1. Make the roux.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour. This will create a very thick paste. Keep whisking to ensure the butter and flour are well mixed. Cook just until the flour loses its raw smell (1-2 minutes). You’re not waiting for the mixture to change color (if you keep cooking, the paste will become golden – don’t do that).

2. Add the milk.

Whisk in the milk, about 1/4 cup at a time. After each addition, make sure the mixture becomes smooth again so there are no lumps. In the picture below, I have added about half of the milk and whisked it smooth.

It should not take you more than about 2 minutes to add in all of the milk. 

Once you’ve added all the milk, add the bay leaf, and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Then reduce the heat and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very thick (see picture below). This usually takes me about 5 minutes. Once the mixture has become very thick, turn off the heat. 

3. Add the cheese and egg yolks.

Add the cheese to the hot mixture. I usually slice the goat cheese log into 1/2 inch slices and toss in a few slices every thirty seconds or so, stirring well between each addition to help the cheese melt. Mix until all the cheese has melted into the mix. 

4. Separate your egg whites and yolks.

Then add the yolks into the cheese mixture and stir well to incorporate. Cover and set the mixture aside to cool. This is your souffle base.

5. Prepare the herbs. 

Wash and roughly chop up your herbs now. Make sure to dry the herbs as well as you can (before chopping obviously) so you don’t have lots of extra water entering the souffle. 

6. Preheat the oven and prepare the baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Then spray a 48-ounce (1.5-quart) ramekin well with olive oil. Then pour about 1 cup of finely grated parmesan cheese into the center of the ramekin, and rotate the bowl until the parmesan cheese covers everywhere inside the dish. This serves the double purpose of ensuring the egg in your souffle doesn’t stick to the ramekin and ensuring that the edge pieces are delicious.

To grate my parmesan (and get the finely grated parmesan below), I use a microplane like this one.

7. Prepare the egg whites.

Whisk the egg whites together with the cream of tartar using a stand or electric mixer. The cream of tartar will help the egg whites maintain their volume. (The acidity of the tartar lowers the pH of the egg whites. This increase in acidity helps strengthen the protein bonds that support the air bubbles in the whipped egg whites, resulting in a more stable and more voluminous foam.)

Once the egg whites reach stiff peaks (a spoon dipped into the egg whites and lifted up will create a peak in the egg whites that does not collapse or move; see picture above), turn off the mixer.

8. Finish the souffle base. 

Stir the chopped herbs into the cooled souffle base.

Then, very gently, fold in about 25% of the whipped egg whites. Then fold in the remaining whipped egg whites very gently, trying to maintain the fluffiness of the egg whites as much as possible. It’s better for there to be some egg white streaks in your souffle but for it still to be fluffy than for you to have something that is perfectly mixed.

9. Pour the mixture into the prepared souffle dish and bake at 375F for 45 minutes.

Do yourself a favor and put the souffle dish on a baking sheet so that it is easier to take in and out of the oven.

The souffle is ready when it looks puffy and golden on top. It should jiggle slightly in the center when you move it.

Serve immediately (it will slowly start to droop the longer it is out of the oven).