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Eton Mess


Eton Mess

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Eton Mess
1st June, 2017

If I’m asked to name a truly British pudding there are two puddings that instantly spring to mind and they are Queen of Puddings and Eton Mess.

Only the British would take a work of culinary art like a meringue and crush it into bits so that you can’t see it. Still, Eton Mess is a damned good pudding so kudos to us!

Ingredients

  • For the meringues
  • 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 115g icing sugar
  • For the Mess
  • 500g strawberries, hulled and halved
  • 400ml double cream
  • 2 tbsp white wine (optional)

    Method

    Preheat the oven to 110C

    Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

    Put the egg whites into a large clean mixing bowl and beat them on medium speed with an electric hand whisk until the mixture stands up in stiff peaks when the whisks are lifted.

    Start to add caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time and continue beating for 5 seconds between each addition

    Sift one third of the icing sugar over the mixture and then fold it in with a big metal spoon or rubber spatula. Continue to sift and fold in the remaining icing sugar a third at a time

    Using a tablespoon, place heaped spoonful’s of the mixture on to the baking sheet leaving a few inches between the spoonful’s

    Bake for 1 1⁄2 hours and then remove from the oven. Leave to cool on the trays or a cooling rack

    Wash the strawberries and then hull them (remove the green stem) and cut the berries in half

    Take half the strawberries and place them in a blender to make a puree. If adding the white wine, now is the time.

    Whisk up the double cream in a large bowl until stiff peaks form

    Crush up some of the meringues and fold into the whipped double cream with some of the strawberry puree and halved strawberries.

    To serve, crush some meringues into the base of a wine glass, top up with the meringue, cream mixture and finish off with halved strawberries and a dash of the strawberry puree