Meringue

When I was eight, meringues were an obsession. The large, purely white, puffy, crisp and fragile ones, two halves sticking on either side of at least ¼ cup of English Clotted Cream. It took a week in a wintry and food-deprived boarding school to reach a frenzy of anticipation, and worth every day I had not spent my pocket money on sticky buns to save up for that meringue.

At a dinner for 200 at Oxford University, I stuffed them with cooked rhubarb and mascarpone, set them in a Crème Carême custard, and covered the top with pink rose petals.

For this dessert system, I like to pipe and bake these in the shape of little cups, to hold ice cream, fruit - whatever you like, topped with crème anglaise and chocolate or berry sauces.

Note: When making meringue no yolk can be in the white and the beater bowl must be oil free and perfectly clean. It's also best to use room temperature egg whites.

The recipe calls for 6 egg whites. Save the yolks, and use them to make crème anglaise!

Serves 6-8, depending on how big or small you portion out the meringue to bake.