Soufflé au Comté

Soufflé au Comté or cheese soufflé was on the schedule for last week’s Whisk Wednesday, cooking from Le Cordon Bleu at Home. Part of me got a bit excited because soufflé is on my “to learn” list. And, I learned what NOT to do. 

I am one week late because I wanted to use Comté cheese and that meant a trip across town,
but I wanted it to be as authentic as possible.

Comté is an ancient french cheese, made only from the Montbeliard cow. It is similar to a gruyere, slightly sweet, nutty and firm.

The process in making this is not difficult, but call me super woman today. I made the entire soufflé holding a 22-month old boy in one arm. But, then I thought it might a perfect time for him to learn french cooking. Earlier this week, his twin brother actually whisked eggs for breakfast. You may hear again about these twins that don’t belong to me but are very close to me, like family. Already today, I had a bit of a fantasy that they would become executive chefs of their own restaurant and one day be cooking for me.

Due to my one-arm challenge, I didn’t see in the recipe where I needed to add the cheese to the béchamel and let’s just say that after of all my careful preparation with a smooth béchamel and properly beaten egg whites, I still got the technique wrong. I also didn’t take seriously pan preparation. I buttered and sprinkled cheese on the bottom of the pan, but now after having researched this, I didn’t allow the cheese to go up the sides of the soufflé pan, and this is important because it helps the mixture rise.

But, I know what to do next time, when my soufflé will have a perfect rise. To see those that did it right, please check out the Whisk Wednesday blog roll.

In case you are wondering, the twins ate the soufflé and they liked it.

Recipe (adapted from Le Cordon Bleu at Home, Page 82-83)
1 1/2 cups Comté cheese or other imported swiss cheese
1 1/4 cups milk
3 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
white pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
4 eggs., separated
Unsalted butter for mold


Key Words: Cheese, Le Cordon Bleu at Home, Whisk Wednesday, French Comté

All original content (outside of adapted recipe) copyright © 2009 Angela Roberts, All Rights Reserved