This is a recipe from my latest cookbook ‘All-day bowls’, which was published last week. It’s a lovely sweet ending for the weekend or any festive occasion really.
Eton Mess is a crazy delicious messy dessert made with luscious cream, brittle sweet meringues and fresh fruit. Traditionally, this British recipe is made with strawberries, but I made a variation with raspberries instead. I’ve also replaced half the amount of whipped cream with thick yogurt, to make the mixture somewhat fresher and lighter. It makes the mess even better, is you ask me!
The best thing about making the meringues yourself, is that you can give them a subtle flavor. I chose to use rosewater this time, which gives them a special Middle-Eastern accent.
INGREDIENTS
for 4 persons
for the meringues:
2 egg whites
½ cup (100 g) caster sugar
½ tsp vinegar
drop of rosewater*
extra: mixer + piping bag + baking sheet, lined with parchment paper
1 cup (250 ml) cream
1 cup (250 g) Greek yogurt
3 ½ cups (450 g) raspberries
*Rosewater is available in Middle-Eastern stores or online.
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 240F (120 °C).
In a very clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. I find this easiest with a hand mixer.
Gradually add the sugar: make sure all sugar is dissolved before you add the next spoonful. When the mixture is stiff, shiny and white, add the vinegar and rosewater. Mix quickly and put the mixture in a piping bag.
Pipe little rounds of meringue on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes in the oven and leave them to cool completely in the turned-off oven.
Whip the cream until you’ve got soft, luscious peaks and quickly stir in the yogurt. Mash half of the raspberries and stir them through the yogurt cream.
Crumble most of the meringues and mix them in as well. Sprinkle over the remaining meringues and serve straight away, or put in the fridge to let the Eton Mess get firmer.
Tip: for a quick version, you can easily use ready-made meringues. In that case, you could add the rosewater to the cream.
