Ingredients

Method

With a sharp knife split the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds. Place the milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla scraped seeds and the vanilla pod into the milk and bring to the boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to infuse.

Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and the egg yolks in a saucepan and add 100g of sugar to the yolks and mix with a hand blender or whisk until the egg mixture is very pale in colour.

Add the hot milk and mix well. Place back on the heat and stirring constantly allow the mixture to thicken. You want it to coat the back of the spoon. Take it off the heat and strain through a sieve and set aside to cool stirring regularly.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff then add the remaining sugar and whisk again until the mixture is the consistency of meringue.

Bring a large sauté pan to the boil with several inches of water in it, then reduce the heat to low so that it is barely simmering.

Put a bowl of cold water on the side and dip your serving spoon into the cold water then scoop a spoonful of meringue and drop into the simmering water then repeat one by one. Turn the meringues after 30 seconds to cook the other side.

When they are cooked use a draining spoon to remove the meringues one at a time and drain on a wire rack making sure they are not touching and cover with a very light cloth.

To serve pour the custard into a bowl and float the meringue on the top.

To make the caramel cook the sugar and water over a gentle heat until the sugar has melted and the sugar has turned an amber colour, pour over the meringues in a slow drizzle and serve immediately.