Chocolate, salted caramel & banana mess

Ingredients

·         ½ vanilla pod, scraped of seeds

·         150ml double cream

·         2 ready-made meringue nests, crumbled into chunks

·         2 bananas, sliced

For the salted caramel sauce

·         2 tbsp caster sugar

·         3 tbsp double cream

·         1 tbsp butter

·         pinch of sea salt flakes

For the chocolate sauce

·         2 tbsp full-fat milk

·         1 tbsp double cream

·         50g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

Method

1.    To make the salted caramel, put the sugar and 2 tbsp water in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place on a low heat and swirl gently until the sugar has melted. Turn up the heat and let the sugar bubble and caramelise to a nutty brown. Take off the heat and pour in the cream, butter and salt flakes – do this carefully, as it may spit. Gently stir together until smooth and glossy.

2.    For the chocolate sauce, bring the milk and cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Put the chocolate bits into a bowl. Pour over two-thirds of the milk and cream mixture, stirring until melted and smooth. Adjust the consistency with the remaining hot milk mixture.

3.    Put the vanilla seeds into the cream and whip until just holding soft peaks. Fold the meringues and banana slices into the cream, leaving a few slices for garnish. Put in serving dishes and drizzle with the two sauces. Top with the remaining banana slices. Serve immediately.