DAVID WOODS: A delightfully simple soufflÃ© for Chocolate Week

Chocolate is always one of the favourite desserts on our menu at La Brasserie, no matter what form it takes. We ring the changes with chocolate parfaits, mousse, tortes, melt in the middle puddings, and recently, this delicious soufflé made by our new pastry chef Anwen Shaw. She comes to us from a Michelin-starred restaurant and loves experimenting with desserts. For this soufflé though, she has kept it simple to allow the perfectly light and airy chocolatey bubbles to speak for themselves. The key to gravity-defying soufflés is to whisk the egg whites until they are very stiff. But don’t worry if your soufflés take a nose-dive – one mouthful of this feathery chocolate heaven and your guests will still be in raptures. La Brasserie, Sofitel’s 2 AA rosette restaurant, has a new look and a new menu. To book a table call 01293 567070 or email SLG@sofitelgatwick.com. Follow us on Twitter. Chocolate and rum soufflés Makes four 9cm soufflé dishes 125g egg whites 85g caster sugar Soft butter for lining moulds Dusting of cocoa powder for lining moulds For the base: 100g cocoa powder 50g caster sugar 40g glucose syrup, also known as confectioner’s glucose 1 dessert spoons of cornflour 175g water 2 dessert spoons dark rum Method First, make the base by combining the cocoa powder and water together in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir in the glucose and sugar. Mix the cornflour with rum and gently whisk into the cocoa mixture, stirring all the time. Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool, stirring occasionally. To make four soufflés, take 400g of the base mixture and spoon into a mixing bowl. In a clean bowl, begin whisking the egg white with an electric whisk and gradually add the sugar until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful not to over whisk. Fold a third of the meringue at a time into the base mix, until all combined. Brush four 9cm soufflé moulds completely with soft butter, then dust with cocoa powder, tipping out any loose powder. Fill the moulds with the mixture and level off the top with a pallet knife. Run the edge of your thumb around the edge of the mould to create a ridge in the soufflé mixture. Bake in a fan oven at 175oC for eight minutes. Take out of the oven carefully and dust with icing sugar just before serving with vanilla ice cream. Chef’s tip Why not try an orange or coffee liqueur instead of rum? Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on. 1 Make our website your homepage 2 Like our Facebook page 3 Follow us on Twitter 4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out! Be part of it.