Chocolate soufflé with punch cherries

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 75 g sugar
• 80 g wheat flour type 405
• 90 g dark chocolate with orange flavor, from 70%
• 100 g butter, soft
• some butter for the mold
• some flour, for the mold
• Powdered sugar and/or orange slices
• 1 orange(s), untreated
• 1 jar cherry(s), approx. 720 ml
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla pudding powder or vanilla sauce powder for 500 ml milk
• n. B. spice(s), Christmas
• 220 ml red wine or cherry punch

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 12 hours 35 minutes

can be prepared very well

First, start with the chocolate soufflé. For this, grease the baking molds with butter and dust with flour. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl until frothy. The egg mixture should increase in volume significantly, and the sugar should dissolve. We don’t need the egg whites; they’re best used for making meringue. For the chocolate, I like to use high-quality dark chocolate with an orange flavor, which gives the soufflé a special note. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Then fold in the butter and let it cool slightly. Add a little of the chocolate-butter mixture to the egg mixture to temper it. Otherwise, the eggs could curdle. Then carefully stir in the rest of the chocolate. If you like, you can add spices at this point, although the orange flavor in the chocolate is enough for us. Sift the flour and fold it in as briefly as possible. Fill the baking molds two-thirds full with the mixture. Depending on the size of the molds, you’ll get 4 or 6; I always get 6 out of the crème brûlée molds. Place the molds in the freezer overnight. On the day you need the soufflé, prepare the punch cherries. We think they taste best fresh and warm. Preheat the oven to 175°C fan/convection oven. Bake the soufflé straight from the freezer, not thawed, for 13 minutes. They’re ready when the surface is no longer as shiny. They’ll still be slightly runny on the inside. In the meantime, wash the orange with hot water and dry it. Peel the rind thinly into a spiral. Drain the cherries well in a sieve, reserving the juice. Make up the juice with the red wine and water, if needed, to make 1/2 liter. Mix the vanilla powder with the vanilla sugar and a little cherry juice. Bring the remaining liquid to a boil with some Christmas spices. We always use cinnamon, speculaas spice, ground cardamom, cloves, star anise, and a bit of orange juice or orange zest. Stir in the custard powder or sauce mix and simmer gently until it begins to thicken. Add the cherries and segment the untreated orange. Now it’s time to serve. Prepare the plates and dust with powdered sugar. Place two orange wedges around the edge of each plate. When the soufflé is ready, carefully turn it out onto the plates. Arrange the punch cherries around the soufflé and finish with the orange zest. I think the recipe allows for a lot of flexibility and is easy to vary, so it suits everyone.