Eton mess
Eton mess is a dessert where carelessness is the recipe: the components are barely folded together so streaks of white, pink and crisp shards remain. The one thing to get right is macerating the strawberries — half an hour with sugar turns fruit into fruit with its own sauce.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Macerating the strawberries 30 min
- Whipped cream 8 min
- Folding 5 min
- Serving 5 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMacerate the strawberries
Halve the strawberries, toss with the sugar, lemon juice and balsamic and leave for 30 minutes. The sugar draws out juice by osmosis and a ready-made strawberry syrup pools in the bowl — it carries the flavour through the whole dessert.
Ingredients: 600 g strawberries · 50 g sugar · ½ pcs lemon · 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
TipA teaspoon of balsamic does not make the dessert taste of vinegar — it deepens the strawberry flavour much as a pinch of salt brings out sweetness.
After half an hour an intense syrup collects at the bottom.Mash a third of the fruit
Mash a third of the strawberries with a fork into a rough purée, leaving the rest in pieces. The purée stains the cream pink while the whole pieces give bites of fruit — you need both.
Ingredients: 600 g strawberries · 50 g sugar · ½ pcs lemon · 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
A third mashed, two thirds in pieces.Whip the cream with mascarpone
Whip the very cold cream with mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks, not stiff. Over-whipped cream splits when folded with the fruit.
Ingredients: 500 ml whipping cream (30%) · 150 g mascarpone · 40 g icing sugar · 2 tsp vanilla extract
TipMascarpone stabilises the cream: it holds its shape longer and does not weep, so it can even be whipped a few hours ahead.
Crush the meringues unevenly
Crush the meringues by hand into pieces of different sizes — from crumbs to walnut-sized chunks. The fine ones dissolve into the cream and thicken it, the large ones stay crisp. That unevenness is the point.
Ingredients: 200 g meringues · ¼ bunch mint
Fold barely
Fold the cream, meringue and strawberries together with three or four strokes of a spatula — the mixture should stay streaky, not uniform. Here incomplete mixing is the goal.
Ingredients: 500 ml whipping cream (30%) · 150 g mascarpone · 40 g icing sugar · 2 tsp vanilla extract
Three strokes of the spatula — streaks, not uniform pink.Spoon up and serve within 20 minutes
Spoon into glasses in layers, pour over the remaining syrup and top with mint. Serve within 20 minutes — the meringue starts softening at once and after an hour all the crunch is gone.
Ingredients: 200 g meringues · ¼ bunch mint
Before you start
Prepare the parts ahead
Keep the strawberries, cream and crushed meringue separately in the fridge. Combine just before serving — it takes two minutes.
Other fruit
Raspberries, blackberries and peaches all work. Cook rhubarb with sugar first — raw it is too firm and sharp.
Salvaged meringues
This is the perfect use for cracked meringue discs or meringues made from leftover whites. Appearance is irrelevant here.
