At our Milk Street Session last week, Sara Moulton taught us useful tricks for whipping up perfect soufflés. And whipping was key. For soufflés that keep their shape, it’s important to start with well-whipped egg whites. She showed us how easy this is. It involves adding acid or sugar to the egg whites, or—Sara’s favorite method—whipping them in a copper bowl (which creates a reaction similar to adding acid). For those of us without copper bowls, a little cream of tartar does the trick. It prevents the formation of the disulfide bonds that cause weak and gritty egg whites. Sara also taught us to skip the traditional bechamel base when make a soufflé. Instead, she makes an intensely flavored base with dried apricots. The sweet-tart, pectin-rich filling provides bold clear flavor and great texture for the finished soufflé.

At our next Milk Street Session, we’ll learn about Turkish flatbreads with Ana Sortun and Maura Kilpatrick and become expert spice blenders with Lior Lev Sercarz. Spring session lineup coming soon, and includes Andrea Nguyen, Barbara Lynch and Pierre Thiam. See our full class lineup here.