Time: 1 hour 30 minutes + chill time

Serves: 14-15 puddings

Syrup

150gm caster sugar

200ml water

20gm metaxa or brandy

1 lemon, peels

Place all ingredients into small pot and place on medium heat. Mis together allowing sugar to melt and once gentle simmer is reached, take off heat and place in fridge to chill.

Custard Creme

500ml milk

130gm caster sugar

1 table spoon vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

50gm cornstarch

770gm butter, cubed and cold

In a medium pot add in 450ml milk, 65gm sugar and the vanilla essence, place on medium low heat and allow to gently come up to a steaming heat.

In seperate bowl add in 50ml milk, 65gm sugar and egg yolks and then whisk together until smooth. Add in the cornstarch and whisk again until smooth. Once milk in pot is steaming, ladle into egg yolk bowl and whisk quickly to allow the mixture temper. Once incorporated, add back into pot and place on medium heat. Make sure to keep stirring the custard until it thickens and begins to bubble, this will happen quickly, under a few minutes so keep an eye on it.

Once bubbling happens in custard top, take off heat, quickly mix in cold butter cubes until it’s all incorporated and smooth. If it looks a bit lumpy, just give it a hard whisk to smooth out or if you have overcooked it into lumpiness, pour into bowl, add a bit more cold milk a dash at a time and whisk hard to get it smooth as it cools.

Once custard creme is smooth, pour into bowl and cover with cling film touching the top layer of custard and place in fridge to chill.

Meringue Sponge Discs

180gm egg whites

Salt, pinch

160gm caster sugar

120gm egg yolks

1 table spoon vanilla essence

200gm self racing flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced.

Set up a stand mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk the egg whites and salt on high until looking very fluffy (1-2 minutes). Then slowly add the caster sugar in a quick pour at a time until week combined. Once sugar is in whisk on high until it has dissolves (about 5 minutes), test this by rubbing some meringue between two fingers and it shouldn’t feel grainy.

Once meringue is looking glossy, stop machine, add in the egg yolks and vanilla essence and on the lowest speed gently incorporate. Scrape down the sides and pop on low speed again so it’s all incorporated. In 3 batches add in the sifted self raising flour on the lowest speed, adding the next batch once the one before is incorporated. 

Set up a piping bag and pour the meringue batter into it, then on a lined baking tray, pipe on 9 medium circles (they will spread a little). 

Add tray into oven and bake for 8 minutes, or until the discs have a golden colour to them. Repeat this process until all meringue sponge batter is used. Allow to cool on wire racks.

Chocolate Glaze

10gm butter

70gm thickened cream

100gm dark chocolate

Now don’t start the chocolate glaze until you’re ready to put everything together.

Add all ingredients into a microwave and heat for 30 second intervals, stirring each time until it melts into a glossy glaze, 2 bursts should be enough. Then quickly stir until it becomes glossy and homogenous.

*if the glaze splits don’t stress, add a dash of thickened cream in and just keep stirring until it comes together. 

Build

Gently dunk all meringue sponge discs into the syrup quickly, then remove.

Set up half the discs dome down, and the other half dome up. Grab custard creme from fridge and give it a good mix to smooth it out again, then spoon on a decent kitchen spoon worth of custard onto the dome down discs. 

With the remaining dome up discs, spoon on chocolate glaze onto the middle of the dome, and swirl around until covered, then place on top of a custard to make the Kok sandwich. Once all sandwiched, place in fridge to chill or enjoy immediately.