Foolproof cheese soufflé for dummies

Method
Prep:20min  ›  Cook:10min  ›  Ready in:30min 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4 and grease 6 ramekins with butter.
2. Melt 100g butter in a pan over a medium heat, stir in the flour and leave to cook on the heat for a couple of minutes until it forms a paste.
3. In the meantime, heat the milk, and gradually add this to the paste, continually stirring.
4. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool.
5. Separate the eggs and stir in the yolks to the cooled mixture. This cheesy bechamel should now be very thick.
6. Clean a glass bowl by wiping with a touch of lemon juice to clear any greasy spots, and use it to whisk the egg whites into stiff peaks. That's the point at which the white foam forms sharp tips on the end of the whisk, and if you are hand-whisking, the point at which it feels like your arm is going to fall off.
7. Delicately fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture, being careful not to overwork, because this is the stage where you need to keep as much air in the mixture as possible so it will rise in the oven. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Pour into the greased ramekins and pop into the oven for 10 minutes.
9. After the 10 minutes, increase the oven temperature to 220 C / Gas 7 and cook for a further 10 minutes or so until the soufflé has risen and looks beautifully golden.

Tip

I was a complete novice when I first made this recipe and presumed I'd make a disaster of it. But it came out perfect the first time, and the times I have made it since. I can't claim the credit with my skills, so it must be the recipe!

See it on my blog

Follow the (stiff) peaks and troughs of how I came to this recipe for the first time