The ETON MESS is a traditional English dessert, much loved especially by children, made of strawberries, crumbled meringue and cream. According to a charming tale, the Eton mess was born almost by accident, when a meringue dessert was accidentally crushed by a dog during the journey to a picnic at Eton College.
The dessert that was saved was recovered and served with strawberries and cream, immediately becoming an original and much sought-after dessert. Perhaps this exact story didn’t happen, but this soft and very creamy spoon dessert certainly originated in that famous English college, probably in the mid-1800s.
If you want to enrich it further you can fold melted white chocolate into the whipped cream or add other fresh fruit, preferably a little tart such as raspberries, currants or blueberries, or for a crunchy touch add some chopped nuts.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 Servings
- Cooking methods: No-cook
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cup strawberries
- 1 cup heavy cream (cold)
- 7 tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 oz meringues (small)
- chopped pistachios
For the Eton mess you will need
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Hand mixer
- 4 Small serving glasses
Preparing the Eton mess
Rinse the strawberries under running water, leaving a few for decoration; then dry them, hull them and cut them into pieces, leaving some whole for decoration.
Whip the cream, cold from the fridge, with the powdered sugar until fluffy. A tip for better whipping is to place both the bowl and the beaters in the freezer for 5 minutes.Once the cream is whipped, add the meringues roughly crumbled and fold gently with upward motions.
Take the glasses and make a layer of cream and meringue, then a layer of strawberries, and continue like this until you reach the rim.
Finish by decorating with half a strawberry, some chopped pistachios and, if you like, more crumbled or whole meringues.
Store your Eton mess in the fridge until serving.
Note
You can make the chopped pistachios yourself. Shell the pistachios and plunge them into boiling water for 20 seconds. Drain them and remove their skin. Toast them in
Light variation
If you want a lighter dessert, you can replace the cream with Greek yogurt.
