This has been of my favourite and impressive starters for years – well until I decided to cook it on MasterChef on a time restriction!  Seriously, it’s a firm favourite and most importantly can be made with a variety of cheeses and in advance of your visitors arriving.  My original recipe was using Roquefort cheese but on this occasion I used Goat’s cheese.  They are so light and fluffy and look great on the plate with some rocket or watercress.

Serves 6

Oven 180 degrees

Ingredients

175g of your chosen cheese

225ml milk

5mm slice of onion

6 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

Grated nutmeg

40g butter

40g plain flour

4 large eggs separated

150ml double cream

Salt&Paper

Rocket or watercress to garnish

Method

1. Line the base and grease 6 ramekins – 7.5 cm diameter X 4cm deep. Plus a 28x20x5 cm baking tin
2. Begin by heating the milk, onion, peppercorns, bay leaf and nutmeg in a small saucepan, simmer for a minute or two before straining the milk into a jug – disregard the rest of the ingredients.
3. Rinse out the saucepan and melt the butter, then add the flour to make a smooth glossy paste. Cool for 3 minutes, then gradually stir in the strained milk, constantly stirring until the sauce is thick and creamy. Add seasoning and cook gently for 2 minutes
4. Remove the pan from the heat and cool slightly. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time and crumble in 110g of the cheese – stir until most of the cheese has melted but don’t’ worry if there is some cheese visible
5. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then fold a tablespoon into the cheese mixture to loosen it. Now fold the cheese sauce mixture into the egg white with a metal spoon, cutting and folding until full incorporated
6. Divide the mixture into the six ramekins and place on the baking tray.  Fill the tray with 1 cm of boiling water and place on the middle shelf in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes
7. Remove from the oven and place the ramekins on a cooking rack.  Don’t worry – they will sink but will rise again during the second cooking
8. When they are almost cool, remove them from the ramekins,  peel off the greaseproof paper from the bottom and place then upside down on a lightly greased baking sheet in preparation for their second bake.  You can keep them in the fridge up to 24 hours – but do bring them up to room temperature before doing the second baking
9. When you are ready to serve, heat the oven to 180 degrees, dice the remaining cheese and divide over the top of each soufflé
10. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, remove and spoon over the cream
11. Serve with some garnish