grated cheese for a savory one. The butter
supposedly helps the soufflé mix slide up the
side as it expands, while the particles give the
mix something to cling to as it climbs.
Contradictory claims, and not true! Soufflés
made in unbuttered or uncrumbed dishes rise
just as high. The butter simply makes the
soufflé surface easier to detach from the dish,
and sugar, breadcrumbs, and cheese make a
nice crunchy, brown crust for the otherwise
soft interior.
Once put in its dish, a reasonably stiff
soufflé mix can be held for several hours in
the refrigerator before the foam deteriorates.
It will keep indefinitely in the freezer.
Cooking Soufflés Baking soufflés is not a
perilous enterprise. Put a room-temperature
soufflé mix in a hot oven and it will rise.
Don’t worry about opening the oven door. The
mix can’t fall unless it actually begins to cool
down, and even if that did happen, it will rise