What to bake this weekend: Nutella soufflés with caramelised pretzels

The real trickery in this pudding is that you can make the pudding itself with just two ingredients: Nutella and eggs. This isn’t my original idea: social media went mad for Nutella cake back in 2012, but I wondered what would happen if I whisked the egg whites before adding them. The result was an inelegant soufflé, and inelegant – but delicious – it shall stay.

John Waite’s Nutella pudding with caramelised pretzels
Makes 6

Ingredients

• 75g caster sugar
  
• 150g salted pretzels
  
• 6 large eggs
  
• 450g Nutella
  
• 150ml double cream

Method

1  Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas mark 6. Have six 175ml (approx) ramekins or pudding moulds at the ready, but don’t grease them. Have a sheet of baking paper ready to tip the caramelised pretzels onto.

2  First, get the caramelised pretzels done. Heat a saucepan over a medium-high heat, and once it’s hot, add the sugar. Allow the sugar to melt and turn into a caramel – you can stir it as it melts. If you find there are a few lumps of sugar, remove the pan from the heat as you stir those until dissolved. As soon as you have a golden caramel, add the pretzels and stir to coat, then tip out onto the sheet of baking paper and allow to cool completely.

3  Separate the eggs, putting the whites into one mixing bowl and the yolks into another. Add the Nutella to the bowl with the yolks and beat vigorously until smooth – this is far easier with a handheld electric whisk. Whisk the egg whites in their bowl until stiff and cloud-like. Add a third of the egg white to the Nutella mixture and beat in to slacken, then add the remaining egg white and fold in gently, until completely incorporated.

4  Divide the mixture between the four ramekins, filling them completely, then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. You can take these out when they’re still slightly runny in the centre, but I prefer them completely baked and brownie-like. And don’t worry that these rise and crack on top – it is part of their rustic charm.

5  Whisk the cream to soft, floppy peaks and spoon that over the puddings – it probably won’t all fit on in one go, but I like to add more as I eat. Roughly chop the caramelised pretzels and scatter them over the top of the cream.

Extracted from Perfect Plates by John Waite (Kyle Books), out now. Photography by Helen Cathcart.