Twice-baked crab soufflés
Moussey and light and luscious, and most importantly easy, these twice-baked crab soufflés sound fancy but they're in fact a doddle. Just don't tell anyone!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 35 g unsalted butter
- 35 g flour
- 170 ml milk
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- Zest of ¼-½ lemon see notes!
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 80 g grated Emmental or Gruyere depending on your cheese preferences
- 100 g canned crabmeat
- 3 eggs separated
- 2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs chives, dill, coriander, anything you fancy
- 4 tbsp crème fraiche
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Brush four ramekins with melted butter in an upwards motion then pop them in the fridge until you need them. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F.
- Add the flour and butter into a saucepan and gently heat until the butter has melted. Stir together to make a paste and cook for two minutes. Gradually add the milk in big splashes and stir continuously with a whisk after each addition. Once all the milk is in there, and it’s smooth and silky, turn up the heat and bring to the boil for 2 minutes until thickened.
- Tip the béchamel into a bowl and leave to cool slightly. Add the Dijon mustard, lemon zest, chilli flakes, 55g of cheese, the crabmeat, egg yolks (no whites) and 1 tbsp chopped herbs, and stir everything together.
- Tip the egg whites into a large clean bowl and whisk to form stiff peaks. Fold through a third of the egg whites into the crab mixture and repeat twice more until all the egg white is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and moussey. Now, boil the kettle.
- Spoon the mixture to the brim of the ramekins, then run your finger around the inside edge to it rises straight up. Put the ramekins in a high-sided baking dish and pour boiling water around it to half of the ramekins' height. Carefully slide the dish into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix together the leftover cheese and herbs with the crème fraiche. Once the soufflés are risen and golden, remove them from the oven and tip out the water. Increase the temperature to 220°C/200°C fan/430°F.
- Top each soufflé with a tbsp crème fraiche then put them all back in the oven to cook for another 10 minutes. They should shoot up like skyscrapers, light, fluffy and golden. Eat immediately with lots of enthusiasm.
Notes
*In my opinion, less lemon is better. It's just needed to highlight that beautifully subtle crabby flavour. Too much lemon, and it tastes like a savoury lemon soufflé