Beyond Our Sky

Eton Mess

Eton mess is the combination of crushed meringue, whipped cream and seasonal fruit resulting in a beautiful myriad of textures and flavours. It is essentially a deconstructed pavlova.


This dessert can easily be customised to suit your preferences, but I like to serve it with lemon curd, raspberry coulis, fresh strawberries and blueberries. Since the meringue is already quite sweet, it is important to balance that sweetness with more tart elements. For this reason, I do not add sugar in the whipped cream and add a small amount of sugar in the coulis.

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you decide to make it!

 

Eton Mess 

Serves 6-8

Meringue

  • 4 large egg whites, room temperature (reserve egg yolks for lemon curd)
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornflour, sifted
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Line two baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Using an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed. Gradually increase the speed until soft peaks form.
  3. Very gradually add the sugar, a teaspoon at a time, whilst beating on medium speed.
  4. Once all the sugar is added, beat on high speed for 5-7 minutes until stiff peaks form and sugar has dissolved.
  5. Add the sifted cornflour, vinegar and vanilla bean paste. Gently fold until thoroughly combined.
  6. Spoon large dollops of mixture onto the lined baking trays. Place into preheated oven (on bottom rack) and reduce oven temperature to 120°C. Bake for 60 minutes.
  7. Turn oven off. Leave pavlova meringues in the oven with door ajar to cool completely.
  8. Meringues can be stored in an air tight container for up to 5 days until ready to serve.

Lemon Curd

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 90g caster sugar
  • Zest and juice of 2 small lemons
  • 80g butter, cold and cubed
  1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until thickened, about 5-8 minutes.
  2. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until it has melted. Transfer into a jar or bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate to cool completely.

Raspberry Coulis

  • 200g frozen raspberries (or fresh)
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  1. In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until raspberries have softened and broken down, about 6-8 minutes.
  2. Strain coulis into a bowl, discarding seeds, and refrigerate to cool completely.

Assembly

  • 300g thickened cream
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • Fresh strawberries
  • Fresh blueberries
  • Chopped pistachios (optional)
  1. In a medium bowl, whip cream and vanilla bean paste to medium-stiff peaks.
  2. On serving plates, spread a generous amount of whipped cream and roughly crumble the meringue on top (you want a mixture of large and small chunks). Spoon the lemon curd and raspberry coulis onto the meringue, and scatter the strawberries, blueberries and pistachios on top of this. Serve and enjoy!