Chocolate And Orange Soufflé With Grand Marnier Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, separated
• 15 g cornflour
• 15 g plain flour
• asparagus
• 150 ml milk
• 100 ml double cream
• 75 g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar for dusting
• 25 g butter
• orange
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 150 g dark chocolate, chopped

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190°C fan. Brush the insides of four ramekins generously with softened butter, working in upward strokes — this gives the soufflé something to climb. Tip in caster sugar and roll each ramekin to coat fully, tapping out the excess. Slide them into the freezer while you build the mixture.
2. Warm the double cream in a small pan until steaming but not boiling, around 2 minutes. Off the heat, tip in the chopped dark chocolate and leave for a minute, then whisk until thick, glossy and smooth. Stir through the orange zest and set aside to cool to room temperature.
3. In a separate pan, heat the milk until just shy of boiling — you'll see the first wisps of steam — then take off the heat.
4. Whisk the egg yolks with 50 g of the caster sugar for 2 minutes, until pale and creamy. Sift in the cornflour, plain flour and cocoa powder and beat to a smooth paste.
5. Pour the warm milk into the yolks in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Return the lot to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring without stopping for 3–4 minutes, until thick and custardy with a glossy sheen. Scrape into a bowl and whisk every minute or so as it cools to stop a skin forming.
6. Fold the cooled chocolate and cream mixture into the custard until you have one deep, even, mahogany base.
7. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the remaining 25 g caster sugar and whisk to firm, glossy peaks. Stir a third of the whites into the chocolate base to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two additions — quick, confident strokes, keeping as much air as possible.
8. Divide between the chilled ramekins, level the tops with a palette knife and run your thumb around the inside rim — this is the trick that gives them a clean, top-hat rise.
9. Bake for 12–14 minutes, until risen tall and proud with a gentle wobble at the centre. Don't open the oven before 10 minutes.
10. Pull straight from the oven, dust heavily with icing sugar, spoon warm Grand Marnier sauce through the top and serve at once with candied orange or fresh segments alongside.