The French Cook: Soufflés

Book excerpt: The James Beard Award-winning author and baker shares the secret to baking perfectly airy and light soufflés with technique tips and a variety of recipes. One of the most decadent dishes in French cuisine, soufflés are also famously intimidating for the home cook. In this comprehensive soufflé cookbook, consummate baker Greg Patent takes readers from soufflé basics—such as a lesson on beating egg whites, and a review of sauce bases—to creating a wide array of soufflés: hot and cold, savory and sweet, molded and unmolded, as well as specialty show-off dishes, all following basic French culinary techniques. Savory recipes include Leek and Pancetta, Fennel, Salmon and cheese soufflés. Sweet recipes begin with some classic hot renditions of Chocolate, Vanilla Bean, Fresh Strawberry, and Grand Marnier Soufflé, then move into scrumptious cold recipes of Passion Fruit, Ste. Germaine Lime, Almond and Praline Soufflé Floating Islands