Lemon Meringue with Marinated Strawberries

This one is from Gordon Ramsay's high-roller cookbook entitles 3-Star Chef, which has his recipes from his flagship restaurant. I am proud to say that we ate there last month for our anniversary and it was wonderful.

This was a great summer dessert. It is also my first foray into making tuile biscuits and they aren't such a big fuss after all! This serves four people who will be suitably impressed.

LEMON MERINGUE:

50 g egg whites (2-3 large eggs)

37 ½ g caster sugar

finely grated zest of 2 lemons

icing sugar, to dust

STRAWBERRY SORBET:

250 g ripe strawberries, hulled

juice of 1 large lemon

100 g caster sugar

100 milliliters water

2 ¼ teaspoons liquid glucose

BLACK PEPPER AND SESAME TUlLES:

37 ½ g icing sugar

10 milliliters cold water

12 ½ g plain flour

25 g lightly salted butter, melted

15 g white sesame seeds

cracked black pepper, to sprinkle

VANILLA OIL

seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod

2 tablespoons olive oil

TO SERVE:

125 g strawberries (ideally including some fraises des bois), hulled and larger ones halved

good-quality aged balsamic vinegar, to drizzle

handful of small basil leaves

First, make the sorbet. Put the strawberries and lemon juice into a food processor and whz to a smooth puree. Tip into a saucepan, bring to the boil and let bubble until reduced by half. Allow to cool slightly, then rub the puree through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Leave the puree to cool completely.

Put the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan. Add the liquid glucose and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and boil the syrup for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Cool completely, then mix with the strawberry puree. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until almost firm. Transfer to a suitable container and freeze until firm.

To make the tuiles, preheat the oven to 180C and line a flat baking sheet with a silicone liner (such as silpat or bake-o-glide). Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the water and stir until well blended. Mix in the flour, then stir in the melted butter. Finally, stir in the sesame seeds.

Spread 1-2 tsp of the batter on the prepared baking sheet. Place a large piece of baking parchment on top and roll out the batter thinly using a rolling pin. Carefully peel off the parchment and sprinkle over the black pepper. Bake for 6-8 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool for 1 minute only.

While the tuile is still warm and pliable, cut it into long strips, about 1.5cm wide and 9cm long. If it becomes too brittle to cut, return to the oven for a minute to soften slightly. The tuiles will crisp up once cooled. Repeat, using the rest of the batter, to make more tuiles. Store in an airtight container, separating the layers with baking parchment, until ready to serve.

For the lemon meringue, preheat the oven to 200C. Line a nonmetal tray (suitable to go in a microwave) with baking parchment. Put the egg whites into a large clean bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer). Beat slowly to begin with, then increase the speed to high and beat continuously until the egg whites form soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar, a tablespoonful at a time, until fully incorporated and the meringue is smooth and glossy. Do not over-whisk; stop if the meringue begins to look grainy around the edges. Finally, carefully fold in the grated lemon zest.

Pipe the meringue in batches. Spoon into a disposable piping bag and cut off the tip to create an opening about 3.5cm in diameter. Pipe thick straight lines, about 9-10cm in length onto the lined tray. Gently pat down the peaked ends of each meringue with a wet finger. Microwave on the highest setting for 20 seconds. Remove and slide the baking parchment onto a baking sheet.

Dust the meringues heavily with icing sugar, then bake in the oven for about 3 minutes until lightly golden. The meringues should feel a little crisp on the outside where the sugar has caramelized, with a soft, slightly mallowy center.

For the vanilla oil, mix the vanilla seeds with the olive oil.

When ready to serve, trim the ends of the meringues diagonally, then use a palette knife to carefully lift them onto individual serving plates. Arrange the strawberries on both sides and drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar. Scatter the basil leaves around the berries and drizzle a little vanilla oil around each plate. Add a scoop of strawberry sorbet and a tulle to each plate and serve immediately, with the rest of the tuiles handed around separately.