In a dry frying pan, toast the ground almonds over medium heat very well until they are a deep, nutty brown. Allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and line the bottom of an un-greased 8 inch (20 centimetre) sandwich tin.

In a mixing bowl, whip whites to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar while whipping to make stiff meringue.

Fold in the toasted almonds, salt, and essences. The trick is to be gentle, but quick.

Bake the meringue 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. It will dip slightly in the middle, but that's okay.

Cool for 10 minutes before loosening from the edges with a knife and turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Mix yolks, sugar, and cornflour in a small saucepan until pale and creamy. Gradually mix in the milk until smooth.

Cook over medium heat, mixing all the time with a balloon whisk or rubber spatula, until it comes to the boil and thickens rapidly.

Pour into a shallow bowl, cover the surface with greaseproof paper, and cool completely to room temperature.

Once it's cool, pull off the greaseproof paper and scrape off any custard that is stuck to it, putting it back in the bowl with the rest of the custard.

After cooling, place the butter in a mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whip very well until pale, then gradually whip in the custard, little by little.

Once completely mixed in, flavour with vanilla and season with salt.

Fill the kitchen sink with about 2 inches (4 centimetres) of cold water.

Cook all the ingredients, except for the baking soda, in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan to mix the ingredients. Avoid the temptation to stir!

Cook the mixture to 150C, swirling very frequently to prevent the mixture from catching on the base of the pan.

Once it reaches temperature, immediately remove from the heat and dip the bottom of the saucepan in the cold water to halt the cooking.

Add the baking soda and swirl again to mix: it will puff ever so slightly, then pour onto a greased flat oven tray, or a marble slab.

When cool, crunch into small sprinkle sized pieces by hand, or by rolling over it in a plastic bag using a rolling pin.

Heat the chocolates and oil together in a jug in the microwave on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Season with salt.

Alternatively, melt the chocolate and oil in a double boiler. Allow to cool and thicken slightly.

Cut the cake in half (very carefully: it's quite thin) and sandwich them together with the cream.

Flat ice the cake with a generous amount of cream. Any leftover cream can be used for other projects.

Take about three tablespoons of the chocolate coating and spread on top of the cake and sprinkle with Daim crunchies. Don't let it drip down the sides.

Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. This allows the crunchies to stick to the cake without running off with the rest of the glaze.

Use the remaining glaze, reheating gently if needed, to glaze the entire cake. Chill completely for 2 hours before serving.