Autumn fruit pavlova

To make the meringue, preheat the oven to 100°C/gas mark ¼

Place the egg whites in a bowl and start to whisk. Add the salt and whisk to soft peaks

Whisk in the vinegar and slowly sift in the cornflour

Add the caster sugar slowly, continuing to whisk until the meringue thickens. Split and scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod, add the vanilla seeds and whisk to stiff peaks

Spoon the meringue into 6 mounds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and shape into circles. Bake for about 2 ½ hours until dry and crisp

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack

To prepare the cream, scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod and add to a bowl with the cream and sugar. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks

To make the blackberry purée, add the berries to a blender and blitz until smooth. Taste the purée and add the icing sugar if it's a little too tart

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

Quarter the figs and cut the plums into sixths. Roast in the oven with a drizzle of honey for 5–10 minutes, until golden and just starting to soften

To assemble the pavlovas, lightly bash the tops of the the meringues and add a generous dollop of cream to each one. Drizzle with some of the blackberry purée and top with the plums, figs and the remaining fresh blackberries. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar