French · Dessert
Souffle au Grand Marnier
The rising ovation — orange-liqueur soufflé on a pastry-cream base, torched zest perfume, four minutes from oven to awe
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 16 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- Base: whole milk 250 ml, egg yolks 3 (60 g), caster sugar 50 g, cornflour 25 g, orange zest 6 g
- Grand Marnier — 50 ml
- Egg whites — 6 (180 g)
- Caster sugar (meringue) — 60 g
- Fine salt — 1 g
- Unsalted butter, very soft (moulds) — 30 g
- Caster sugar (moulds) — 40 g
- Icing sugar — 15 g
Method
- Brush four 200 ml ramekins with soft butter in UPWARD strokes; coat with sugar; chill. (This is 50% of the rise.)
- Base: whisk yolks, 50 g sugar, cornflour; whisk in hot zested milk; boil 90 sec whisking. Cool 10 min; beat in Grand Marnier. (Holds 24 h chilled.)
- Oven to 190 °C, tray inside, no fan if possible.
- Whip whites with salt to soft foam; rain in 60 g sugar; whip to glossy bird's-beak peaks.
- Loosen the base (warm it to 40 °C if made ahead); whisk in a third of the meringue; fold in the rest lightly.
- Fill ramekins to the brim; level with a palette knife; run a thumb around the inner rim (the 'chef's groove').
- Bake on the hot tray 14–16 min — risen 4–5 cm, tops barely trembling.
- Dust and run — 90 seconds of glory.