Pistachio Souffles in Advance

Asked by lizzybro. Answered on 2nd February 2016

Full question

I'd like to try the Pistachio Souffle recipe for a dinner party. In the recipe (from the book Domestic Goddess) you talk about preparing in advance but with no further explanation regarding how far in advance it can be made and at which stage you can stop the advanced preparation. Any help with that please?

Our answer

Nigella's Pistachio Souffles recipe (from Domestic Goddess) can be made partly in advance. However the whisking and folding in of the egg whites should always be done just before the souffles are baked. You can make the pistachio base up to (but no more than) 2 hours ahead of the time at which you want to bake the souffles. As the recipe mentions, add half of the butter then add the pistachios, almond and vanilla extracts and orange flower water then dot the remaining butter on the surfance of the mixture. Alterntively make up the base completely and lightly press a piece of baking parchment on to the surface. Either of these methods should stop a skin forming on the surface of the mixture. You can prepare the ramekins also in advance. Leave the base mixture and ramekins in a cool (but not cold) place along with the egg whites. If you refrigerate the mixture then you will find that it will become too firm to incorporate the whisked egg whites.

When you want to serve the souffles, make sure that the oven is properly preheated before you start to whisk the whites. Give the base mixture a good stir to incorporate any butter on the surface, then whisk the egg whites and continue with the recipe.