of about 1cm (just under half an inch) at the top. Some cooks do a thing called top-hatting, which involves running a knife or a finger around the top of the mixture to create a gap between that and the ramekin. In theory this allows the mixture to rise more cleanly and it looks a bit like a top hat. Place in the bain marie and bake for 10-15 minutes.