Christmas pudding souffle with Irish whiskey ice cream by Richard Corrigan

Christmas pudding souffle with Irish whiskey ice cream

Ingredients
For the whiskey ice cream
400ml/14¼ fl oz double cream
200ml/7¼ fl oz whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split
100g/3½ oz caster sugar
3 free-range egg yolks
50ml/1¾ fl oz Irish whiskey
For the soufflé base
6 free-range egg yolks
100g/3½ oz caster sugar
500ml/17½fl oz whole milk
2 vanilla pods, split
25g/1oz plain flour
25g/1oz cornflour
300g/10½ oz ready-made Christmas pudding, crumbled
softened butter and caster sugar, to line moulds
12 free-range egg whites
icing sugar, to dust

Method
1. For the ice cream, put the cream, milk, vanilla pod and half of the sugar into a heavy saucepan and bring to the boil gradually.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar with the egg yolks until the mixture is light, thick and fluffy and the whisk leaves a marked ribbon-like trail behind.
3. Pour the boiling milk mixture onto the yolks, whisking as you do so. Pass this mixture through a sieve back into the pan and return to the hob, stirring all the time, for a further five minutes.
4. Pour the whiskey into a hot frying pan and set alight. (CAUTION: have a large lid handy to place onto the pan just in case the flames rise too high.) Once the flames have subsided, whisk the whiskey into the custard and cool, before freezing.
5. To freeze the ice cream, transfer it into a shallow tray and leave it in the freezer for 45 minutes. Stir to break up any ice particles and then return to the freezer to freeze completely. Alternatively, if you have an ice cream machine, the mixture can be churned and then stored in the freezer.
6. For the soufflé base, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until thick and creamy, using a hand or electric whisk.
7. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla pods together until boiling. Pour this over the whisked yolks and sugar and whisk in the flour and cornflour. Carefully remove the vanilla pods.
8. Pour this mixture into a large saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until thickened. Stir the crumbled Christmas pudding into the thickened mixture and allow to cool - this can be done the day before and stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook the dish.
9. Preheat the oven to 240C/460F/Gas 8.
10. Line eight 8cm x 8cm (3in x 3in) ramekins by brushing with softened butter using a pastry brush or your fingers in an upward motion. Brush the butter into the ramekins in a second layer, then dust with caster sugar.
11. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites using a hand-held electric mixer until the whisk leaves a light marked ribbon-like trail behind.
12. Measure out 350g/12¼oz of the Christmas pudding base mixture and beat in half the whisked egg whites, before folding in the remainder of both mixtures.
13. Spoon into the prepared ramekins and cook for 7-8 minutes until risen. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the whiskey ice cream.