Souffles tend to scare people because they’ve heard they fall often. There are tricks to creating the perfect souffle. Besides having the correct ratio of ingredients, you need something dry to coat the ramekin/container you bake it in, to which the egg mixture will adhere. In this case, I use flour; however, you can finely ground gluten free bread crumbs, if desired. So, don’t be intimidated. Meanwhile, enjoy this delicious gluten free cheese souffle.
Your guests or loved ones will think you slaved for hours and are an expert chef when you present this lovely gluten free cheese souffle. The best part is they'll never notice they are gluten free.
Ingredients:
- 30 grams of butter, plus more for ramekins
- 1/4 cup Carla's Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour Blend Recipe*, plus more for dusting
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 1/4 cups milk (cream works well too)
- 2 cups shredded cheese of choice
- 2 teaspoons gluten free dijon mustard (French's or Grey Poupon)
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- Sprinkle of ground nutmeg (or cayenne, for heat)
Instructions:
- Preheat a baking sheet in your oven to 400ºF.
- Baste four ramekins with butter. Thoroughly dust with flour and shake out any excess and set aside.
- Beat the egg whites using an electric mixer until they form soft peaks, and set aside.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan and heat until bubbly.
- Sprinkle in the flour while constantly whisking.
- Remove from heat and slowly pour the milk into the butter/flour mixture, while constantly whisking to create a roux. Return to heat and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 3 minutes. Stirring speeds up the process. You want it to be warm enough for the cheese to melt.
- Add the cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in the egg yolks, and stir until creamy. Add mustard, salt, pepper and a tiny bit of nutmeg or cayenne, if using, and stir.
- Fold in 1/3 of the beaten egg whites at a time until each third disappears into the mixture.
- Distribute the batter between the prepared ramekins and bake on the center shelf of the oven for about 10 minutes and until puffy.
Tips
*Be sure to use a gluten free flour that contains xanthan or guar gum. If the flour you use tends to create crumbly baked goods, it doesn't contain enough gum. Try adding more gum, about 1/4 teaspoon per one cup of flour, to start. To this recipe, you can even add 1/8 teaspoon to the 1/4 cup of flour called for in the recipe (even if you use my flour blend recipe). It will prevent the souffle from falling, for sure. Gums give baked goods more structure (makes them sturdy). I hope these tips help you.
Step 7 is very confusing to me, “reduce the heat and the saucepan from the heat…”. Are we meant to reduce the heat? Or remove the saucepan from the head?
Kyla,
Sorry about that! Just remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool a little while stirring.
Carla