Souffle base problems

[pastrynovice]

Aloha from Oahu!

I have just started practicing making souffles. Last night I prepared my base for tonight. I'm making Raspberry souffle with lemon creme anglaise. My base consists of creme patissiere base with a raspberry jam/coulis mixed in. I made the fruit jam/coulis too thin and the pastry cream/fruit mixture was too thin, so I reduced it (ever so gently). Unfortunately it went too far in the other direction and became too thick. After refrigeration it now holds firmly in the whisk. As a thick base will hinder souffle rising action, would it be prudent to thin it to the right consistency (at room temperature) with an equally raspberry flavored creme anglaise? I think I should shoot for a cold prepared mustard like consistency? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I really want this to work out! The souffle is a surprise dessert for my wife.

This is a link to a picture showing my base as just taken out of the refrigerator chilling overnight.

http://postimg.org/image/l1zwl8yrh/

[Jim D.]

You might try heating the mixture very gently while whisking and adding drops of milk to thin it out.  Julia Child says it should be the consistency of "a heavy mayonnaise."  Unless you need a lot of liquid to do the thinning, I would not bother making crème anglaise for this purpose.  As you probably already know, when it's time to add the egg whites, stir in some to lighten the mixture (which should also help with your problem), then fold in the rest (again, all per JC).

Edited September 18, 2014 by Jim D. (log)

[pastrynovice]

You might try heating the mixture very gently while whisking and adding drops of milk to thin it out.  Julia Child says it should be the consistency of "a heavy mayonnaise."  Unless you need a lot of liquid to do the thinning, I would not bother making crème anglaise for this purpose.  As you probably already know, when it's time to add the egg whites, stir in some to lighten the mixture (which should also help with your problem), then fold in the rest (again, all per JC).

Thanks for the reply, Jim.  I have Mastering the Art of French cooking on hand.  Didn't see the heavy mayo part.  I already made the creme anglaise (didn't add it).  I'll see what its like when its at room temperature and compare to the mayo I made (JC recipe LOL!) yesterday.  Worse comes to worse, we have extra creme anglaise for berries and/or angel food cake.  

[Jim D.]

Thanks for the reply, Jim.  I have Mastering the Art of French cooking on hand.  Didn't see the heavy mayo part.  I already made the creme anglaise (didn't add it).  I'll see what its like when its at room temperature and compare to the mayo I made (JC recipe LOL!) yesterday.  Worse comes to worse, we have extra creme anglaise for berries and/or angel food cake.  

I've never found I had to toss out extra crème anglaise.  The reference to mayo is in From Julia's Kitchen.  Let us know how the soufflé turns out.  The best lessons I learned from JC are how to fix things that go wrong.  Of course, the crème anglaise will thin out the soufflé base eventually, but since it is thickened by eggs, I would think it would take longer.

[jmacnaughtan]

This may be a bit late coming, but your base looks fine.  Just let it come to room temperature and whisk it to loosen it a bit.

 

The more important part is getting a good meringue to fold into it, folding it in properly and properly buttering your moulds.