Twice-baked soufflés with Gruyère and cheddar
- Published: 31 Aug 14
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
Soufflés are among the kitchen’s greatest challenges. Try our soufflé recipe (and memorise our tips for success) for a method that will work every time.
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Serves 6 as a starter -
Hands-on time 40 min, oven time 25 min, plus cooling, chilling and standing
Nutrition
- Calories
- 440kcals
- Fat
- 39.1g (22.6g saturated)
- Protein
- 14.7g
- Carbohydrates
- 8.1g (3g sugars)
- Fibre
- 0.4g
- Salt
- 0.6g
delicious. tips
Try to find free-range eggs with large, orange yolks. We like Clarence Court Cotswold Legbar eggs, from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Ocado and independents – they give the soufflés a beautiful, deep golden colour.
Use the most mature cheese you can find – you want a good kick of cheesiness rather than just a hint, and eggs tend to absorb favour. You can vary the cheese or cheeses you use – just make sure they’re good melting cheeses. For an extra-rich dish, you could crumble blue cheese over the top of the soufflés in step 8 before reheating them.
Make sure you bubble the flour and butter mixture in step 2 for a good 3-4 minutes, because the relatively low oven temperature may not be hot enough to cook out the raw taste of the flour.
The flavour of these cheese soufflés is classic but, for a variation, try stirring in finely chopped fresh herbs with the cheese and egg yolks in step 4. Chives, parsley, thyme or rosemary all work well.
When folding in the whites in step 5, use either a traditional metal spoon or a balloon whisk – the surface area on a balloon whisk is smaller, which means less air is knocked out. If you use a whisk, be gentle – it’s about lifting and folding the mixture, not whisking it.
These soufflés are rich, so serve with a sharp salad of bitter leaves, dressed with red wine or sherry vinegar, sea salt and a little olive oil.
Prepare the soufflés to the end of step 7, then chill for up to 6 hours before you finish the recipe.
Best is a crisp, young white bordeaux.