Easy hot chocolate soufflés with chocolate & cardamom sauce
Jane Lovett
6
These little soufflés are failsafe and therefore ideal for impressing your guests at a dinner party, with no anxiety on your part at all! Just pop them into the oven after the main course and hey presto!
ingredients
butter, for greasing (spreadable butter is handy for this)
1tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
100g (3 1/2ox) plain chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
200ml (7fl oz) good-quality ready-made vanilla custard
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
icing sugar, for dusting
directions
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) Gas 7. Grease 6 (125 -150 ml / 4 – 5 fl oz) ramekins with butter, coat with caster sugar then turn upside-down and tap hard to remove any excess sugar. Put onto a baking sheet and set aside.
2. Gently melt the chocolate in a large bowl suspended over a pan of hot water. Heat the custard a little, but not to boiling point, and stir into the chocolate.
3. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are stiff. Add 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and whisk again to incorporate. Stir a spoonful into the chocolate mixture to soften it, and then carefully fold in the rest of the whites.
4. Divide the mixture between the ramekins and wipe any spillages from the rim.
5. Run your thumb or the point of a sharp knife around the edge of the mixture. This helps it to rise and form a ‘hat’.
6. Cook in the pre-heated oven for 8 – 10 minutes, or until puffed up and well risen. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately with the hot chocolate sauce handed separately, or a little poured into a hole made with a spoon in the middle of the soufflés.