By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- About 45 minutes
- Rating
- 4(504)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This soufflé, adapted from Mark Bittman's famous tome, "How to Cook Everything," is rich, fluffy and very easy. You can also make orange or Grand Marnier variations. If you want to make individual soufflés, use a little more butter and grease four 1½- to 2-cup ramekins.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- About 1 teaspoon unsalted butter for the dish
- 1cup sugar, plus some for the dish
- 6eggs, separated
- 1tablespoon minced or grated lemon or orange zest
- ¼cup freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice or Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur
- Pinch salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
236 calories; 5 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 39 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 38 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 87 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Butter a 2-quart soufflé or other deep baking dish. Sprinkle the dish with sugar, invert it, and tap to remove excess sugar. Set aside and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the egg yolks with ¾ cup of the sugar until light and very thick; the mixture will fall in a ribbon from the ends of the beaters when it is ready. Beat in the flavorings and set aside.
Step
2
Beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold soft peaks; continue to beat, gradually adding the remaining ¼ cup sugar, until they are very stiff but still glossy. Stir a good spoonful of them thoroughly into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining whites, using a rubber spatula or your hand. Transfer to the prepared soufflé dish(es) and bake until the center is nearly set, 25 to 35 minutes (15 to 25 minutes for individual soufflés). Serve immediately.
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504
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Cooking Notes
Christopher johnson
Superb recipe. So light and fluffy it feels like a tangy cloud! My wife hates me and life is meaningless. Be sure to be careful with the variety of lemon because it can sometimes be too tart. Good luck!
LuvUrZZZs
These are the best notes ever, except for Christopher's troubles of course. Usually they are all "I made this exactly like the recipe except for changing it 90%".
Lawrence Freundlich
I am surprised that that your wife hates you and that you find life meaningless even though you have "superb" lemon soufflé in your life.
Chris
Maybe a recipe that calls for more cooking and less wife is in order. I could recommend Laurie Colwin's mustard chicken, if you haven't tried it already. NYT Cooking covers it. :)
Ted
Mine souffles came out cold and like a thick liquid. I followed the recipe to a tee, except for that whole "cooking it" part. I think next time I'll try cooking it but leave out the ingredients.
Jessica
Most fun and funny comments ever!! I made a Grand Marnier version of this and it was fantastic. But what I’m really thinking about is Christopher and whether he has found any happiness since his comment from three years ago.
Joe
Ok, I tried the recipe and three things:1. It cannot keep in the fridge for 24 hours, unfortunately. It collapses and becomes more of a pudding instead of a souffle2. When baked soon after being made, they was fantastic! I did tweak the recipe just a bit, using juice from Meyer lemons reduced 50% for a stronger lemon taste and adding a 1/2 t. of cream of tartar to help the egg white whipping.3. I used individual 10 oz. ramekins and it took seven of them. They were done at 15 minutes.
NotPennyAnne
Well perhaps your soufflé was TOO TART. Perhaps a nice dark chocolate souffle' to help with your darkish mood dear Christopher. xo
Margo Price
I make the individual soufflés and keep them in the fridge until time to bake. They turn out great!
PSS
I want to try this, especially in individual ramikens, but I'm a little stumped about the timing: how do you get this in the oven during a dinner party and serve immediately after a relatively short time baking? Can you prepare the two souffle mixtures ahead and then fold them together at the last minute?
J Scrapple
Excellent springy start to our Easter lunch/dinner. Taste the batter before adding whites to adjust lemony-ness.
Tanvi
Perfect texture and easy to make. But way too much sugar! It was sickeningly sweet. I would start with 2/3 cup next time. I would have liked more lemony taste to shine through - maybe a tablespoon of zest?
Edward Pottle
Some woman named Martha bakes individual souffles at 375 for 16 minutes. She also says you can keep the mixture in the fridge for up to 3 hours before baking, although I think I'd a couple of minutes to the baking time if straight from the fridge. (Note, I've not tried this).
JANET LEVINE
I made this yesterday, and as soon as i took the soufflé s out of the oven they fell. I made individual ones. I know that you have to have a quiet house and not to open the oven while they cook. Lol, but the noise in my house right now can be deafening, as I am having hurricane impact windows installed, but the good news is that I did not open the oven. Anyway, I served them exactly how they looked and I must say they were like Lemon pudding cake. Excellent & not a total loss.
Madeleine
Followed exactly as written and it was wonderful. First time making a souffle.
Maggie
Followed the directions including some orange liquor. (I just had triple sec). That I topped off the lemon juice with. It came out light, fluffy and delicious! My very first soufflé!
Shelley
I made this and it turned out great--first time making souffle. However, I agree with another commenter. Way, way, WAY too sweet! Literally sickening. Otherwise the flavor was rich, lemon-y, and just right. Next time I won't dust the ramekins with sugar, as called for in the recipe.
Lou in Berkeley
I think you can’t pre-make the batter very far in advance of cooking. I’ve failed twice to get a soufflé, instead being left with a very tasty custard that has a slightly disagreeable texture after refrigerating for a few hours before baking. I’ve made great chocolate soufflés that were refrigerated for several hours, but that doesn’t seem to work here. (In fairness, this recipe doesn’t say you can do that.j
SBS
This was fun, and easy to put together. I used fresh lemon juice. It was my best, flavor wise, Souffle I've ever made. Delightful!
011
can you prepare the mix in advance?
Jo B
Too much sugar.
Charmaine
Reduce lemon juice
Adam
I used 1-cup ramekins (anything larger seems like overkill for a sweet dessert), and cooked at 350 for 18 minutes. It was cooked thru perfectly, delicious and fluffy, and perhaps a smidge too browned on top. Thank God I remembered that our oven has a window and a light so I could check the progress while it cooked.
chrissi
Eating chicken is not the answer, Chris. Great recommendation about cooking--just follow up making the lemon souffle with lemon ricotta pancakes and invite nice people over.
AAcold
Agree on too much sugar. Going to try reducing to 2/3 cup next time. Nice light dessert. A dusting of powdered sugar and a few raspberries elevate it even more.
JR
This recipe has come out perfectly every time. We can all take inspiration from Christopher’s example. When life hands you lemons, make lemon soufflé.
Eric
I wish I'd read these notes first before making this. I used Meyer lemons, which are kind of sweet on their own but the sugar could be cut by 1/3rd and it'd be fine. Bittman usually assumes we know more than we do. Anyway, Christopher, I hope this have improved and that you've settled things with the misses. If not may I suggest J. Child's chocolate mousse recipe in her magnum opus. I need to stop writing after drinking so much. Happy holidays everyone. Use Meyers and less sugar. Be nice Mrs. C.
Adrienne L
Great recipe! However, it doesn't say when to add the lemon and lemon zest. We added in step 1 with the egg yolks.
Nicolecooks2
"Beat in flavorings" in step one refers to when you add lemon or Grand Marnier or whatever flavoring you're using.
Anon
When do we add the liqueur?
David
Fabulous and easy
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