The classic Eton mess is a delicious summery British dessert made with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and crunchy meringues.
Prep Time30mins
Cook Time2hrs
Total Time2hrs30mins
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: English
Keyword: british dessert, classic eton mess, cranberry dessert, Eaton mess, english dessert, Summer berry dessert, traditional Eton mess
Equipment
Electric hand beaters or stand mixer
Ingredients
Meringues
3egg whites from large eggs
½cup (110gms)white sugar
¼tea spooncream of tartar
Other ingredients
3cups (750gms)ripe strawberries
1tablespoonwhite sugar for strawberry sauce
1 and ½cups (375mls)thickened cream, heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
½cup (125mls)sour cream
1teaspoonvanilla essence
1tablespoonwhite sugar for cream
½cupripe raspberries
Instructions
Make the meringues first, then make the rest of the dessert
To make the meringues
Pre heat your oven to 176°F (80°C) (fan forced). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Separate the eggs and put the yolks aside for another recipe, such as one of my delicious ice creams.
Whip the egg whites using electric hand beaters or a stand mixer until soft peaks start to form. Add the sugar, about a third at a time, mixing well in between each addition.
Once the sugar is all mixed in add the cream of tartar and mix well.
Spoon mix onto baking paper in large dollops and spread out a little.
Bake in the oven for two hours. Meringues should be crisp on the outside and make a hollow sound when tapped. Return to oven, turn off oven and allow meringues to cool completely in oven for maximum crispness.
Remove from try and store in an airtight container lined with baking paper until you make the rest of your Eaton mess.
To make the Eaton mess
Hull the strawberries and cut into quarters.
Take one cup of strawberries and blitz in a food processor until smooth. Add one table spoon of sugar and mix well.
In a separate bowl. add the vanilla to the cream and whip with an electric hand beaters or stand mixer or until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar to the cream. Measure the sour cream and stir well to loosen up, then gently fold sugar and sour cream into whipped cream.
Get your four elements ready to assemble the dessert, cream mix, broken up meringues, strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries.
Put a third of your chopped strawberries in the bottom of a large serving bowl or individual glasses. Top half the cream mix.
Add a third of the strawberries on top of the cream. Drizzle with half the strawberry sauce. Break apart and scatter over half the meringues.
Add the second half of the cream mix. Top with remaining strawberries, strawberry sauce and broken up meringues.
Serve immediately, dig in and enjoy!
Notes
Eton mess is very adaptable.I used traditional strawberries here but you can use whatever summer berries you like or even mix things up with some luscious summer stone fruit.If you don't have time to make your own meringues you can skip this step and use store bough instead, in which case you could have this delicious dessert on the table in just 20 minutes.