Royal Highland Show dessert

Marinated strawberries, chewy meringues, tablet, macaroon and caramel shortcake is layered between lashings of Scottish cream, ice cream and Monkey Blood in this spin on an Eton mess recipe by Tony Singh, named after the Royal Highland Show.

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C/100°C/gas mark ¼ (turn off the fan if possible)
2. Begin by preparing the meringues. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy, then add the lemon juice and continue to beat until the whites begin to form soft peaks.
3. Gradually mix in the sugar, adding it 1 tablespoon at a time and beating the mixture well before adding any more. Continue to mix until the whites become thick and glossy, then gently fold in the vanilla extract and vinegar
4. Spoon the mixture onto a tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 2 hours until crisp. Leave to cool on a wire wrack until required, breaking into bits before serving
5. Meanwhile, make the Monkey Blood sauce. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Cover with cling and set on top of a simmering pan of water for 1 hour
6. After this time, strain out any juice and reduce until thickened. Set aside and leave to cool
7. For the peppercorn syrup, place the sugar and water into a pan and bring up to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then crush the peppercorns and add to the pan
8. Once the syrup has cooled, pour the syrup over the strawberries and leave to marinate until ready to use
9. To assemble, layer the marinated strawberries, meringue, macaroon, tablet, caramel shortbread and fudge with the double cream and different flavours of ice cream. Top any leftover peppercorn syrup, Monkey Blood and serve