Every year on June 4th, Eton College, the private British high school for boys, serves something called Eton Mess. Eton Mess is a strawberry-and-whipped-cream dessert. It also includes meringues, broken up into the mix. Perhaps this is why they call it a “mess”.
If you’re not familiar with Eton College, you should be — at least, if you are an Anglophile.
Which I am. My favorite TV show of all time is Absolutely Fabulous, but of course I was raised on Monty Python. One of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen is Withnail & I. One of the funniest books I ever read was Bridget Jones. But my favorite author is, hands down, William Shakespeare.
But back to Eton. Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond series, attended Eton, as did Prince William and Prince Harry. Eton also spawned nineteen British Prime Ministers. Shakespeare in Love was also partially filmed at Eton.
I just had my first strawberries erupt in the backyard last week. The timing is perfect.
Time to celebrate Eton, celebrate England, and celebrate perfect spring strawberries, whilst enjoying a delicious and very traditional (not to mention healthy) British pudding.
Recipe Notes:
If you are on the GAPS or SCD diet, use date sugar for the sweetener and coconut milk instead of heavy cream. The date sugar will make the cream tan-colored instead of white, and the coconut milk won’t get quite as airy as the heavy cream, but it will still be delicious.
Eton Mess
Serves: 6
Ingredients
Palm or maple sugar — or substitute date sugar (1/2 cup + 1 TBS) — where to buy sweeteners
Eggs, ideally pastured, or free-range organic (3)
Strawberries, organic (1 pound)
Heavy cream, grass-fed, organic, raw if possible — or substitute coconut milk (1 pint) — where to buy coconut milk
Equipment
Baking tray, lined with aSilpat mator parchment paper
Food processor or blender
Cheeseclothor fine mesh strainer
Wire whisk or electric mixer
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Put the sugar in a food processor or clean coffee grinder and grind until it becomes a fine powder.
3. Place 1 tablespoon of the sugar in a bowl and set aside. Take the other 1/2 cup sugar and set it in another bowl.
4. Crack the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Place the whites in a large bowl (or use a stand mixer) and whisk until they form soft peaks.
5. From the bowl that has the 1/2 cup sugar in it, add about one tablespoon at a time, and continue to whisk until all of the sugar has been thoroughly whisked in.
6. Line the baking tray with a Silpat mat or parchment paper.
7. Take rounded teaspoonfuls of the mixture and place them in rows on the baking tray. Place the tray in the oven on the middle shelf, turn the heat down to 275 degrees F and let the meringues bake for 1 hour.
8. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven to dry out overnight, or until the oven is completely cold.
9. When you are ready to make the pudding, rinse and dry the strawberries. Set aside half of the strawberries in a bowl.
10. Take the other half of the strawberries, remove the stems, and place in a food processor or blender with the remaining 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar.
11. Blend to a puree, then pass strawberries through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer.
12. Chop the remaining strawberries coarsely and set aside.
13. Whip the cream with a wire whisk or electric mixer until soft peaks form.
14. Break the meringues into roughly 1-inch pieces, place them in a large mixing bowl, add the chopped strawberries, then fold in the whipped cream.
15. Next, gently fold in the strawberry puree, reserving 2 tablespoons, to give a marbled effect.
16. Divide the mixture among 6 serving bowls, or better yet, wine, martini, or margarita glasses. Spoon the rest of the strawberry puree over the surface of each and serve immediately.
Photo credit: tom_bennett on Flickr
Disclosure:cmp.ly/4 and cmp.ly/5
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Mmm – local ice cream parlor had an Eton mess sundae in honor of the wedding. Since they use all local ingredients (yay!), I indulged heavily.
Soo good!
Oh, how fabulous!
We had Sticky Toffee Pudding when we were in Amsterdam. It was INSANELY good! I was so stuffed I had them give it to me in a to go container and we stuck it in the minibar and ate the rest the next day!
The following is Totally Fabricated. by me:
One day at Eton, the cooks were making Pavlovas to celebrate…something. Then, the event got canceled. The cooks were so grumpy that their efforts had gone to waste, they just chucked the whole thing–cream, strawberries and all–into big old bowls and told the students to “-ave at it.” Voila: Eton mess
Good thing that happened too, such a light (seeiming), airy and summery dessert!
Haha cute!
Long before I discovered traditional foods, one of my fave Ben and Jerry’s flavors was Coll Britannia, which was strawberry ice cream, mixed in with chocolate covered shortbread cookies. Totally random, but this reminded me of that. lol
And I hear you on the anglophile thing. I make an event of watching the 6 hour BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, for which I always have a very British spread of tea, scones with raspberry jam and butter or clotted cream (if I can get my hands on it,) brie and other cheeses, and various finger sandwiches and other brit-munchies. In fact, I need to host another event soon. It’s about time.
Ahhhh! I forgot to mention that. LOVE Jane Austen!
That sounds SO fun!
I used to love those British digestives — McVities — with English Breakfast tea. But then I read what was in them and they are full of hydrogenated oils now. I’ll have to learn how to make them.
That version of Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. I had taped it off the tv originally and then my husband bought me the dvd set. I would watch it every summer, to the groans of my then young children!
Has anyone thought of adding angel food cake to the mix? I haven’t made this recipe yet but I can’t wait. Sounds delish!
Hi Cheeseslave,
I love the recipe! Is canned coconut milk safe? If so, which brand is best to use? Thanks!
While coconut milk is an incredibly healthy food, many brands use BPA in their cans. However, there are some more health conscious brands, such as Native Forest, that you can occasionally find in health food stores that do not.
Yes, Shamra is correct
Also, if you are on the GAPS diet, you need to look for coconut milk with NO additives.
That said, if you are on GAPS, it’s quite easy to make coconut milk at home — just add water to unsweetened shredded coconut, mix together on low to med heat in a sauce pan, then strain the milk. You can then use the coconut meat that’s leftover to make coconut flour – just dry it and put it in your food processor.
Thanks Shamra and Cheeseslave! Do I need to soak the unsweetened shredded coconut? I’ve read somewhere where Ramiel Nagel states that coconut flour needs to be soak due to having some phytic acid. Since coconut flour is formed from shredded coconut, wouldn’t the shredded coconut need to be soaked, as well?
I listened to a talk by Bruce Fife the guy who wrote “the coconut oil miracle” and he said that he does not believe that coconut flour needs to be soaked…but everyone has their differing opinions.
I just made this and it was really good! The only thing I changed was the strawberry puree; I added a bit of almond extract, and the three leftover egg yolks because I didn’t have ony other use for them.
My favorites are Never Mind the Buzzcocks, and the Vicar of Dibley – oh, and Top Gear’s pretty popular around our house too!
Monte Python!!!! I watched that in high school a bunch of times with my friends… my husband and I still quote that to each other sometimes…too funny.
I am printing this one out to try!
It’s awesome for me to have a website, which is beneficial for my experience. thanks admin|