April Bloomfield’s Eton mess

1.For meringues, preheat oven to 120C. Whisk eggwhite and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until sugar dissolves (5-7 minutes), then transfer to an electric mixer and whisk on medium speed until firm peaks form. Fold in icing sugar and lemon rind, then spoon into grapefruit-sized mounds on baking trays lined with baking paper. Bake until hard on the outside and soft on the inside (30-40 minutes), then cool.

2.Purée half the strawberries in a blender, add vanilla seeds, lemon rind and juice, vodka and caster sugar. Transfer to a bowl, then add remaining strawberries and refrigerate until chilled (1-2 hours).

3.Whisk cream and white sugar in a bowl until soft peaks form (4-5 minutes; do not overbeat). Add half the strawberry mixture, crumble over large chunks of meringue, then fold once or twice to just combine. Serve immediately topped with extra strawberry mixture.