Mixed Berry Eton Mess

September 25, 2012

One of my favourite desserts ever is the classic and simple Eton Mess.

I like to think of it as a deconstructed pavlova (kind of).

It’s so easy to make and tastes delicious. I add yogurt to mine for extra flavour and to feel a smidgeon healthier than using just cream.

Here’s what I do:

Ingredients

A punnet or two of fresh strawberries
A handful of blueberries (fresh or frozen depending on the season)
A handful of raspberries (fresh or frozen depending on the season)
Strawberry Greek yogurt (I used three small tubs of Danone Greek Yogurt – approximately 375gms but you can add as much or as little as you like)
300ml/small carton of pouring cream
100gm of meringues (shop bought or homemade if you have the time)

Method

1. Whip the cream. I usually add a little bit of icing sugar when I’m whipping cream, but there’s a lot of sugar in this recipe so you probably don’t need to.

The recipe starts being delicious right here. I struggled to refrain from eating half the whipped cream.

2. Stir through the yogurt.

Even yummier now.

3. Slice the strawberries and stir through with the blueberries and raspberries.

4. Take your packet of meringues and crush them over the mixture. You don’t need to crush them evenly and don’t crush them too small – chunky bits of meringue adds texture to this dish and makes it that much more enjoyable. Stir through gently.

5. Serve and enjoy!

Here’s the catch – you need to serve this dish pretty much as soon as you’ve crushed the meringues into the mix. It’s probably the most obvious thing in the world, but I made mine in advance for a dinner on Sunday night thinking I was super organised only to discover when the time came to eat them that all the meringues had completely dissolved. That delicious crunchy texture I was talking about? Non-existent.

I can hear you laughing at my lack of common sense. Momentary brain lapse okay?

Anyway, learn from my mistake and either make this when you’re ready to eat it, or prepare it up to the meringues and add the meringues in when you’re ready to serve.

Would I make it again? For sure.