Chocolate & Orange Soufflé with Grand Marnier Sauce

Ingredients

• 40 g butter, softened, for the ramekins
• 25 g caster sugar, for the ramekins
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 3 eggs, separated
• 15 g cornflour
• 15 g plain flour
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 150 ml whole milk
• 100 ml double cream
• 75 g caster sugar
• 1 orange, zest only
• 100 ml orange juice
• 2 tbsp Grand Marnier, for the sauce
• 30 g caster sugar, for the sauce
• 10 g butter, for the sauce
• 1 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting
• 1 pinch fine salt

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190°C fan. Brush four 200 ml ramekins with the softened butter in upward strokes, then coat the insides with the 25 g caster sugar. Put them in the fridge while you make the base; the cold butter gives the mixture something firm to climb.
2. Make the sauce first. Simmer the orange juice, Grand Marnier and 30 g caster sugar for 4 to 5 minutes, until reduced by roughly a third. Whisk in the 10 g butter and keep the sauce warm, not boiling.
3. Warm the milk in one small pan until steaming. In another, warm the double cream, take it off the heat and add the chocolate. Leave for 1 minute, then stir until glossy and smooth. Add the orange zest.
4. Whisk the egg yolks with 50 g of the caster sugar until pale. Sift in the cornflour, plain flour and cocoa, then beat to a smooth paste. Pour in the hot milk in a thin stream while whisking, return everything to the pan and cook over a low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy.
5. Scrape the custard into a bowl and fold in the chocolate mixture. Leave it for 5 minutes so it is warm rather than hot; a hot base knocks the air out of the whites.
6. Whisk the egg whites with the pinch of salt to soft peaks. Add the remaining 25 g caster sugar and whisk to firm, glossy peaks. Stir one-third into the chocolate base to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two additions with broad, confident strokes.
7. Divide between the chilled ramekins, level the tops and run a clean thumb around each inner rim. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes without opening the oven, until tall with a slight wobble at the centre.
8. Dust with icing sugar and serve at once with the warm Grand Marnier sauce. Soufflés wait for nobody, so have the bowls and spoons ready before they leave the oven.