Good air day

Nothing is easier than a soufflé, though most people assume they are both difficult and last-minute. As I learned many years ago from my good friend Char Hunt, the egg whites for a soufflé can be whisked up and folded through the mixture in advance as long as the soufflé dish is covered with clingfilm to prevent air from getting in – you whip off the clingfilm just before putting the dish in the oven to bake. Thus, a soufflé can be made several hours before baking – easily six hours, and longer

The eggs I use are all large, by the way. And it's vitally important to butter the dish or ramekin thoroughly, unless you want days of soaking and scrubbing to follow your dinner party. Dusting out the buttered interior with another ingredient for extra flavour – as you will see in the recipes – only takes seconds.

You can use Benecol instead of butter, and 1 per cent instead of milk; also, don't be tempted to put grated cheese on top of your uncooked soufflé – the weight of the melting cheese will deter it from rising as it bakes.

Finally, it is imperative that everyone is ready to eat as soon as your soufflé emerges from the oven – this is one dish that simply will not wait.

MUSHROOM, CHEESE AND GARLIC SOUFFLÉ

SERVES 4

butter for wiping round the dish 2oz/55g finely grated Parmesan
1/2 lb/225g mushrooms, wiped, stalks cut off and the mushrooms diced small
2 medium onions, skinned and diced finely
4 fat cloves of garlic, left in their skins
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
about 15 grinds of black pepper
a good grating of nutmeg
3oz/85g butter
2 just-rounded tablespoons plain flour
1 pint/570ml milk
6oz/170g grated Cheddar or Lancashire cheese
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

8 eggs, separated – the whites placed in a scrupulously clean Pyrex bowl with a pinch of salt; the yolks mixed together well in a small bowl

Thoroughly butter the bottom and sides of a soufflé dish or Pyrex dish about 8in/20cm in diameter. Dust it out with the finely grated Parmesan cheese. Put the diced mushrooms and onions, along with the garlic cloves, olive oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg, into a roasting tin. Using your hands, mix all these ingredients together thoroughly, then place the tin in a hot oven, 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6, to roast for 30 to 35 minutes. Take out of the oven and, when cool enough to handle comfortably, squeeze the purée-like insides from each of the garlic cloves back into the mushrooms. Discard the skins.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook for a minute before stirring in the milk, continuing to stir until the sauce bubbles. Let it bubble for a minute, then draw the pan off the heat and stir in the grated cheese and mustard, mixing well, until the cheese has completely melted. Then stir in the roasted mushrooms, onions and garlic mixture. Leave to cool.

Beat the egg yolks into the cheese and mushroom sauce.

Lastly, using a hand-held electric whisk, whisk up the egg whites with a pinch of salt till they are very thick and white and glossy. Then, using either a large metal spoon or, better, a flat metal batter whisk, fold the egg whites quickly and thoroughly through the soufflé mixture, then pour and scrape this into the prepared dish. Cover with clingfilm and leave in a cool place until you are ready to bake the soufflé.

Remove the clingfilm and bake in a hot oven, 220C/450F/Gas Mark 7, for 35 to 40 minutes. The soufflé should be runny in the middle. Serve and eat immediately.

LEEK, HAM AND GOATS CHEESE SOUFFLÉ

SERVES 6

12 leeks, trimmed and steamed till just tender
12 slices of wafer-thin ham
For the soufflé:
3oz/85g butter
2 just-rounded tablespoons self-raising flour
1 pint/570ml milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
about 15 grinds of black pepper
a good grinding of nutmeg
8oz/225g soft goats cheese, any rind cut off and discarded
6 eggs, separated, the yolks placed in a small bowl, the whites in a large Pyrex bowl with a pinch of salt

Thoroughly butter a soufflé or Pyrex dish. Wrap each steamed leek in a slice of ham and lay the wrapped leeks in the bottom of the dish.

Make the soufflé by melting the butter in a large saucepan and stirring in the flour. Let this cook for a minute before stirring in the milk. Still stirring, allow the sauce to boil, then after a minute draw the pan off the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, nutmeg and goats cheese. Stir well till the cheese has melted completely. Allow to cool.

When the mixture is cool, beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, beating very well. Lastly, in a large Pyrex bowl, whisk up the egg whites till they are stiff and glossy and, using a flat metal whisk, fold them quickly and thoroughly through the cheese mixture. Pour this over the leeks and ham, and cover the dish with clingfilm.

When you are ready to cook, remove the clingfilm and bake in a hot oven, 220C/450F/Gas Mark 7, for 30 minutes.

Eat immediately.

LEMON AND VANILLA SOUFFLÉ

I like to make this in separate ramekins. If you like, put a few raspberries in each ramekin before adding the soufflé mixture.

SERVES 6

butter and caster sugar, for preparing the ramekins
6 large eggs, yolks in 1 bowl, whites in another, larger, Pyrex bowl
6oz/170g caster sugar
2oz/55g sieved ground almonds
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice of 1 lemon
finely grated rind of 2 lemons
Butter each ramekin thoroughly, then dust out with caster sugar.

Beat together the egg yolks and caster sugar till very thick and almost white. Beat in the ground almonds, vanilla and lemon juice. Add the grated lemon rinds but don't whisk them in – they clog around the whisks.

With scrupulously clean whisks, whisk up the egg whites till stiff and glossy. Quickly and thoroughly fold them through the lemon mixture with a flat metal whisk. Divide the mixture between each ramekin. Cover with clingfilm. To cook, remove the clingfilm and put ramekins in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 25 minutes.

Dust with sieved icing sugar and serve immediately, with vanilla whipped cream. Yum!

Eggs that are a few days old, kept at room temperature, whisk to a greater volume than those from the fridge