The Fancy Dessert You Should Never Order If You're In A Rush

Good things take time, but when you're waiting for your food at a restaurant, you may not always want to hear that. When your stomach is rumbling and the anticipation is high, it's easy to spend your wait time craning your neck for a view of your waiter walking toward you with steaming plates in hand. But considering many establishments in the U.S. allot about an hour and 45 minutes for a party of two, it can sometimes take a little longer than you think to get your food — especially when every minute feels like an eternity.

And there are a few variables that can determine the time it takes to receive your meal. For example, some waiters don't want to rush you if you're taking your time to finish an appetizer. Perhaps the restaurant sold more of a dish than what the kitchen was prepared to handle, or the servers are understaffed and have to cover hostess or bartender duties.

While these factors are out of your control, there is one that you can keep in mind. Some dishes simply take longer to make than others and you don't want to rush perfection. So if you're ordering this one dessert in particular, make sure it's on a night when you're not in a hurry.

If you're ordering a soufflé for dessert at a restaurant, expect a longer-than-average wait time. This doesn't have to be a bad thing — you can use that time to kick back, relax, and chat with your party, accompanied by a glass of dessert wine or digestif. But making a soufflé is truly a delicate art, and as anyone who has ever made one knows, there isn't a lot of room to take shortcuts.

Our easy carrot soufflé recipe takes 30 minutes to bake, which doesn't sound like that long, but if you're waiting for your dessert for half an hour at a restaurant, you may start to get a little impatient. The real reason a soufflé takes its sweet time? They get their uniquely light, fluffy texture when they rise in the oven, meaning every minute counts. A soufflé is made by beating egg whites, which form air bubbles that the protein in the egg whites trap in.

If you underbake a soufflé, it becomes wet and soupy, which is not exactly what you ordered. Due to the extended wait time, waiters will often tell you to let them know in advance if you want to order the sweet treat. So do yourself and your server a favor, and be patient while you wait for your dessert — you'll likely be rewarded with a perfectly fluffy soufflé.