Eton Mess

Britain's most gloriously informal dessert: crushed meringue, lightly whipped cream and macerated strawberries tumbled together in a bowl with magnificent disregard for aesthetics: a happy accident that became one of the great summer puddings

Origin: Eton College, Berkshire, England

From the journey of Strawberry.

Eton Mess has been served at Eton College's annual cricket match against Harrow since at least the 1930s, though the college's own accounts suggest the dish may be even older. The origin legend, universally believed, impossible to verify, is that a Labrador dog sat on a strawberry meringue basket during the Eton vs Harrow match, and a resourceful school cook, rather than waste the ingredients, combined the crushed meringue with cream and strawberries and served it anyway. The mess became a fixture. The dish is emblematic of a particularly English culinary virtue: the ability to embrace and celebrate apparent failure. An Eton mess made with careful arrangement is a contradiction in terms. It should look exactly like what it is; a glorious tumble of good things. It has become one of the most popular British summer desserts, served at garden parties, Henley Regatta, Royal Ascot and every summer occasion between June and August.

Ingredients

Meringue

  • 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
  • 175 g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp cornflour

Fruit

  • 600 g fresh strawberries, hulled
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Cream

  • 500 ml double cream
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish

  • 6 leaves fresh mint (optional garnish)

Method

  1. Make the meringue: preheat oven to 130°C (110°C fan). Line a baking tray with parchment. In a spotlessly clean bowl, whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they form stiff, glossy peaks.
  2. Add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously, until all the sugar is incorporated and the meringue is very stiff and glossy. Whisk in the vinegar and cornflour.
  3. Spread the meringue onto the lined baking tray in large rough dollops (this is an Eton mess; there is no need for precision). Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes until the outside is crisp and pale gold. Turn the oven off and leave to cool completely inside (1–2 hours or overnight).
  4. Macerate the strawberries: halve or roughly chop about two-thirds of the strawberries. Toss with icing sugar and lemon juice. Leave for 20 minutes to draw out their juice. Slice the remaining third into neat halves for visual contrast.
  5. Whip the double cream with the icing sugar and vanilla to soft, billowing peaks; not stiff.
  6. Break the meringue into rough shards and pieces; some large, some small. Gently fold together the broken meringue, most of the whipped cream and most of the macerated strawberries in a large bowl. Do not over-mix; you want visible layers and contrasts of texture.
  7. Spoon into individual glasses or a wide serving bowl. Top with the reserved neat strawberry halves, a few more meringue shards and a final spoonful of cream. Serve immediately.

Notes

Store-bought meringues work perfectly in Eton mess; there is no shame in using them and it saves two hours. The critical element is the quality and ripeness of the strawberries and the cream. Some recipes add a tablespoon of strawberry jam to the cream for a deeper colour and flavour; this is a good embellishment. Passion fruit pulp mixed into the strawberries is a popular modern variation. The mess is also excellent with raspberries in place of, or alongside, the strawberries.

The Gastrographer

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