Julia Child's Temperature Tip Helps Your Souffle Rise Beautifully

Soufflés are one of those seemingly ethereal dishes that you picture coming out of the oven looking like angel candy floss, tasting like fluffy heaven, and wowing your guests with how elegantly it rose (and stayed just that way until the last bite). Sadly, reality isn't always as we hope and, a lot of times, that fluffy masterpiece ends up looking more like a squashed crumpet than a gloriously puffed-up, perfectly-shaped dome.

But we have secrets here at Tasting Table, and we want to share them all with you so that every dish comes out even better than you'd envisioned. The secret to a gloriously infallible airy soufflé is decreasing the temperature of your pre-heated 400-degree Fahrenheit oven down to 375 degrees Fahrenheit the moment you pop your soufflé into the oven.

This secret was shared by Julia Child, U.S. cooking celebrity and star of the Emmy Award-winning TV series "The French Chef," which inspired home cooks from 1963 until 1973. Julia shared this great tip in her book, suggesting that a soufflé has a much better chance of rising if the oven is preheated and then has its temperature decreased in this manner. She also said that it must be placed on the middle rack.

In her TV show, Julia called this gorgeous dish the non-collapsible cheese soufflé, because it stays pretty much in its original shape even if it's left in the warming oven until serving time. Give Julia's original recipe a try, using her additional temperature tip (and if you're feeling nostalgic, you can watch the episode on YouTube and follow along as the legend herself guides you).

First, you'll preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 4-5 inch high baking dish with butter. Sprinkle the dish with about 2 tablespoons of grated Gruyère or Emmental Swiss cheese. Next, you'll prepare your sauce. In a saucepan on medium heat, mix 2½ tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of flour until a thick roux is formed.

Allow to cool for a few minutes off the heat, then add ¾ cup warm milk and stir in. Place the pan back on the heat and cook until it thickens. Add half a teaspoon of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 egg yolks along with 1 cup of your Swiss cheese. In a separate bowl, whip 6 egg whites until stiff peaks have formed, then fold a big dollop of the whites into your sauce base. Stir well before adding in the rest of the whites, which you will gently fold into the mixture. Place on the lower rack of the middle of the oven in a low bowl of water (giving a bain-marie effect to the cooking) and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove your soufflé from the oven and serve it with mushroom or tomato sauce to complete Child's dish.