Chewy salted caramel and chocolate meringues

1. 1

   To make the meringues, preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1 and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Combine the melted chocolate with the caramel sauce and set aside. In a large, clean bowl whisk the egg whites and sugar for 10 minutes until the mixture forms stiff peaks then stir in the vanilla, cornflour and vinegar. Spoon 1 large tablespoon of mixture at a time onto the lined tray to make 24 small meringues, then swirl in the chocolate and caramel sauce. Sprinkle over some vanilla salt, if using. Bake for 1 hour.

2. 2

   To make the praline, place the sugar in a dry frying pan and heat until you reach a caramel colour. Do not stir, but you can swirl the pan. Spread the nuts on a lined baking tray and pour the caramel over the nuts. Leave to cool before breaking into pieces.

3. 3

   To make the sauce, place the sugar in a dry frying pan and heat until you reach a caramel colour. Do not stir, but you can swirl the pan. Add the double cream on the heat and whisk until well combined. Stir in the dates.

4. 4

   For the orange, blanch the julienned zest three times until softened. Set aside the zest and the segments.

5. 5

   To make the cream, whisk the cream and mascarpone together in a large glass bowl.

6. 6

   To serve, place the meringues on a serving plate. Quenelle the cream on top, spoon over the date sauce and garnish with the praline, orange segments and blanched orange zest.

1 serving ≈ 50 g

Nutrition values are estimates. - means data is unavailable.