Lemon mousse and meringue sandwich

For the lemon mousse, soak the gelatine leaf in the water.

Bring a pot of water to a slow simmer. Combine the castor sugar, lemon juice and egg yolks in a heatproof bowl, place it over the simmering water and whisk until thickened. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaf and add it to the mixture. Whisk the mixture over a bowl of ice to cool.

Fold in the whipped cream, pour the mixture into round 7cm – 8cm moulds and place in the fridge to set for about 1 hour.

For the pastry, cream the butter and add the icing sugar. Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract, then sift in the flour. Mix to form a dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease a 23cm x 32cm swiss roll tin. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface and cut out circles with a cookie cutter. Use the same size cookie cutter as the moulds for the lemon mousse. Gently place the circles on the tin and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

For the meringue, bring a pot of water to a slow simmer. Combine the egg whites and castor sugar in a metal bowl, place it over the simmering water and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a mixing bowl. Beat until soft peaks form.

To serve, remove the moulds from the fridge and leave to stand for a few minutes to loosen slightly. Place a shortbread circle on a serving dish and unmould a round of mousse on top. Add a dollop of meringue and top with another shortbread circle. Serve with the dates.