Frozen lemon custard with brûléed meringue

Place the milk and cream in a pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 125g castor sugar together until light in colour, about 5 minutes. Add the warm cream mixture to the egg yolk mixture and whisk to combine before returning to the pot. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously, until the custard coats the back of a spoon.

Place the cooked custard mixture in a bowl, stir in the lemon zest and chill, about 30 minutes. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions, stir through the lemon curd and place in a large dome-shaped mould or smaller moulds of your choice. Place in the freezer. If an ice cream maker is not available, place the mixture in a freezer-proof bowl and put in the freezer. Just before frozen (the consistency will be thick, but still liquid), beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Stir through the lemon curd and place in dome-shaped moulds of your choice. Return to the freezer until frozen completely, about 2 hours.

Just before serving, prepare your meringue. Preheat a grill to its highest heat if a kitchen blowtorch is not available. Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer. Whisk to soft peaks, add the 240g castor sugar, 15ml (1 tbsp) at a time, while the mixer runs. Once all of the sugar has been added and the mixture is smooth and thick, whisk on high speed, 3 minutes.

Remove the frozen custard(s) from its mould(s), by carefully dipping the outsides of the mould(s) into warm water, and releasing onto a serving platter (or roasting dish if you’ll be using the grill to brûlée your meringue). Spread a thick layer of meringue on the outside of each frozen custard, leaving some texture. Brûlée the meringue either under the very hot preheated grill, about a minute, or use a kitchen blowtorch and serve immediately.