Lovely Lemon Souffle

Over the Christmas holidays, my Mom and I spent an entire day on the couch watching re-runs of the great British Bake Off. It's such a fantastic show and really gave us lots of great ideas for trying over the Christmas, that we ordinarily wouldn't have the time for. On one episode  the challenge was soufflés. What ever happened in the kitchen that day, every contestants soufflé was a flop....quite literally. Following on from this, my Mom and I have been threatening to make soufflés ever since, but hadn't gotten around to it. So last weekend, a cold and rainy Sunday provided the perfect opportunity to give them a go. My Mom recalled that my brother used to make soufflés years ago but we couldn't put our finger on the recipe. So instead I decided to ask the soufflé queen herself.....Mary Berry. I found this fantastic Lemon Soufflé recipe on the BBC website and found it brilliant! Once you stick to recipe closely you really can't go wrong! As a soufflé novice I needed an expert recipe, and an expert recipe I found.

Lovely Lemon Soufflé

Ingredients
2 lemons (juice and zest)
2 egg yolks and 4 egg whites
125g caster sugar
3 rounded tsps of cornflour
1 rounded tsps of plain flour
90ml double cream
110ml full fat milk
melted butter (for greasing)
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Method
1. Brush the inside of each ramekin well with melted butter and shake a little sugar inside 
    each ramekin until the sides are lightly coated. Tip out any excess sugar and and set the 
    ramekins aside. Preheat the oven to 180C and place the baking tray in the centre of the 
    oven.
2. Place the cream, flour and cornflour in a bowl and whisk to form a smooth paste.
3. Next warm the milk in a large saucepan over a medium heat until just boiling, then 
    remove from the heat. Mix a small amount of the hot milk into the flour mixture, and mix 
    until the mixture resembles thick cream, pressing out any lumps. Once smooth add the  
    remaining milk and mix before pouring the whole mixture back into the saucepan and 
    placing on a gentle heat. Beat vigorously with a hand whisk until it is thickened  
   (continue to whisk continuously so the mixture does not stick).
4. When you feel the mixture is thickening, remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon 
    juice and zest a little a time.Meanwhile using a wooden spoon, beat together the sugar 
    and egg yolks until they form a thick paste. Then add this paste to the contents of the 
    saucepan and place back on the heat to thicken. Whisk until it begins to bubble then 
    remove from the heat again (the mixture should look like custard). Put it to one side to 
    cool.
5. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form soft peaks. When the mixture in the 
    saucepan has cooled, add one large spoon of the egg whites and beat well. Next using a 
    large metal spoon, gently fold in the egg whites, ensuring to go around the outside and 
    cut through the middle in order to fold in the air bubbles slowly without breaking them up. 
    Continue until the mixture looks pale and yellow without any streaks of egg white.
6. Fill the ramekins to the brim with the mixture and then level off with a spatula. Run a  
    thumb nail around the inside of the ramekins (this will help them to rise evenly).  
7. Place the ramekins on a baking tray in the middle of the oven and cook for about 14 
    minutes until risen and turning golden. Time and watch the soufflés carefully. DO NOT 
    open the oven during cooking time. 
8. Once risen and golden, remove from the oven and serve immediately. Dust with icing 
    sugar if desired.

E-D's Notes
Soufflés are a little like Chocolate Fondants, it's all about the timing! So get the timers out watch them very carefully!