Tom says: “I use both natural and Greek yoghurts to achieve the ideal consistency in this parfait. It will serve a small crowd, but you can easily slice off fewer portions when you turn it out and return the rest of the parfait to the freezer for another time. Remember that single apiary regional honey is superior to blended honey.”

Serves 10–12

Ingredients

For the almond praline:

100g flaked almonds
200g caster sugar

For the parfait:

8 apricots, stoned and roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
100ml blossom honey
300ml natural yoghurt
300ml Greek yoghurt
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
3 large free-range egg whites
250g caster sugar

To finish:

4 ripe apricots, stoned and cut into wedges

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6. Wet the inside of a 1kg (or 2lb) loaf tin with a little water, then line with 2 layers of cling film, leaving some overhanging the edges.

For the praline, scatter the almonds on a small baking tray and place in the oven for 8–10 minutes until lightly toasted. Meanwhile, line a heatproof tray with baking paper.

Tip the sugar into a small saucepan and place over a high heat. Swirl the pan as the sugar melts and forms a caramel. When the caramel is a deep golden brown colour, add the toasted almonds and stir quickly to coat. Spoon onto the lined tray, flatten with a rubber spatula and leave to cool completely. Once cooled, break off half of the praline, chop it finely and set aside. Save the rest for the decoration.

For the parfait, put the apricots into a small saucepan with the lemon juice and honey. Bring to a gentle simmer over a medium heat and cook for 2 minutes to soften the fruit, then remove from the heat. Leave this apricot compote to cool.

Place both yoghurts and the vanilla seeds into a large bowl and whisk together until smooth. Add half of the apricot compote to the bowl and mix well.

Put the egg whites into the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Tip the sugar into a small saucepan, add 50ml water and place over a medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar, then bring to the boil.

When the sugar syrup starts to boil, start whisking the egg whites on high speed. Once the syrup registers 117°C on a sugar thermometer (ie the soft ball stage), pour it onto the egg whites in a thin, steady stream, continuing to whisk.

When the sugar syrup is all added, turn the mixer speed to medium and whisk the meringue for a further 5–10 minutes or until the bowl is cooled down.

Add 2 large spoonfuls of the meringue to the apricot yoghurt mix and whisk to combine. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer. Add half of the remaining meringue and gently fold through the yoghurt, with a spatula. Repeat to incorporate the rest, folding it through until just combined. Finally, fold through the chopped praline.

Spoon half of the parfait mixture into the prepared tin. Dollop half of the remaining apricot compote over the parfait and swirl into the mixture. Spoon the remaining parfait mixture into the tin, dollop on the remaining apricot compote and swirl through.

Fold the excess cling film over the parfait and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours until firm, preferably overnight.

When you are ready to serve, turn the parfait out onto a board or plate and remove the cling film. Top with the apricot wedges and reserved praline, broken into shards. Using a warm knife, cut the parfait into thick slices and serve straight away.

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