Meringue mountain

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Whisk the egg whites for 2-3 minutes and begin to add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time until the mixture is light and glossy, increasing the whisking speed as you go.

Transfer the mixture to a piping bag and pipe out 4 circles, each one decreasing in size, onto a baking sheet.

Pipe as many rosettes you can make out of the remaining mixture onto another tray.

Put the meringues in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 100°C. (This is so that the meringue will crisp on the outside and still be nice and gooey on the inside.)

Bake for approximately 1 hour until the meringue is crisp but not coloured. Keep checking periodically for the crispness of the meringue as ovens may vary in temperature.

Turn the oven off and allow the meringue to cool for an hour with the oven door open.

Put the peaches into a pan and cover them with water. Add the sugar and bring the mixture to a simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Refresh the peaches by transferring them into cold water for 1 minute then remove the skin.

Put the peaches into the fridge to chill for 3-4 minutes then slice them into segments.

Whisk the caster sugar, egg and egg yolk over a bain-marie (a bowl resting over a pan of simmering water - make sure the water doesn't touch the base of the bowl) for approximately 5 minutes until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.

Remove the bowl and place it inside a larger bowl of iced water to chill.

Whisk in the brandy, almond extract and lemon juice whilst it cools.

Remove the mix from the iced water whilst it is still lukewarm and fold in the ground almonds, stirring thoroughly.

Dust a flat, clean work top with icing sugar and knead the marzipan with your hands. Once fully formed; wrap the marzipan in cling film and place it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Once chilled, roll out four thin marzipan circles to within 1cm diameter of each meringue circle, keeping some to one side for the marzipan roses.

Colour the marzipan to preference with drops of colouring and work the marzipan until the colour is evenly blended.

Take small, pea sized pieces of marzipan and flatten them into oval shapes.

Roll one into a larger oval shape and wrap and overlap the others to create layers then pinch the end of the flower to create a stem.

Repeat this technique with the rest of the marzipan.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, add the Gran Marnier and continue to whip until the cream is of a piping consistency.

Sprinkle the raspberries with 1 tablespoon of icing sugar. Add a few spoonfuls of water and cook over a medium heat until they start to break up.

Push the mixture through a sieve and set the coulis to one side.

Place the largest meringue base on a serving plate and top with the largest circle of marzipan and a layer of cream.

Next arrange the berries and poached peach slices on top of the cream.

Continue to stack in this way, moving onto the next meringue size down until the stack resembles a cone.

Fill a piping bag with the cream and starting at the bottom layer, pipe alternate rosettes and swirls of cream working upwards in circles up the tower, finishing the top with a larger swirl of cream.

Place the rosettes of meringue and marzipan roses and the mint sprigs alternately up the tower.

Dust the mountain very lightly with icing sugar and serve with a jug of the raspberry coulis.