Who
Emily Gaudichon
“Mastering a soufflé was a pivotal moment for me where I really thought – ok, I can do this! I can live and cook in France for the rest of my life. Soufflés have a reputation for being extremely difficult but actually they’re very easy and once I discovered that, most things about French cooking fell into place for me.”
Emily has always loved cooking and entertaining. So after hosting a few successful supper clubs in London in her late 20s, she enrolled in a culinary school and spent a year honing her skills, before working as a private chef. This path led her to Paris where she spent half of her time cooking (whether teaching classes, catering events or for her family) and she’s never not thinking about her next meal.
I loved listening to Emily’s culinary journey while watching her top-hatting the soufflé. This is a process where you level the soufflé mixture with the back of a knife and running your thumb around the edge of the dish so they rise evenly while baking.
Recently Emily is fulfilling her other dream job as a writer with her newly published beautifully illustrated kids book called “The Parisian ABCs” which is now available from an Australian bookstore Abbey’s.
While we sat in her cosy Parisian’s apartment living room looking out to the gorgeous Haussmann style balconies, Emily’s shared her tips on which flea markets are best to explore in Paris and where I could find the beautiful vintage French sugar sifting spoon that she uses to dress her raspberry soufflé. Meanwhile her black haired sausage dog Noisette had warmed up to me and posed beautifully for my camera.
Next time you are headed for Paris, be sure to check out Emily‘s unique and quintessential French tours.
Emily’s Food Waste Tips
To save the the raspberry seeds from being discarded, you can include them into the raspberry soufflé mixture
Raspberry Soufflé
Prep time: | Cook time: | Serves 6
- 250g frozen raspberries (you can use fresh if they’re in season)
- 50g + 30g sugar, plus some for dusting
- 10g cornflour (cornstarch or maizena)
- 15g water
- 4 egg whites
- Butter for the ramekins
- Icing sugar to sprinkle before serving (optional)
- Preheat your oven to 180C and put on an apron as raspberry puree tends to stain.
- Measure the raspberries in a small saucepan with 50g sugar and a splash of water. Heat on medium for a few minutes until the sugar is melted and the raspberries have fallen apart.
- While that’s cooking, butter the ramekins brushing vertically up the sides, coat with sugar and tap out any excess.
- Pass the raspberry mix through a sieve (you can leave the seeds in, I tried it and it’s ok but I prefer it without). Make sure to keep sieving even when you think it’s done as the puree at the end is the best part.
- Mix the cornflour and water together in a glass (this prevents any cornflour lumps) and tip into the raspberry puree. Heat on medium while continuously stirring gently until you see a volcanic bubble and the mix has visibly thickened. Set aside to cool.
- Crack your eggs and beat the whites until just stiff (you can make icecream with the yolks). Add the 30g of sugar little by little as you continue to mix until it’s thick and glossy.
- Add some of the egg whites into the raspberry mix and stir to loosen. Then tip the raspberry/egg white mixture back into the bowl of egg whites and gently fold it together. A few streaks of egg white are fine but be careful there isn’t a puddle of raspberry pure left at the bottom of the bowl.
- Fill the ramekins being careful to avoid large pockets of air. Even them with the back of a knife so they’re perfectly flat (optional). Run a knife about half a centimetre (1/8 inch) deep all the way around the edge to leave a little line that will help them rise evenly.
- Bake in the bottom 3rd of the oven for around 7/8 minutes – until they’re well risen and slightly firm to touch on the top. They’re supposed to have a tiny bit of uncooked mousse in the middle but it’s not obligatory (it’s called baveuse).
- Serve immediately – have your plates, spoons and icing sugar to sprinkle all ready!