Can we talk about the time my souffle deflated because I slammed the oven door?

I was making a cheese souffle for my mom's birthday dinner last Saturday and got so excited when I saw it rise that I yanked the oven door open too fast and it collapsed into a sad flat pancake, so I just served it with a smile and told everyone it was a baked cheese custard, has anyone else had to improvise a new name for a baking fail on the spot?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamieburns16d ago

Two summers ago I baked a strawberry rhubarb pie for my friend's 30th and the filling boiled over so bad it created this black crust on the bottom of her oven that smelled like burnt sugar for three days. My grandmother used to tell me that a collapsed souffle is just a frittata's fancy cousin, which I think is her way of saying you can call it whatever you want and people will still eat it if you pour enough cheese on top. So I told everyone at the party it was a freeform berry tart and nobody questioned it because I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Your baked cheese custard sounds way more gourmet than mine honestly.

ramirez.caleb12d agoTop Commenter

Build on that freeform berry tart idea even more next time. Call it a "rustic country galette" and act like you intentionally let it overflow for that "caramelized edge effect." People will eat up anything you put in front of them if you sound confident enough about it.

paul_lane8016d ago

baked cheese custard is brilliant actually I'm gonna steal that. My sister still brings up the time I tried to make eclairs and they came out looking like flat slugs so I told everyone they were deconstructed cream puffs which sounds fancy but really I just smashed them on the plate and poured chocolate sauce over the whole mess. Your mom probably loved it anyway because cheese fixes everything. Honestly half of baking is just learning how to talk your way out of a kitchen disaster with a straight face. I respect anyone who can pivot that fast.