Burnt meringue, vanilla ice cream and olive oil recipe

This is a very fun dessert that’s perfect if you want to show off. A satiny, voluminous Swiss meringue is served in elegant swoops, then briefly burned with a glowing ember, to quickly toast the surface. I love to serve this with vanilla ice cream and very good olive oil, just to blow people’s minds a little further. Use the best extra-virgin oil you can find. This isn’t the time to use a regular olive oil.

Timings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Serves

4

Ingredients

• 4 egg whites

• 200g icing sugar

• 1 tbsp cornflour

To serve

• vanilla ice cream

• very good olive oil

• flaky sea salt

Method

1. Prepare a pan of barely simmering water. Place the egg whites into a large heatproof bowl and whisk them briefly with an electric whisk, just to combine them.

2. Place the bowl on top of the pan of water, ensuring the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Add the icing sugar and beat with the electric whisk until you have a nice thick meringue that doesn’t shift about when you move the bowl. Whisk in the cornflour and set aside.

3. Light a few coals in the barbecue and let them burn down to glowing hot embers. They need to be totally glowing all over – you want the coals to burn the meringue quickly and cleanly.

4. Fill 4 bowls with scoops of vanilla ice cream, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a few salt crystals.

5. Scoop portions of the meringue on to each, then – very carefully – pick up a coal with tongs and press it quickly into the side of each meringue portion, where it will leave a burn mark. Serve immediately.

Recipe from BBQ Days, BBQ Nights by Helen Graves (Hardie Grant, £22)