Name: Chocolate, salted caramel & banana mess
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: ½ vanilla pod scraped of seeds; 150ml double cream; 2 ready-made meringue nests, crumbled into chunks; 2 bananas sliced; 2 tbsp caster sugar; 3 tbsp double cream; 1 tbsp butter; pinch of sea salt flakes; 2 tbsp full-fat milk; 1 tbsp double cream; 50g dark chocolate broken into small pieces

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

step 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.
step 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.
step 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.