Martha Stewart Believes There's A Better Way To Eat Soufflé

Soufflés are special desserts for a number of reasons. They require care in preparation, impeccable timing, and, when done correctly, they emerge from the oven tall and stately. Once they are ready, they need to be eaten rather quickly, as they tend to deflate and flatten at room temperature. For these reasons, a soufflé is a dessert that should be savored, bite by bite. Martha Stewart has concluded that the ultimate way to enjoy a dessert soufflé begins with puncturing that perfect display of eggs, sugar, and air as soon as it is set in front of you, creating a small hole into which you can pour your accompanying crème anglaise — or another sweet sauce — directly.

@marthastewart

If you haven’t seen my first explainer (it was my first ever tiktok video!), here is a little refresher. #souffle #dessert #tiktokpartner #learnontiktok

♬ original sound – Martha Stewart

She stated her case in a TikTok video, which featured her dining at the exclusive Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. With her perfectly round and raised soufflé on the table, Stewart digs her spoon into the center, making an indentation before pouring crème anglaise directly into it, followed by a couple of dollops of whipped cream. Then, she takes her first bite. It's brilliant because, when eaten this way, it is assumed that every bite will have a bit of cream clinging to it, without having to weigh down the entire soufflé's delicate structure with sauce.

What people often do when a soufflé is served with crème anglaise (or another type of sweet sauce) on the side is pour it directly over the top of the soufflé, but this can lead to the sauce dripping down the side of the dish. You also won't get to enjoy any of the soufflé's fluffy exterior on its own merit. Another option is to pour some of the sauce onto a saucer and dip each bite of soufflé into it. Compared to these methods, Martha Stewart's technique is a time-saver that makes total, mess-free sense. Of course, not every soufflé you order will come with crème anglaise or sauce, and in these cases, you can simply take the first scoop out of the center or the sides, whichever section looks the most enticing.

Popular flavors of dessert soufflés include vanilla, chocolate, lemon, raspberry, Grand Marnier, and coffee. Vanilla crème anglaise would be delicious with any of these flavors, as would a strawberry sauce or buttery caramel. As far as soufflés go, you really don't want to try placing the sauce in the middle of the batter before baking, because it would affect how the egg mixture cooks, so save the sauce for the side — or rather, the middle — of the finished dish.

Savory soufflés rarely include a sauce on the side, although they often begin with a simple béchamel sauce, which creates the base for many cheese soufflés. Dessert soufflés don't always come with a pourable sauce either. Several soufflés from Martha Stewart's test kitchen suggest serving with a scoop of ice cream, a dollop of sweetened crème fraîche, or a simple but effective dusting of powdered sugar.

Clearly, it's easier to jazz up a sweet soufflé than a savory one, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to add some embellishment. Try adding some chopped cooked bacon into an aged cheddar soufflé; incorporate finely chopped chives into an herby egg and blue cheese soufflé; and mix some chopped kale or spinach into a classic Gruyère soufflé.

As for your dessert soufflés, if you want a sauce — but don't necessarily want to go through the steps of making one — consider melting your favorite ice cream, which works great as a pourable accompaniment. Melted vanilla ice cream mimics vanilla crème anglaise beautifully and is heavenly over molten chocolate soufflé. Pistachio, strawberry, and rum raisin ice creams would also make delicious sauces. Perfect soufflés really don't need much adornment; some fresh berries, candied citrus peels, toasted nuts, or a generous mound of freshly whipped cream would all be wonderful.