Twice Baked Cheese Soufflé with a Parmesan Cream Sauce

My husband and I first enjoyed this treat of a lunch at the Blaxlands Restaurant in the Hunter Valley. We loved the flavour so much we asked the waiter if the chef may part with the recipe. She kindly popped out herself with a hand written note for us. I have been meaning to cook this for years ever since, especially having been daunted by soufflé recipes. It is in fact very easy. It just has a few steps to follow.

The BEST part of a twice baked soufflé is you can make most of it in advance and still pull off the wow factor a soufflé needs in the final bake. You can either have the ramekins in the fridge filled with the batter ready for baking (they will keep for a few days) or you can pre bake them for the 20 minutes, tip them out into their baking dishes, put them in the fridge and bring to room temp for the final 10 minute bake for the occasion.

I tried both methods and we felt they worked just as well.  I definitely love Tallegio as the star cheese in the dish too.

Pictured: First bake of the Twice Baked Cheese Souffle

60g butter

60g plain flour flour

350ml milk, heated

100g grated/broken up good melting cheese - Tallegio* is the number 1 for me and in the original recipe (can substitute with gruyere, fontina or robiola)

A little salt and a good grind of pepper - I like white pepper, black is good too though

4 eggs plus 1 yolk

*Taleggio cheese is a semi-soft, rind washed, and smear-ripened cheese, which originated in Italy.This cow’s milk cheese has a rosy-gray, thin rind but a soft inner part. It is not necessary to remove the rind, you can just clean it before using the cheese. It has a peculiar odor which is due to the aging but it doesn’t affect the taste in any way. The flavor is sweet but slightly fruity/tangy. The cheese also melts well.

Sauce -

100ml double cream

100g parmesan

To serve -

1 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 180 °C 

Prepare all the ingredients - the butter in a medium saucepan ready for the flour; the milk in a small pan ready for warming on the stove; the eggs separated - yolks in a small bowl and the whites in a large bowl; cheese broken up or grated in a bowl ready to add.

Butter 8 x ¾ cup ramekins thoroughly.

Using a whisk - make a roux by melting the butter in a pan until foaming, then add the flour and stir 2 minutes to cook it out a little (this is a roux) - you need to cook out the flour importantly so you can't taste it through the dish. Add the hot milk, stirring with the whisk to help keep the lumps out and make it nice and smooth, add the cheese and salt and pepper, cook and stir 4 minutes – give this a few minutes, you will notice the mixture does change as the cheese incorporates into the roux and really come together and become very smooth.

Cool sauce 10 minutes (this is to not scarmble the eggs when you add them). Beat the 5 yolks into the batter one at a time. Beat the 4 whites until stiff peaks in a separate bowl and fold through mixture - do this by starting with one scoop of egg whites folded into the batter to loosen, then add this mixture into the rest of the egg whites, and fold through gently to keep as much air in the mix as possible.

Boil the kettle.

Fill each ramekin to the top with the mix, and place the all in large roasting or baking dish that can fit them. Check the kettle has freshly boiled, turn on again if you need to. Place the baking dish in the middle of the oven - do this before you pour the boiling water in so you do not have to carry the dish filled with boiling water to the oven - once on the middle tray, pour boiling water until it comes half way up the ramekins - A full kettle is generally required depending on the size of your roasting dish.

Pictured: Soufflés ready for the first bake

Bake 20 minutes til they are puffed and cooked.

Cool 5 minutes, then tip out onto serving dishes that are oven proof. 

If you tip them out while they are still warm slightly they come away from the well-buttered ramekins fairly easily - run a knife along the sides to loosen them first. 

To note - you can store them in their ramekins in the fridge for a few days if you do not have the room to store them tipped out into their baking dishes, but they will need to be pried out with a knife along the sides and a spoon. I have had to do this a few times for space reasons and they are very forgiving - even if a take them out in a few pieces I just put them back together and pour the sauce over and they still fluff up really well!

When ready for the final cook and to serve -

Preheat oven to 180 °C again. Bring the soufflés to room temperature if you can or add a few minutes to the bake. Make the sauce by warming the cream and cheese in pan. Pour an equal amount over each soufflé, and bake 10 minutes til golden and bubbling and puffed up. Dust with paprika.

Serve with a salad of soft buttery lettuce (preferably mache/lambs lettuce), some chopped, roasted hazelnuts, fresh apples cut into toothpicks and a simple dressing of 1/3 cider vinegar and 2/3 EVOO (Extra birgin olive oil)

Serves 8 - maybe 9 if you are using large eggs!

Pictured: Twice Baked Cheese Soufflé with a Parmesan Cream Sauce