Frosted meringue Christmas pudding with chocolate sauce and toasted hazelnuts

Method

1. Line a 1.2 litre (2 pint) pudding bowl with a double thickness of cling film.

2. First make the hazelnut meringue. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

3. Put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the skins start to flake away and the nuts are golden.

4. Rub off the skins with a cloth and chop the hazelnuts roughly.

5. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C. Mark 2 x 19cm circles or heart shapes on silicone paper or a prepared baking sheet.

6. Check that your mixing bowl is dry, spotlessly clean and free of grease. Mix all the icing sugar with the egg whites at once and beat until the mixture forms stiff, dry peaks. Fold in the hazelnuts.

7. Divide the mixture between the 2 circles or heart shapes and spread evenly with a palette knife. Bake immediately in the cool oven for 45 minutes, until crisp – they should peel off the paper easily. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to cool, if possible in the oven.

8. Break the hazelnut meringue into chunks and put into a wide bowl. Sprinkle the orange rind and ground cinnamon over the meringue and fold in the whipped cream. Pour into the lined pudding bowl, pressing down well. Cover with cling film and freeze overnight.

9. To serve, put the chocolate in a Pyrex bowl set over hot water.

10. Bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and allow the chocolate to gently melt in the residual heat. Allow the chocolate to cool a little while you turn the frozen meringue pudding out onto a cold serving plate. Pour the chocolate over the pudding, allowing it to drop down the edges (the chocolate will go solid).

11. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

12. To make the hazelnut praline, put the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 15–20 minutes, until the skins start to flake away and the nuts are golden.

13. Rub off the skins with a cloth and chop the hazelnuts roughly.

14. Put the hazelnuts and sugar into a heavy saucepan over a low heat until the sugar gradually melts and turns a caramel colour. When the caramel stage is reached, and not before, carefully rotate the pan until the nuts are all covered with caramel. When the nuts go ‘pop’, pour this mixture onto a Silpat mat (silicone mat) or a lightly oiled Swiss roll tin, marble slab or parchment-lined tray. Allow to get quite cold. When the praline is hard, crush in a food processor or with a rolling pin – the texture should be coarse and gritty.

15. Decorate the pudding with the toasted hazelnuts, hazelnut praline and sprinkles or sparklers and serve immediately.