It may not feel like it with the oddly unseasonable weather we’ve had this May, but summer is coming. And you can’t have British summer without strawberries and cream. Now if you’re like me, strawberries and cream is a little boring without some added crunch, and that’s where Eton Mess comes in. The combination of crushed meringue, fresh fruit, and cream makes an iconic dessert.
A Quick History of Eton Mess
Eton Mess originated (no surprise) at Eton School. To this day, it is served when Eton and Harrow play their annual cricket match. The earliest versions apparently combined strawberries or banana with whipped cream. The meringue that makes it that much better came later. If you want to play with tradition, you can always make a mess (and who doesn’t love any dessert called “a mess”?) with bananas and chocolate sauce.
Eton Mess Recipe
Eton Mess is very quick and easy to make but can look quite fancy if you need something to impress guests. If you can buy store-bought meringues, all the quicker. If you can’t, don’t be put off by the idea of making meringue. It’s not that difficult, especially since you’re going to be smashing them up for the mess anyway. They don’t have to look perfect!
To serve about 4 (or 2 if you like it so much you want seconds):
- 2 egg whites
- 120g sugar (Caster is better since it is finer)
- 500g chopped strawberries
- 450ml double cream
- 1 tbs icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 120C/200F/Gas Mark 1. Use parchment paper to line a baking tray. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (much easier with an electric mixer rather than by hand). Once they are nice and stiff, add in about a third of the sugar. Whisk again until you have stiff peaks. Add more sugar. Repeat, and so on until you’ve incorporated all of the sugar. If you like, you can put the mixture into an icing bag and pipe onto the baking sheet, but remember, keep it simple. I use a large spoon and drop dollops onto the tray. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Your meringues should be hard and come off the paper easily.
While the meringues are cooling, remove the hulls from the strawberries and chop the fruit into pieces. Using a hand blender, make a quick strawberry puree with about 1/3 of the berries. Add the icing sugar to the cream and whisk until it is nice and thick.
Crush most of the meringues and mix them with the chopped strawberries. You can layer the meringues, strawberries, and whipped cream, drizzling with the puree sauce. Top with the remaining crumbled meringue. Alternatively, stir everything together in one big bowl and spoon into individual serving glasses.