Christmas Pudding Souffle

Method

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.

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.

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.

To freeze the ice cream, transfer it into an ice cream machine, the mixture can be churned and then stored in the freezer.

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.

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.

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.

Preheat the oven to 240C/460F/Gas 8.

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.

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.

Measure out 350g of the Christmas pudding base mixture and beat in half the whisked egg whites, before folding in the remainder of both mixtures.

Spoon into the prepared ramekins and cook for 7-8 minutes until risen. Dust with icing sugar and serve with the whiskey ice cream.