Eton mess
Strawberries, whipped cream and broken meringue
Eton mess is served at Eton College's cricket match against Harrow each June, and it has become the English summer pudding for picnics and garden parties when strawberries are at their best. Crushed meringue, whipped cream and macerated strawberries are folded together at the last moment, so you get crunch, cream and juice in every spoonful. Chef's tip: fold it together just before serving; if it sits, the meringue dissolves into the cream.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ lb strawberrieshulled
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 ¾ cups double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 meringue nestsabout 80 g
- 6 mint leaves (optional)to decorate
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Halve or quarter the 1 ⅓ lb strawberries. Mash a third of them with the 1 tbsp caster sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice to a rough sauce and stir the rest in. Leave 15 minutes.
15 minStep 2: Whip the 1 ¾ cups double cream with the 1 tsp vanilla extract to soft peaks. A common mistake is whipping it stiff, which makes the mess heavy.
4 minStep 3: Break the 6 meringue nests into rough chunks, some big, some small.
2 minStep 4: Just before serving, fold the meringue and most of the strawberries through the cream, leaving streaks of red. Spoon into glasses, top with the rest of the berries and 6 mint leaves.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 25 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does eton mess take?
- About 20 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of strawberries?
- Raspberries, blueberries or chopped peaches, same amount.
- What can I use instead of caster sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Kartoshka cake
Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.
Russian
Undu walalu
Walalu means bangles, and these dark, sticky rings of fried urad dal soaked in kithul treacle are a sweet that Sinhala families bring out for Avurudu and for special almsgivings, often made in large batches by an aunt known for her steady hand. A thick, fluffy paste of ground black gram is piped into loops and fried until crisp, then plunged straight into warm treacle, so the rings stay crunchy on the outside while drinking up the syrup. They taste a little like a darker, smokier jalebi, with a toffee finish from the palm treacle. Watery batter is what ruins them; it spreads into flat blobs, so grind the soaked dal with as little water as possible and beat it until light. This recipe uses no asafoetida, so it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: pipe the rings onto small squares of baking paper and lower them into the oil paper and all; the paper peels away in seconds.
Sri Lankan
Marquesitas
Evening in Mérida's Plaza Grande means the smell of marquesitas: thin batter pressed in hot hinged irons until crisp, then rolled like a cigar around grated Edam cheese and a sweet filling such as cajeta, chocolate-hazelnut spread or jam. Edam came to the Yucatán through the port trade with the Netherlands and became part of the local cooking, and the salty-sweet combination is the whole point. At home you can cook them in a thin, wide frying pan. Edam is usually made with animal rennet, so check the label or use a vegetarian Gouda-style cheese. Chef's tip: roll while the crêpe is still in the pan and hot; within seconds it hardens and will crack.
Mexican