“An omelette soufflé is a very nice and delicate thing when properly managed; but if flat and heavy, it should not be brought to the table.

The best cooks will sometimes fail in making soufflés, as their manufacture requires the greatest care and attention. It is also necessary to be able to judge to a nicety the time they will take to cook.” ….. from an 18oos cookbook.

INFORMATION BELOW ALSO FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

SOUFFLÉS
To be eaten in perfection, they should be served directly when they are ready. In making a soufflé, be very careful to take exact measure of the different ingredients.

Do not begin to make an omelette soufflé till the company at table have commenced their dinner, that it may be ready to serve up just in time, immediately on the removal of the meats. The eggs must be beaten to just the right point and the oven must be very hot. Get everything in readiness before beginning to make the soufflé.

Another point to be attended to is to whip up the whites of the eggs as stiffly as possible, and to mix them with the other ingredients very lightly. Bear in mind that the object in beating the whites of eggs is to introduce air into the soufflé and it is the expansion of the air when the soufflé is cooking which makes it light. The mixture will rise to five or six times its original depth.

To be just right, soufflés must be hot to the very center, crisp on top, and moist underneath. If baked too long, the moment the top is touched, it will fall, becoming stringy and unpalatable.

As soon as it is done, run with the soufflé from the oven door to the dining-room door. However quick you may be, the soufflé will probably sink an inch on the way. Some cooks wrap hot flannel on the outside of the tin to keep up the heat. If you have a folded dinner napkin round the tin for appearance sake, fold the napkin before you make the soufflé. Make the napkin sufficiently big and round that it can be dropped over the tin in an instant. The napkin should be pinned, and be quite half an inch in diameter bigger than the width of the tin. This is to save time. Delay in serving the soufflé is fatal.

OMELETTE SOUFFLÉ
Take six eggs, beat the whites and yolks separately and very light. Put a teacup* of milk on the stove with a piece of butter in it the size of a walnut. When the butter is melted, mix in one tablespoon corn starch. Mix this with the yolks, add salt to the taste, then stir in slowly the whites. Bake in a buttered pudding dish, fifteen minutes in a quick oven.* Serve in great haste on being removed from the oven, to prevent falling.

The tomato sauce that is often served with egg soufflé is made as follows:

TOMATO SAUCE
Force enough stewed tomatoes through a sieve to make  one and one-half cups of strained tomato. Heat the strained tomato and to it add two tablespoons fat, one-half teaspoon salt, and one-eighth teaspoon pepper. Moisten two tablespoons flour with a little cold water and add it to the hot tomato. Cook for five minutes and serve over the soufflé.

*teacup – same as a jill or gill; four ounces U.S.
*quick oven – about 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit.

BAKED CHEESE SOUFFLÉ
Obtain a round cake-tin five or six inches deep. Make the tin very hot in the oven. Put in about an ounce of butter, so as to make the tin oily in every part inside. The tin must be tilted so that the butter pours round the sides of the tin as well as the bottom. Take two eggs, separate the yolks from the whites, and beat the whites to a stiff froth. Beat up the two yolks very thoroughly with one-fourth pint milk. Add to this two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese. Add this mixture to the beaten-up whites, and mix the whole carefully together. Now pour this mixture into the hot buttered tin and bake it in the oven.

OMELET SOUFFLÉ à la CREME
Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth and gradually beat two tablespoons of sugar, a speck of salt, and one-half teaspoon vanilla extract into them. When well beaten, add the yolks, and lastly one cup of whipped cream. Have a dish holding about one quart, slightly buttered. Pour the mixture into this and bake just twelve minutes. Serve the moment it is taken from the oven.

SWEET OMELET SOUFFLÉ
Put the yolks of two eggs into a basin with an ounce of sifted sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence. Beat the yolks and sugar together for six minutes or until the mixture becomes thick. Then whip the whites very stiff, so that they will turn out of the basin like a jelly. Mix the yolks and whites lightly together. Have ready an ounce of butter dissolved in the omelet-pan, pour in the eggs, and hold this pan over a slow fire for two minutes. Then put the frying-pan into a quick oven and bake until the omelet has risen; four minutes ought to be sufficient to finish the omelet in the oven. When done, slide it on to a warm dish, fold over, sift sugar over, and serve instantly.

SWEET OMELETTE SOUFFLÉ No. 2
Boil one quart of sweet milk. Beat the yolks of twelve eggs well, and mix in alternately six tablespoons flour and four tablespoons granulated sugar. Then stir in the boiling milk and let it stand without boiling. One hour before it is to be eaten, beat the whites to a stiff froth. Stir them into the mixture and flavor with any extract to suit the taste. Bake in a quick oven for fifteen minutes.

SWISS SOUFFLÉ
Allow one egg and one drained maraschino cherry for each person. Have everything in readiness.  Separate the eggs. Beat the whites until they are stiff. Add a level tablespoon of powdered sugar to each white and beat until dry and glossy. Add the yolks of three eggs and mix quickly. Add the grated rind of one lemon and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Heap this mixture into individual dishes. Make a tiny little hole in the center and put in a maraschino cherry, leaving the hole large enough to hold a tablespoon of the cherry liquor when the soufflés are ready to serve. Dust each with powdered sugar and bake in a quick oven about three minutes. Take it from the oven, pour in the maraschino juice and send at once to the table. These will fall if baked too much, but when well made and served quickly, is one of the daintiest of desserts.

Image from Deposit Photos

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Have You Ever Tried to Make a Soufflé? Please Leave a Comment Below.

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VINTAGE COOKING from the 1800s ~ EGGS
by Angela A Johnson

How did people cook and store eggs without electricity?
This book tells how to determine freshness, how to cook, and how to preserve eggs.

Recipes include Fried, Poached, Baked, and Boiled Eggs, Omelets, Soufflés, Egg Balls, Custards, Puddings, Dressing, Sauces, Creams, Drinks, and more…..

Available from these online Retailers:

Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes&Noble, Scribd, 24 Symbols,  Playster, Angues & Robertson, Mondadori Store, and more.

Also available as  Regular Print and Large Print on Amazon.

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