I used to bake quite a bit. Mr. Cheddar's mother used to work across the street from a wholesale kitchen outlet store, and for my 23rd birthday, they bought me a refurbished KitchenAid mixer, something that had been on my wishlist for the better part of three years. Unfortunately, when we made the move back home, my KitchenAid along with my four-years-running collection of baking accessories went into storage, and my baking days became a thing of the past.
A few days ago, I broke down and got my KitchenAid out of storage. And because I never do anything half-baked (haaa!) I thought it would be a good idea to kick off its homecoming with a very difficult meringue or souffle.
When our local Books-A-Million was having its big going-out-of-business sale, Mr. Cheddar and I raided their shelves. He, of course, came away with a cigar encyclopedia and a comprehensive Guide to Bartending. I found an outdoor entertaining book and THIS bad boy, the Williams-Sonoma Baking Book, super-duper marked down. It's gorgeous. I'm a sucker for a good cookbook, especially ones with glossy pictures. I was almost sad to buy this a few months ago, as I really thought my baking days were behind me.
I do not consider myself a baking expert. Even if I HAD been an expert two years ago, I am rusty now. I have a great ability to make things TASTE good, but my decorating skills leave a lot to be desired. I also was horrible in science courses, both in high school and college (bio for non-majors, aka "Baby Bio," was almost my downfall) so I don't know what possessed me to choose to do something so scientific right off the bat.
To make matters even worse, part of the appeal of doing a souffle was so that I could try my hand at whipping up egg whites... but after I'd bought all the ingredients and set everything up, I looked inside my KitchenAid box and my whisk attachment was nowhere to be found! TRAGEDY! It's still deep in the belly of our increasingly messy storage unit. So I had to resort to my mother-in-law's 15-year-old handheld mixer.
Anyway, I had chosen to do the Grand Marnier Souffle, but I opted for Patron liqueur instead because it's not as expensive. I would suspect that's why this souffle was unsuccessful, but the recipe itself said to use any orange-flavored liqueur.
After separating the egg yolks and egg whites, the yolks were mixed with sugar and flour and gently cooked into a custard consistency. I couldn't get it to boil like the directions said, but it did thicken up as directed so I didn't think it mattered. However, since the souffle didn't turn out, it's possible the boiling was crucial.
Afterwards it was set aside and covered with plastic wrap to cool to room temperature.
Then it was time for the egg whites. I knew this was the crucial part, and it was supposed to form soft peaks, then have sugar added, then whipped until they formed stiff peaks. The whites reached this consistency after a few minutes and didn't toughen up past this.
It's been so long since I've beaten egg whites so I can't remember if the peaks can get better than this. I suspect they can, but at that point I was afraid of over-beating the eggs. I think next time I try this, I'll try it with a metal bowl (I didn't have one handy this time).
The other tough part was where I had to "gently fold in" the egg whites in four batches to the custard mix until they are just mixed. I don't know what qualifies as "gently" and "just mixed." I feel like Alton Brown would've had an aneurysm over such vague instructions. I'm willing to bet this is where it all went wrong. Either I wasn't gentle enough or, more likely, I over-mixed it.
And I properly greased and sugared the sides so that it would rise properly... and it looked so promising right when it came out of the oven!
Oooh so pretty, right? I was a proud baker for exactly two minutes.
When I cut Mr. Cheddar a piece, though, the inside was still unfinished. He valiantly ate the pudding-like substance I spooned up for him but this is what it looked like:
Oh, souffle. I hardly knew you.
I don't pretend to be a baking expert--more of an enthusiast. And there are plenty of bakers who can't get these things right. But I'm going to keep trying this thing, I'm determined to get it right at least once. And maybe I'll look up the definitive definition of "gently folding."
My next baking post will be a lot more satisfying than this one. Intrigued?
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