Baked alaska with strawberry juice

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Serves 6

For the Italian meringue

For the strawberry juice

Step 1
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4, lightly grease a 30cm lipped baking tray and line with baking paper.

Step 2
Cream the butter, syrup and dulce de leche in a bowl using an electric mixer, or a wooden spoon, until lighter in colour – about five minutes.

Step 3
Whisk the eggs, add to the batter, and mix together for another two minutes, until smooth.

Step 4
Sift in the flour, mix, then spread on the prepared baking tray to 1cm thick.

Step 5
Bake for eight to 10 minutes, cool on a wire rack, cut out six 10cm discs, and set aside.

Step 6
For the meringue, put the sugar in a small pan on a low heat and gently pour over the water, making sure no sugar comes up the sides of the pan.

Step 7
Put the egg whites in a mixing bowl and, using an electric hand mixer, whisk on slow speed.

Step 8
Once the sugar has reached 116C, speed up whisking the eggs to create soft peaks.

Step 9
When the sugar reaches 121C, pour it slowly into the egg whites, whisking on high speed, until the mix has cooled to room temperature, then put into a piping bag with a plain 10mm nozzle.

Step 10
Put the sponge discs on the baking sheet, add a scoop of ice-cream to each, pipe meringue to cover, then freeze for at least an hour, or overnight.

Step 11
Set the strawberries, liqueur and sugar in a metal bowl covered with clingfilm over a pan of simmering water, so the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Step 12
Simmer for 30 minutes, cool a little, strain and discard the pulp, then chill in the fridge.

Step 13
To cook the meringue, heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas 6, then bake on the bottom shelf for three minutes, until browned.

Step 14
Transfer each to a bowl and pour the strawberry juice around it.