What does it mean to boil the sugar to the "small crack"?

It is a sugar stage where the sugar syrup is boiled so high that a drop cooled in cold water turns hard but not yet fully brittle – about 135–140 °C. The hot syrup is stirred into the stiffly whipped egg whites.

How long does the frozen soufflé take?

Total time is given as about 5 hours (300 minutes), most of it freezing time. The actual work with meringue, fruit purée and cream goes quickly.

Which ingredients are needed, and for how many?

The recipe serves 6: 5 egg whites, 275 g icing sugar, 1/4 liter fruit purée and 1/4 liter heavy cream, plus flavoring as desired.

Where does the recipe come from?

From Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (Grand Cookbook, 1914), page 514, where it is called frozen soufflé or soufflé glacé.

Frozen Soufflé (Soufflé Glacé)

Erken's frozen soufflé (soufflé glacé) from 1914: an Italian meringue of 5 egg whites and 275 g icing sugar boiled to the small crack stage, blended with 2.5 dl fruit purée and 2.5 dl whipped cream, flavored and frozen in molds.

Source: Henriette Schønberg Erken, Stor kokebok, 1914-utg. s. 514 (falt i det fri)

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About the dish

The frozen soufflé was a refined dessert in the bourgeois party kitchen around 1914. The mass is really an Italian meringue lightened with fruit purée and whipped cream and frozen in soufflé molds – a "frozen soufflé" that is not baked.

How to make it

1
Boil the sugar
Boil the icing sugar with a little water to the "small crack" stage, about 135 °C (275 °F).
2
Whip the meringue
Whip the egg whites completely stiff and pour in the boiling sugar in a thin stream while whipping constantly. Whip until the mass is thick and almost cold.
3
Blend in
Pour the mass into a bowl and add the flavor you want, then the fruit purée and finally the stiffly whipped cream. Fold together gently.
4
Freeze
Fill the mass into soufflé molds or small paper cups and set cold to freeze for at least 4 hours, until the soufflé is firm but still soft.

Changes from the original

The measures are given in modern units (grams, deciliters). The "small crack" is specified as boiling the sugar to about 135 °C (275 °F), and the method is broken into steps with an indication of freezing, which the original assumes is known from the chapter introduction.

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Kremfløte

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Time machine – what changed?

Pick two editions and see what Henriette Schønberg Erken added, removed or changed between them.

From1914 1949 Modernised

To1914 1949 Modernised

Modernised → 1949 (proofread, p. 592)~92% of the text changedremovedadded

(Soufflées glacées.) 5 ~~stk eggehviter.~~ eggehviter 275 ~~g melis (flormelis) (kokes til sukkerlake). 2,5 dl~~ gr. flormelis ¾ l. fruktpuré ~~(siktet, av bær eller frukt). 2,5 dl kremfløte (piskes stiv). smakstilsetning (vanilje, likør eller annen smak etter ønske). Kok melisen med litt vann~~ ¾ l. kremfløte. De stivvispede hviter irøres sukkeret, som er kokt til ~~«det lille knekk», ca. 135 °C.. Pisk eggehvitene helt stive og spe inn~~ det ~~kokende sukkeret i tynn stråle under stadig pisking. Pisk til massen er tykk og nesten kald.. Hell massen opp i en bolle~~ lille knekk. Helles op og ~~tilsett smaken du~~ tilsettes den smak man vil ha, ~~deretter~~ samt fruktpuréen og ~~til sist~~ den ~~stivpiskede fløten. Vend forsiktig sammen.. Fyll massen i souffléformer eller små papirformer og sett kaldt til frysing i minst 4 timer, til suffléen er fast, men fremdeles myk.~~ stivvispede fløte.

Note on Modernised

Målene er oppgitt i moderne enheter (gram, desiliter). «Det lille knæk» er presisert som sukkerkoking til ca. 135 °C, og fremgangsmåten er delt i trinn med angivelse av frysing, som originalen forutsetter kjent fra kapittelinnledningen.

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Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to boil the sugar to the "small crack"?: It is a sugar stage where the sugar syrup is boiled so high that a drop cooled in cold water turns hard but not yet fully brittle – about 135–140 °C. The hot syrup is stirred into the stiffly whipped egg whites.
How long does the frozen soufflé take?: Total time is given as about 5 hours (300 minutes), most of it freezing time. The actual work with meringue, fruit purée and cream goes quickly.
Which ingredients are needed, and for how many?: The recipe serves 6: 5 egg whites, 275 g icing sugar, 1/4 liter fruit purée and 1/4 liter heavy cream, plus flavoring as desired.
Where does the recipe come from?: From Henriette Schønberg Erken's "Stor kokebok" (Grand Cookbook, 1914), page 514, where it is called frozen soufflé or soufflé glacé.

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