I’m not a dessert kind of a girl, but when I do have them, I want them indulgent and a classic Eton Mess tick that box.
Here I have layered rich whipped cream and crispy meringue with fruit jams that cut through the sweetness. They do take a bit of time to prep, but you can do them ahead of time and leave to chill in the fridge – if you can wait that long!
The recipe makes two greedy size portions, or 4 lighter ones. You can save any of the left over jams and serve with ice-cream at a later date.
- 2 egg whites
- 100g caster sugar
- 200g raspberries
- 200g blueberries
- 200g strawberries
- 150g caster sugar
- 300ml double cream
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
Pre-heat the oven to 140º.
First off, make the meringue. In a large glass bowl put in the two egg whites and 100g of caster sugar. With an electric whisk, mix together until the eggs and sugar are firm – the mixture is ready when you can turn the bowl upside down and no mixture falls out. This should take around 5mins.
Line two trays with baking paper and spoon the meringue mixture into a piping bag. On one tray, pipe around 12-16 small dollops of meringue and then pipe the rest into a large circle on the other baking tray. Pop in the oven for around 30mins until the meringues are solid on the top and very slightly coloured. Once baked, leave to one side and cool.
In a saucepan add the raspberries, 50g of caster sugar and 50g of water. Heat over a medium heat for about 10-15mins, stirring occasionally. Once the fruit has broken down, pass through a fine sieve into a bowl so that you are left with a smooth jam. Leave to one side to cool.
Repeat this process with the blueberries then raspberries so you have three jams.
Pour the cream into a bowl and use an electric mixture to whip the cream – be careful not to over whip. Crumble in the large meringue circle and add the icing sugar. Mix with a spoon.
In a glass, place a couple of tablespoons of the meringue mixture, then a layer of strawberry jam, more meringue, blueberry jam, more meringue then raspberry jam to top. Decorate with any fruit left over and the smaller meringues. Put in the fridge until ready to serve.
