175g of whole raw hazelnuts, 275g of icing-sugar, four egg-whites, 75g of dark chocolate, one tablespoonful of Maltese honey, 200g of chestnuts (boiled, peeled and pureed) or 175g of pureed chestnuts, non-stick greaseproof paper, 200ml of fresh cream, 225g of mascarpone, bicarbonate of soda.
To finish: 100g of raw whole hazelnuts, 150g of icing-sugar, six heaped tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Draw three 20cm-diameter circles on the paper. Place them on baking-trays. Grill the hazelnuts for a few minutes under a very hot grill until they are brown. Wrap them in a dish-cloth and rub off the skins. Allow them to cool then grind them finely in a food-processor. Whisk the egg-whites until they are firm, then whisk in 50g of icing-sugar and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and whisk again. Fold in the rest of the icing-sugar and hazelnuts until just combined. Spread this mixture over the three circles of paper. Preheat the oven to gas mark ½/130C and bake until they are set.
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. In another bowl, mix the chestnut puree and honey. In a third bowl, whisk the cream until it is thick and fold in the mascarpone. Add half the cream to the chestnut mix and fold it in. Add the other half to the cooled chocolate and fold it in.
Put one meringue on a plate and cover it with the chestnut mix. Top with another meringue and more chocolate mix and cover the lot with the remaining meringue.
You can wrap it well and freeze it at this point. Otherwise, continue as follows. Make caramel by heating six tablespoonfuls of sugar and a little water, stirring all the while. Dust the meringue cake generously with icing-sugar. When the caramel is ready, dip the hazelnuts into it and dot them over the top of the meringue, then drizzle over the remaining caramel.