Almost Up in the air chocolate souffles

Not everything works out the way you want it to.

Just ask George Clooney.

I was really hoping that our chocolate souffles would go way up up up in the air on Oscar night.

But sometimes a little bit of height is all you need. The excitement of smashing through more than 200 grams of Valhrona Manjari chocolate and the sight of Mr Clooney in a fine suit is more than enough to get my serotonin levels giggling.

Chocolate souffles at the end of a big night for a crowd may seem a little like over reaching, but if you can’t give it a bash on Oscars, when can you?

So first it was greasing and sugaring seven ramekins though six or eight would be fine- I used seven because I broke one when bringing it down from the top cupboard.

Then making a roux by adding two tablespoons of plain flour to 60 grams of butter of melted butter and cooking it out. Then I added a cup and a half of milk. When that was bubbling and thickening I worked in 210 grams of very good quality dark chocolate in segments, mixing it around til it went as glossy as Sandra Bullock’s hair.

When it cooled I added two egg yolks.

Then three egg whites get manhandled until they are as perky as Amanda Seyfried and folded them in in thirds; trying to keep as much buoyancy as possible.

After it’s been doled out to ramekins that are filled to the 2/3 mark they get forgotten about in the fridge; until I realised for the first time in years I was losing the tipping competition and took shameful refuge in the kitchen.

In they all go to a 180 oven for 12 minutes, until they’ve risen as much as you can hope for.

Then served them with a scoop of blood orange sorbet sunk into the centre, and a realisation that just because they didn’t go all the way up in the air; and just because your trophy is about to go to someone else; doesn’t mean you didn’t still have a cracking good time.

George? Do you concur?