Preheat the oven to 120°C fan/140°C/275°F/gas 1 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper or a silicone baking mat

To make the meringue, place the egg whites in a scrupulously clean bowl and whisk until soft peaks are achieved. Gradually add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking well to incorporate between each addition. You should end up with a stiff, glossy, white meringue

Add the lemon juice and whisk again, adding another spoonful of sugar if you feel that the mixture has softened a little too much. At the very last minute, fold the grapefruit zest through the meringue and then create 6–8 individual meringue nests on the prepared baking tray. I find it easiest to scoop out the meringue using an ice cream scoop, then use the back of a spoon to spread out the meringue a little and create little craters in the middle

Bake the meringues for 40 minutes, turning the oven down to 100°C fan/120°C/250°F/gas ½ after the first 10 minutes. Once cooked, turn off the oven and leave the meringues to cool in there for at least 2½ hours, or overnight

For the grapefruit and Campari caramel, put the sugar, water, star anise and coriander seeds in a heavy-based pan and set over a medium heat. Cook gently, tipping the pan every so often, until the sugar has dissolved

Turn the heat up so that the sugar starts to caramelise. Do not step away from the pan. Take the sugar to a stage where it is a deep golden brown, then stir in the citrus juices and Campari. The caramel will seize when you do this, but do not panic, just allow the heat to melt the caramel back down. When it’s smooth and glossy again, boil it for another 30 seconds, then remove from the heat, strain out the spices and leave to cool completely

Just ahead of assembling the pavlovas, make the gin-spiked cream. In a large bowl, add the icing sugar and a pinch of salt to the double cream and whip until thickened but not quite holding. Gently fold in the sour cream, followed by the gin

Slice half of the grapefruit segments for the topping into smaller pieces

An hour before you want to serve, partially assemble the pavlovas. Add a spoonful of the caramel along with some of the chopped grapefruit into the base of each pavlova. Add a generous dollop of the gin cream on top, flatten out slightly with the back of a spoon, then set aside. Just before serving, drizzle over more grapefruit caramel, top with 2–3 grapefruit segments, then crumble the amaretti biscuits over the top (if using). Serve only to negroni fans