Strawberry Eton Mess

After eating a delicious Strawberry Eton Mess at Assiette, I was singing its praises to anyone who would listen. And listen they did - Queen Chu's mum knew that I was thinking about making it myself at home and kindly gave me a giant slab of leftover meringue! I was a happy penguin indeed =D

Giant slab of meringue courtesy of Queen Chu's mum!

I didn't have strawberry sorbet as they had as Assiette, and I don't really like berry coulis so instead I substituted it with a simple sugar syrup that I used to macerate the strawberries. And even though it wasn't a "winter warmer" kind of dessert, it was nevertheless oh-so-satisfying!


Strawberry Eton Mess (Serves 6)

1-2 punnets of strawberries (I used 1 1/2), washed, hulled and chopped into small pieces
300mL cream
100g sugar
100mL water
1 giant slab of home-made meringue (recipe below) or 4 bought meringue nests (if using bought meringue nests, go to step 2)

For the meringue:
2 egg whites
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp white vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 100ºC. Using an electric mixer in a clean bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, beating constantly until the mixture is thick and glossy and stiff peaks form. Add vinegar, and beat until well combined. Gently spread meringue over a lined baking sheet and bake for 60 minutes or until dried out.

Strawberries in sugar syrup

2. Place sugar and water in a saucepan and dissolve sugar on medium-high heat until completely dissolved. Simmer for another 2 minutes, then remove from heat (if you prefer a more viscous sugar syrup, you can leave it on the stove for a few more minutes). When cool, place chopped strawberries into sugar syrup and leave to macerate for 30 minutes.


2. Beat cream until stiff peaks form. When ready to serve, crumble meringue into whipped cream and add strawberries and syrup. Fold until combined.