Cafe 21 at Fenwick's cheddar cheese and spinach souffle

Terry Laybourne

Terry Laybourne

23rd February 2017
Terry Laybourne

Cafe 21 at Fenwick's cheddar cheese and spinach souffle

Recipe for cheddar cheese and spinach souffle from Cafe 21 at Fenwick's, part of 21 Hospitality Group - serves four

Ingredients

  • 50g Unsalted butter
  • 4tbls Fine dry white breadcrumbs
  • 180ml Full fat milk
  • ¼ Onion
  • 1 Small Bay leaf
  • 1 Clove
  • 30g Plain flour
  • 1tsp English mustard powder
  • 60g Spinach
  • 150g Mature Cheddar cheese
  • 3 Small Eggs
  • Salt
  • Freshly milled white pepper
  • 400ml Double cream

Method

1. Butter four 3½” ramekins using a small pastry brush then line each with a layer of dry breadcrumbs. Chill in the refrigerator.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 135°C.
3. Separate the eggs.
4. Heat the milk in a saucepan with onion studded with clove and bay leaf.
5. Remove from heat, cover with a lid and allow to infuse.
6. Make a roux by melting 30g of butter in another saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook over a low heat for five minutes.
7. Stir in English mustard powder.
8. Strain and reheat the milk, then add to the roux, one ladle at a time, stirring well and allowing to almost boil between each addition.
9. When all of the milk has been added and the mixture is smooth, move to a low heat and allow to cook out gently for 5mins stirring regularly.
10. Remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolks and 100g grated cheddar cheese, then cover the pan with cling film to retain the heat.
11. Heat the remaining 10g butter until ‘nut brown’ in a non-stick frying pan and sauté spinach very briefly until it has wilted.
12. Season the spinach with salt and pepper then drain in a colander.
13. Transfer the spinach to a cutting board, chop coarsely with a large knife then stir into the cheese sauce.
14. Whisk the egg whites until they begin to thicken adding a tiny pinch of salt
15. Continue whisking until quite firm (beware of graining and drying out)
16. Beat a third of the whites into the cheese sauce with a wooden spoon then fold in the remainder very carefully using a rubber spatula.
17. Divide the mixture evenly between prepared soufflé moulds and sit the moulds in a tray of hot water. Transfer to the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
18. Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, increase oven to 200°C.
19. Turn out the soufflés into four individual buttered oven-proof dishes and pour the double cream equally between them and scatter over the remaining grated cheese.
20. Return to the oven and bake for another 12 minutes or until almost doubled in size and golden on top.
21. Serve immediately.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall  – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.