Since double baked cheese soufflés are baked twice, there's no stress over them falling. They make a wonderfully decadent appetizer, side, or even a main dish with a salad.
Why Double-Baked Cheese Soufflés are the BEST
It's been a long time since I've made a soufflé. Like forever.
For starters, they collapse so quickly that by the time they reach the table people wonder why I'm serving a pancake for dessert. And there's a lot of fuss around having a clean ramekin top and edge so nothing interferes with the rise. Although really, if they collapse in a nanosecond, does that really matter?
So double-baked cheese soufflés, also called twice-baked soufflés, are right up my alley.
The first baking is done just like a regular soufflé. And it collapses, just like a regular soufflé. And it's ok. The photo above is post-collapse. You can do this step the day before and refrigerate until 30 minutes before dinner the following day. Or, this first step and the second baking can be done sequentially. It's up to you.
If you choose to split it between two days, slide the soufflés out of the refrigerator roughly 30 minutes before dinner, and preheat the oven. Top the soufflés with a couple of slivers of artichoke hearts, slices of cheese, and pour cream around them. I like to add a little cheese and fresh thyme to the cream, just because. Bake a second time to get another little rise, and serve as a fluffy, deliciously cheesy side dish.
Double-Baked Artichoke & Cheese Souffles
Ingredients
- 1 (13.75-oz) can artichoke bottoms. sliced in quarters (about 1 cup or a little more)
- 1/2 cup half & half
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3/4 cup lightly packed grated Gruyere cheese, divided
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, divided
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 egg whites
- 2 jarred marinated artichoke hearts, thinly sliced into a total of 8 slices
- 8 slices Gruyere cheese, small enough to place 2 on top of each soufflé
- 2/3 cup cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F, and butter the bottoms and sides of four 1-cup capacity ramekins. Line the bottoms of the ramekins with parchment paper. Place them in a large baking dish.
- Add the artichoke bottoms and half & half to a blender or processor fitted with a metal blade, blitz it like crazy until smooth.
- Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, whisk in the flour, and cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to whisk every 15 - 20 seconds. The flour should brown and cook, but not burn.
- Stir in the artichoke cream, 1/2 cup of the cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of the thyme, and the salt and pepper, and cook for a few minutes until the cheese melts. The mixture will be thick. Remove from the heat.
- Separate the eggs, add a pinch of salt to the egg whites, and beat them to medium stiff peaks. I use a hand mixer for this. You'll know they're ready when you dip the beaters into the egg whites and turn the beaters upside down. The egg white tips should be defined but droop.
- Temper the egg yolks with the artichoke mixture but whisking the artichoke mixture into the eggs one large spoonful at a time. I use a large serving spoon for this.
- Fold in the whipped egg whites. The best way to do this is by folding in only 1/3 of the whipped egg whites at a time, using a large spatula. There will be some lumps of whipped eggs whites when you're done.
- Ladle the soufflé batter into the prepared ramekins, about 3/4 full. Pour very hot or boiling water into the baking dish, about half-way up the sides of the ramekins.
- Bake for 10 minutes, and reduce the oven temperature to 350˚F. Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully lift the ramekins from the pan, and place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to collapse.
- Empty the baking pan of the water, and dry it.
- Once they cool a bit, run a sharp knife around each ramekin and turn them upside down to flip out the little soufflés. Arrange them in the baking pan. Place a couple slivers of artichoke hearts on top of each soufflé. Layer 2 small slices of cheese on top. Pour the cream around the soufflés. Add a little grated cheese to the cream, if you want.
- Bake for another 10 - 12 minutes. Serve warm.
Liz says
Oh, my gosh, these sound amazing!!! Gruyere and artichoke hearts are staples in my kitchen and I can’t wait to try your souffles!
Jane says
What beautiful and delicious savory souffles. Artichoke hearts and Gruyere are the perfect combination to make our mouths water. Brava Susan!
Karen says
That is an amazing and simple way to rescue a collapsed souffle like it was meant to be! Love your toppings too. Gorgeous
Laura @motherwouldknow says
I never make souffles for just the reasons you listed. But now, I will have to try these, as I won’t end up serving pancakes or embarrassing myself as I try to explain what the dish should have looked like. these are just spectacular and I’ll bet they taste amazing.
Carol Borchardt says
I’m a total artichoke fiend and I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ve never attempted a souffle just because they sound so tricky but these…..! These I can do. Such an elegant dish for a spring meal!
Tamara Andersen says
What a glorious combination you have in this Double Baked Artichoke Cheese Souffle recipe! I had to sympathize with your description of the souffle turned pancake as that has often been my experience… This is such a creative way to use them! And GRUYERE AND ARTICHOKES. Yum!
Ansh says
I may never look up from the plate :)) Such a delicious recipe. So decadent , elegant and just plain delicious.
Sarah Walker Caron says
What a great idea! I love artichokes and souffles … these sound divine.
Beth says
I love that you make us feel ok about our souffle deflating and that you can do this gorgeous dish over a couple of days! I have artichokes on my mind!
Barbara | Creative Culinary says
Thank you, I know you must have done this recipe just for me right? Because that whole collapsing thing? I deal with that EVERY DAY at high altitude so some things I just never make and souffles are one of them.
But this? With artichokes? Yep, this will be done…what a great idea. I need to figure out steps to make every souffle twice baked now! Great dish Susan…can’t wait to try it.
Megan @ MegUnprocessed says
I LOVE artichoke! I was just saying I need to get some from the farmers market.
Toni says
It looks so good! Definitely a must-make!
Michael Simmons says
My wife loves cheese soufflé so I made this for dinner with ham and it turned out perfect! Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!
Naveen Sohail says
This is comfort food at it’s best! I love to read more recipes like this.
Ali says
OMG, I can’t wait for more to try this. this is amazing