Rhubarb meringue

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This beautiful rhubarb meringue from Bancone's Ben Waugh plays with your expectations - the confit lemon is deliciously sweet while the bright pink rhubarb is left tart and sharp. Despite the impressive appearance, it's not too tricky to make at home.

First published in 2023

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Meringue

  • 50g of icing sugar
  • 50g of caster sugar
  • 50g of egg white

Vanilla custard

  • 225g of double cream
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 40g of egg yolk
  • 15g of cane sugar
  • 15g of honey
  • 1/2 gelatine leaf, bloomed in water

Lemon confit

  • 100g of lemon
  • 60g of cane sugar
  • 100g of water

Poached rhubarb

  • 100g of rhubarb
  • 10g of cane sugar
  • 1 tsp grenadine
  • ice

To garnish

Equipment

  • Piping bags
  • Vac pac maker
  • Sous vide or water bath
  • 5cm metal pastry rings
  • Thermomix

Method

1

Preheat the oven to 0 humidity, fan 2 and 100°C/gas mark 1/2

2

Mix together the icing sugar and the caster sugar

  • 50g of icing sugar
  • 50g of caster sugar
3

Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whisk on full speed until they form soft peaks. Add the sugars in three stages, whisking between each addition, until the mixture forms stiff peaks

  • 50g of caster sugar
4

Transfer the meringue into a piping bag

5

Line a tray with parchment paper

6

Prepare a container of hot water. Add the 50mm ring into the hot water, and then pat dry

7

Place the ring onto the parchment paper-lined tray and pipe the meringue mix into the ring, to the top

8

Place the ring back into the hot water to clean it, and repeat the process until all the mixture is used up. Make sure to leave plenty of space between each meringue as they will expand in the oven

9

Bake the meringues for 17 minutes, then turn the tray around and bake them for a further 17 minutes

10

Once cooked, allow the meringues to cool on the tray, then transfer them to a container. If making ahead of time, keep in the freezer until they're needed

11

For the vanilla custard, add all the ingredients apart from the gelatine to a Thermomix. Set it to speed 4 on the varoma setting

  • 225g of double cream
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 40g of egg yolk
  • 15g of cane sugar
  • 15g of honey
12

Cook the custard until it reaches 82°C, then add the bloomed gelatine. Mix the gelatine into the custard, and then pass it through a chinois. Transfer the custard to a tray to cool, covering the surface with cling film so it doesn't form a skin

  • 1/2 gelatine leaf, bloomed in water
13

Cut the lemon up into chunks with the skin on. Remove the tough white core and any seeds

14

Dissolve the sugar in the water, and add the lemon. Cook on medium heat until the lemon is soft and cooked. Strain the lemon, reserving the syrup.

  • 60g of cane sugar
  • 100g of water
15

Chop the cooked lemon up very finely, and add the pieces to a mixing bowl. Add the syrup back little by little until the lemon pieces have a marmalade-like consistency. Set aside

16

To make the poached rhubarb, first top and tail the rhubarb and wash it thoroughly. Chop it into 10cm lengths

17

Mix together the rhubarb and sugar, and place it in a vac pac bag with the grenadine. Vacuum seal the rhubarb

  • 100g of rhubarb
  • 10g of cane sugar
  • 1 tsp grenadine
18

Cook the rhubarb in a 65°C water bath for 12 minutes. Remove from the water bath and allow to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to an ice bath

  • ice
19

Once you are ready to serve, whisk the custard in a stand mixer, and then transfer to a piping bag

20

Heat up a centimetre or so of vegetable oil in a pan, then add the basil leaves and dry until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on kitchen towel

21

Pipe 30g of custard in the bottom of each meringue. Put a dot in the middle of the sharing plate to secure the meringue

22

Spread 15g of lemon confit on the top of each meringue nest, and then garnish each one with 3 nice pieces of rhubarb. Finish with a fried basil leaf

Having worked as part of the Gordon Ramsay Group for over ten years, in 2021 Ben Waugh decided to leave behind the world of fine dining to oversee the food at Bib Gourmand-winning pasta restaurant group, Bancone. As group executive chef, he’s now instrumental in ensuring that the menu remains consistently excellent as the business expands.

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