Twice Baked Cheese & Leek Soufflé – Sinful To The Max!

Double Baked Leek & Cheese Souffle 2

Double Baked Leek & Cheese Souffle

I’ve seen twice-baked soufflés being baked a couple of times on my favourite UK variety show ‘Come Dine With Me’. What these home chefs do is whip up a light egg and milk batter for baking which would rise into a sponge cake of sorts (and then quickly collapse), turn the cake out onto a gratin dish, pour cream and cheese over the top and bake again once they are ready to serve. These soufflés always looked so amazing and mouth-watering. Just imagine: sizzling cheese right out of the oven, bubbling with molten cheese and milk lava.

Which was why I started off with a basic cheese soufflé recipe last week for my first attempt, before I move on to the twice-baked version this week. There are several versions of twice-baked soufflés too – with potato or goat’s cheese as the base of the cake batter, with gruyere cheese as the topping etc. I’ve decided to stick with a similar cake batter mixture as what I had last week and top it off with a sure-safe cheddar cheese and whipped cream mixture.

Ingredients:

  • Unsalted butter (softened): 3 tbsp + 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
  • Powdered parmesan cheese: 6 tbsp
  • English leek: 1 stalk, leaves removed, chopped finely (about 1 cup)
  • Plain flour: 40g (1/3 cup)
  • Plain milk: 1 cup
  • Mature cheddar cheese (grated): 1 cup (about 100g) + 6 tbsp
  • Egg: 3, yolks and whites separated
  • Salt: 3/4 tsp
  • Ground blackpepper: to taste
  • Light or thickened unwhipped cream: 1 1/4 cups (12 tbsp)

Method:

  1. Coat the 6 ramekins twice using 3 tbsp softened butter, leaving them to chill in the fridge in between coats. Use an upward stroke to coat.
  2. Fill each ramekin with 1 tbsp parmesan cheese. Roll to coat, tapping out the excess. Leave in fridge to chill again.
  3. Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
  4. Melt 2 tbsp butter in saucepan. Add leek and stir-fry till soft. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
  5. Melt remaining 2 tbsp butter in saucepan. Add flour and stir for a min.
  6. Mix in 1/4 of milk till combined.
  7. Add in remaining milk and stir till thickened sauce forms.
  8. Remove from heat. Stir in leeks and 1 cup cheddar cheese till evenly mixed.
  9. Cool for 5min. Then stir in egg yolks, salt and pepper.
  10. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites till soft peaks form.
  11. Stir in 1 tbsp beaten whites into cheese mixture to loosen it.
  12. Then pour the cheese mixture into the egg whites and fold the whites into the mixture. Do not over-fold.
  13. Spoon mixture into ramekins, right to the brim. Level with back of spoon and run a finger around the rim of the ramekins (without rubbing away the butter) to separate the mixture from their edges.
  14. Place ramekins onto a baking tray. Top up the tray with boiling water till it reaches half the height of the ramekins.
  15. Place tray in oven. Bake 20min till soufflés are golden brown and risen. Remove to cool for 5min.
  16. Run a butter knife around the edges of the soufflés. Turn them out onto individual shallow baking or gratin dishes.
  17. Spoon 2 tbsp cream over each soufflé. Spoon 1 tbsp cheddar cheese on top of cream.
  18. Return to bake for 15min till sizzling and golden brown.
  19. Serve immediately.

Double Baked Leek & Cheese Souffle 3

Disclaimer:

  • I find this recipe of twice-baked cheese soufflé a lot yummier than my previous recipe, ‘The Original French Cheese Soufflé‘, which is baked only once. It is a sure winner – what with all the fragrantly melted cheese the soufflé is covered in!
  • This recipe was kindly adapted from Recipe Tin Eats’ Twice Baked Make Ahead Cheese Souffle. The instructions were easy to follow – a good starting point for those who have never made soufflés ever before.

Serving:
6 small ramekins

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