Irish Coffee Pudding

6 eggs
8 ounces granulated sugar
1 cup very strong coffee
1 1/2 ounces powdered gelatine
1/3 cup Irish whiskey or Irish Mist
10 ounces whipping cream
3 ounces crushed walnuts

Separate the yolks from the whites of eggs. In a bowl, cream with yolks with the sugar.

Heat the coffee until hot but not boiling: add the gelatine and dissolve it in the coffee. Add this mixture to the yolks and sugar. Beat well and put the bowl over a pot of boiling water. Continue beating until mixture begins to thicken. remove from heat, and when the bowl has cooled a little, place it over cracked ice and continue stirring. When the mixture is on the point of setting, whip the cream and fold it in. Add the whiskey or Irish Mist.

Lastly, fold in the well-beaten egg whites. Pour into a soufflé dish that has a double thickness of parchment paper tied around it: the paper should come up 3 inches above the top of the soufflé dish.

Oil a jam jar or bottle and press it down into the center of the pudding. Leave to set. Remove the paper collar by easing around the circumference with a knife dipped in hot water. Remove the jar or bottle, and fill the center with 1 cup heavy cream, whipped, sweetened with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. You can also decorate the exposed sides of the pudding with crushed walnuts, pressed on with the palm of your hand.

4 servings