Ingredients
Dolce de leche
Method
1.Make **dulce de leche**: Preheat oven to 220°C. Pour condensed milk into a 1.5-litre (6-cup) ceramic ovenproof dish. Cover dish tightly with foil; crush excess foil upwards. Place ceramic dish in a medium baking dish; add enough boiling water to come halfway up the side of the ceramic dish. Bake for 1 hour.
2.Whisk mixture; cover, bake a further 30 minutes or until a golden caramel colour, adding extra boiling water to baking dish as needed to maintain water level during baking. Remove dish from water; cool. Whisk mixture until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl; cover, refrigerate until chilled.
3.Preheat oven to 120°C. Line two large oven trays with baking paper. Mark two 12.5cm x 30cm rectangles on paper; turn, marked-side down, on trays.
4.Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and sugars in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 8 minutes or until thick and glossy and sugar is dissolved. Beat in cornflour, vinegar and extract on low speed. Divide mixture evenly between trays, spreading to cover just inside marked rectangles and swirling meringue on top for effect.
5.Bake meringues for 1 hour, or until dry to touch. Cool in oven with door ajar.
6.Place banana slices, in a single layer, on an oven tray; sprinkle with extra caster sugar. Using a blowtorch, caramelise sugar.
7.Whisk cooled dulce de leche in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form.
8.Place one meringue on a platter. Spread two-thirds of the cream on meringue. Using half the dulce de leche, drop spoonfuls on top of the cream. Repeat layering with remaining meringue, cream and dulce de leche. Top with banana slices and honeycomb
Dulce de leche is a caramel spread. If you prefer, you can use ready-made dulce de leche sold in jars from delis, gourmet food stores and supermarkets. Plain honeycomb is available from some sweet stores or greengrocers. If unavailable, use two 50g chocolate honeycomb bars and cut off the chocolate. Blowtorches are available from homeware and hardware stores. Alternatively, you can place the bananas under a hot grill (broiler) to caramelise the sugar. Dulce de leche can be made a day ahead. Meringue is best made on day of serving. Store in an airtight container and assemble close to serving.
Note
