MERINGUE, VANILLA CREME DIPLOMATE, BLOOD ORANGE

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c (fan assisted)/350°f/gas 4.
2. Whisk the egg whites with the salt until they’re holding firm peaks. Gently add in the sugar, spoonful after spoonful, still beating, until you’ve got a bowl full of glossy, satiny meringue (you should be able to turn it upside down). Sprinkle the cornflour, vanilla and the vinegar on top and fold it through, until combined.
3. Spoon the meringue onto the baking parchment into the 4 circles, and spread and smooth to fill. You want to make the meringue slightly higher at the rims, or just use the back of the spoon to make an indentation in the centre to hold the cream and fruit later.
4. Put into the oven, turn it down to 130°c (fan assisted)/300°f/gas 2 and bake for 1 hour. Remove them from the oven and carefully transfer them, on their baking parchment, to wire racks.

Vanilla Crème Diplomate

1. Off the heat, stir together the sugar, cornflour, flour and salt in a medium saucepan. Slowly whisk in the milk until completely smooth, then beat through the cream and egg yolks, until fully combined.
2. Place the pan over a medium heat and whisk continuously, until the custard thickens, then cook for another minute or so, to make sure there isn’t any floury aftertaste. The custard should be thick, not pourable. Remove the pan from the heat, add in the vanilla and butter and whisk until everything is combined and silky smooth.
3. Transfer the custard to a bowl or tupperware, and cover with clingfilm to touch the surface ( this prevents a skin from forming). Let it cool to room temperature, then place it in the fridge to chill.
4. Once the custard has chilled, whisk the cold heavy cream to stiff peaks. Add the custard (don’t worry if it is gelatinous at this point, that is what we want) and beat it into the cream until fully combined.

Blood Orange Syrup

1. Start by segmenting four of the oranges. Do this by topping and tailing each orange then cutting around the sides following the curve of the orange to remove the skin and the pith. Next, cut down each side of the segments to release them without any pith or membrane. Once you have removed the segments, squeeze the remaining membrane over a bowl to get the remaining juice out. Squeeze the juice from the remaining blood orange too, then top it up with water to make 125ml.
2. Put the 125ml of juice and water into a saucepan with the sugar and honey, and reduce on a medium-low heat until it’s thick and syrupy. Then remove from the heat and leave it to cool.
3. Once cool, add in your orange segments and give it a stir.