Eton mess
Serves: 8
Prep time: 35 mins
Total time:
Recipe photography by Martin Poole
Eton mess
The origins of this classic summer pud are thought to date back to an Eton v Harrow cricket match in the late 19th century, when a strawberry meringue pudding was accidentally dropped and then served up in all its broken glory
Serves: 8
Prep time: 35 mins
Total time:
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
511Kcal
Fat
41gr
Saturates
25gr
Carbs
32gr
Sugars
32gr
Fibre
3gr
Protein
3gr
Salt
0.1gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 3 large egg whites
- 180g caster sugar
- 700g strawberries, hulled
- 600ml double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1½ tbsp icing sugar
Step by step
Get ahead
Make the meringues up to 3 days ahead and store in an airtight container. The strawberry purée can be made the day before; keep chilled.
- Preheat your oven to 120°C, fan 100°C, gas ½. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually add the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking well after each addition, until you have a stiff and glossy meringue.
- Secure the baking paper to the tray with a few dabs of meringue mixture under the corners. Spoon large dollops of the mixture onto the lined tray, spaced apart, then bake for 1 hour to 1 hour15 minutes, or until the meringues easily peel away from the paper. Turn the oven off, leaving the meringues in the oven for at least 1 hour to cool, then remove from the oven to cool completely.
- Roughly chop 250g of the strawberries and put in a blender or food processor. Blitz to a purée. Halve or quarter the remaining strawberries, depending on size. Break the meringues into chunky pieces.
- In a large bowl, whip the double cream with the vanilla and icing sugar to soft peaks. Take care not to overwhip; the mixture will thicken further as you stir in the other elements.
- Fold in half each of the chopped strawberries, meringue pieces and strawberry purée. Dollop the mixture into a serving bowl or individual glasses, layering as you go with more strawberries, meringue pieces and strawberry purée (reserving some for the top). Serve as soon as possible, drizzled with the last of the strawberry purée.