Eton mess is a traditional English dessert. The Eton mess is so called due to the messy mixture of broken meringue, strawberries, and whipped double cream.
For those of you not up to speed with the history here, and at risk of boring you all, Eton Mess originates from Eton Public School at around the turn of the 20th century and is served at the annual cricket match against the pupils of Harrow School.
Now let me be completely honest with you on this one. Sugar and cream make this not the best dish if you’re on a diet unless it is the only thing you are eating today. Jen is always trying to watch her figure and when I explained the origin of the dish to Jen earlier today, and what it was made of she initially turned her nose up in disgust. “Too many calories for me” were the disdainful words I heard as she walked out of the kitchen. But of course, once I’d finished these little beauties, and after trying one mouthful, Jen wolfed the lot down with a big smile on her face… off to the gym tonight young Jennifer!!
Eton mess is exceedingly nice but also dangerously naughty…don’t say I didn’t warn you! Yum Yum ????
Eton Mess
This dessert is very easy to make. The recipe, as always, is in the printable form below but in simple terms, this is what’s needed…
1. Make the meringue
The first thing to do is make the meringue. Take the egg whites and whisk until fluffy. The true test is that the whisked egg whites are able to stand on their own as peaks if you remove the whisk.
Whisk to a peak
As you can see, I used a hand whisk but if you have an electric one you can also use that.
Once the egg whites are like those in the photograph then add the caster sugar a spoonful at a time and whisk in.
Once this is done then lay some baking paper on a baking tray and spoon the meringue mix on to the tray around 2-3 centimetres thick.
Spoon the meringue mix into a baking tray
Now, put the tray in a pre-heated oven at 120C / 100C Fan and bake for 60-75 minutes or until the meringue is hard and can be removed from the paper. Then leave aside to cool.
2. Prepare the strawberries
Take the strawberries and cut the stalks off and cut the fruit into thumbnail sized pieces. Then put them all in a bowl and stand to the side.
Cut the strawberries into small pieces
3. Make the messy mix!
Now add the icing sugar to the cream and whip the cream until it is smooth and thick. Be careful not whip it too much. Just enough so that it can stand on its own. Once this is done add the strawberries and mix them into the cream.
Now, once the meringue is baked and cooled down pull it away from the paper and break it up. There is no science to this. The clue’s in the name! Just make a mess!! Add this then to the strawberry cream mix (it’s OK if you have some meringue left over) so it looks something like this:
Messy Eton mess
4. Make the Eton Mess
Now just spoon into a decorative class and garnish with a whole strawberry. Simple as that. Absolutely yummy!!
Eton Mess. Yum Yum!
That’s it for now Foodies. As always, it would be great to hear your comments or questions. Just used the section below. If you like this recipe why not have a look at a few more from The Yum Yum Club like those below…
Hope you enjoy the Eton Mess and until next time… Steve.
5. Printable Recipe
- Whites of 2 large eggs
- 120 grams caster sugar
- 1 punnet if strawberries
- 300 ml thick double cream
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
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Separate the egg whites from the yoke and whisk the egg whites until they stand and show a peak. You can use an electric whisk or, as I did, a bit of elbow grease.
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Then take the caster sugar and whisk this into the egg whites a spoon full at time.
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Cover the base of a baking tray with baking paper and spread the meringue mixture around 1 inch thick evenly on the paper.
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Put in the oven for 60 to 75 minutes at 120C / 100C Fan until hard. Then leave to cool.
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While the meringue is cooking cut the tops of the strawberries and cut in to small random pieces.
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Now add the icing sugar to the cream and whip it, again with an electric whisk or a bit of elbow grease. It should be whipped until just about firm. Be careful not to over whip.
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Now bash up the cooled meringue into small bits and add 3/4 to the cream along with the strawberries and mix up to a big meringue, cream and strawberry mess!
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Finally, spoon into glasses and sprinkle a little more crushed meringue on to the top. You can add a little strawberry syrup if you like, but we don't want to go too mad now, do we?
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Once eaten either sit back and feel guilty for the rest of the evening or put on a pair of trainers and go for a run!! You're just going to sit back aren't you...? ????
Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to create a very good article…
but what can I say… I procrastinate a whole lot and never manage
to get anything done. https://zennacbd.org/
Many thanks for your kind words. Just sharing the love of food. Hope you try the recipe. It’s very easy 😉