Nothing says, “special side dish,” better than a soufflé! To try one for one of your holiday gatherings, our classic preparation includes simple ingredients: Sweet potato, egg, milk, cheese, butter and herbs. Whipped together and popped into the oven, the mixture dramatically rises in a lofty cloud that crowns inches above its baking dish before settling back down once served.
The key to crowning glory? Be sure absolutely no egg yolks drip into the egg whites when separating the eggs. It’s also best not to prepare a soufflé on a humid day. And be sure to coat the sides of your soufflé dish with plenty of finely grated parmesan which gives the eggs something to grip as they billow upward. For another classic sweet potato dish, try our Senator Russell’s Sweet Potato Casserole.
Sweet Potato Soufflé
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 4 Tbsp finely grated Reggiano Parmesan
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 1 fresh bay leaf
- Small bunch of fresh English thyme
- ¼ of a large white onion, sliced
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 ¼ cups grated Fontina cheese
- 1 cup smoothly pureed roasted sweet potato
- 6 large egg whites plus 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- BUTTER & COAT DISH: With oven rack in center position, preheat oven to 400. Butter a 6-cup soufflé dish with 2 Tbsp softened butter. Coat the sides with the 4 Tbsp of finely grated parmesan. Set aside.
- STEEP MILK WITH HERBS: In a small pan over medium heat, add the milk, bay leaf, thyme and onion. (Chop the onion a bit, if the slices don’t fit.) Heat to boiling. Immediately remove from heat and set aside, allowing the herbs and onion to soak in the milk as it cools.
- MAKE THE BASE: In a heavy-bottomed stock pot over low heat, melt the butter. When it foams, whisk in the flour and cook over low heat for two minutes until it turns golden and begins to smell toasty. Pour the milk through a sieve into the pot (discard the herbs and onion) and rapidly whisk the milk into the flour to make a thick paste. Remove from heat. Whisk in the salt, pepper, cayenne and nutmeg. Working one at a time, beat in the egg yolks, whisking to blend well. Stir in the grated fontina. Stir in the sweet potato. Scoop all into a large bowl. Set aside.
- WHIP EGG WHITES: In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, or, by hand, beat the egg whites with 1/8 tsp salt until firm peaks form. Using a spatula and an over under motion, gently fold a quarter of the egg whites into the soufflé base. Repeat, folding in the rest of the egg whites.
- BAKE SOUFFLÉ: Pour the soufflé mixture into the prepared buttered and parmesan coated soufflé dish. Place in oven. Immediately reduce oven heat to 375. Close oven door and bake for 30 minutes (do NOT open oven while soufflé is baking!) or a bit more until soufflé has risen a few inches over the top of the souffle dish and top is nicely browned. Carefully remove from oven and serve immediately.
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