Cardamon Floating Island

Preheat the oven to 100 C.

In a bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gradually add 170g of the sugar and whisk until glossy.

Grease six 200ml ramekins and pour in the meringue mixture. Place the ramekins in a roasting pan and pour boiling water around the ramekins so it comes about halfway up.

Put the meringues in the oven a bake for about 10 minutes. When done, carefully remove pan from the oven and set the dishes of meringues aside to cool.

Whilst the meringue is cooking make the custard. In a saucepan heat the milk and cardamon pods on a low heat.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks, the rest of the sugar and vanilla until pale. When the milk is almost boiling, take it off the heat and slowly pour it into the egg yolks mixture whisking all the time. Pour the mixture back into the pan and over a low heat keep mixing until it thickens. Set the custard aside to cool. Remove the cardamon pods now or when cool, depending how strong you want the cardamom flavour.

Whilst the meringues and custard are cooling make a caramel. In a saucepan (it’s best to not use a non-stick pan) add the sugar and water. Add just enough water to dissolve the sugar. Put pan on a medium to high heat and don’t stir. When the sugar turns a golden caramel colour it’s done. Immediately remove pan from heat.

Use the caramel to drizzle over top of the meringues. Assemble all the components on dessert plates and top with chopped pistachios and freeze dried raspberries or whatever you fancy.