Exotic. Decadent. Luxurious...Aphrodisiac. A plump-bottomed, yieldingly soft fig is a thing of beauty in season. At their prime until early October, I've seen plenty of the fruit hanging temptingly from branches this week, framed by the fig tree's elegant, curvy, Botacelli-esque leaves.

Now is the time to seek them out at greengrocers or supermarkets, before their prices go up again. I managed to buy a whole tray of the burnished-looking beauties for just £3. Of course, if you grow your own, you're quids in! Did you know you can use the leaves too? They have a musky, almost floral taste and can be used to infuse a clear spirit, to flavour a sugar syrup, or even infused for a while into ice cream or custard.

Here, I've baked the figs down in a slow cooker with a splash of rum and vegan butter - the juices rippling out to create a luscious sauce.

And they're piled over crisp, chewy-centred aquafaba meringues. Now these are a little bit of culinary magic, made from the gloopy, misty water drained from a tin of chickpeas, whose proteins react in a similar way to egg whites.

Next time you use chickpeas in a dish, strain the liquid into a bag and freeze, ready to make a batch. The first time I made chickpea water meringue - about 10 years ago - I wasn't convinced it would work. I mean, the liquid doesn't look (or smell) appetising, and it takes a bit of elbow grease (use a whisk) to get the party started in the bowl. But it felt like a minor kitchen miracle when that sad pool of pulse juice whipped into a pale, frothy mound of bubbles. My son and his friend devoured the lot while I was pottering in the garden...and they couldn't tell the difference.

Chewy meringues with slow-cooked brown butter rum figs

(Serves four)

Ingredients

For the meringues

240ml liquid from chickpea tins (just under two tins)

250g caster sugar

2tsps vanilla extract

Food colouring powder (optional)

For the figs

6 fresh figs

4tbsps dark rum

2tbsps brown sugar

100g unsalted vegan butter (or use dairy butter if not vegan)

Juice 1 lemon

Pinch salt

To serve

Whipped vegan cream (or dairy if you're not vegan)

Crushed pistachios

Method

Combine the rum, brown sugar and butter into a loose paste. Make a cross in the tops of each of the figs and stuff with the mixture.

Place in a slow cooker on high for two hours. Carefully pop the figs (they will be delicate) into a small dish. Pour the juices from the cooker into a pan, add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Simmer until thickened. Pour over the figs and set aside. If you’re eating the next day, warm the dish through in an oven to slacken the sauce, which will have solidified.

For the meringues, tip the chickpea water into a very clean glass bowl. Now whisk, as you would egg whites. You’ll need an electric whisk. Even better, a stand mixer. It will take a while – sometimes up to 20 minutes. But eventually you will have a thick, soft peak consistency. Whisk in the vanilla, then the sugar, spoonful by spoonful, mixing well between additions (this will prevent sugar crystals ‘weeping’ in the oven). When the mix is very thick it’s ready to use.

Set the oven to 100C and line a couple of trays.

I use food colouring powder as it’s less messy – but you can leave yours plain if you like. Dust a teaspoon or so of powder around a piping bag and add the mixture. Snip off the end and pipe meringue circles on your trays. Mine were about 10cm wide.

Repeat with the remaining mix.

Bake for 75 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the door open to cool.

To serve, spoon some cream onto a meringue and top with a fig and some of its juices. Finish with crushed pistachios.