Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Eton Mess Recipe



Suddenly, in the midst of summer (when all sane people should be relaxing either on the beach or at their summer cottage on the countryside), I'm too busy to even blog properly. I'd love to tell you all about my trip to the USA (in May/June!), our fabulous meal at El Bulli (in April!!) or about those 1,5 kilos of wild strawberries we picked and turned into jam (last weekend). But not yet..

However.. Tonight we had some very dear friends visiting from Sweden. Eva and Arne are a couple in their early 70s, and we have known each other since 1990. Every few years they take their small motorboat to Estonia to visit my parents and the country they've come to love. As we hadn't seen for a few years, I invited them, my parents and my sister's family over for dinner tonight. I needed a quick and non-elaborate dessert idea, and as strawberries are still very much in season here, I decided to make Eton Mess.

I know you don't need a recipe, but just in case you do, here it is :)

Eton Mess
(Eton Mess e. inglise maasikadessert beseeküpsistega)
Serves 4, can be easily doubled

200 ml whipping cream
1 Tbsp sugar
250 grams strawberries
50 grams small meringue cookies
fresh mint, to garnish

Whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form.
Clean the strawberries and cut into smaller pieces, if necessary.
Layer strawberries, meringues and whipped cream into a large serving bowl or into individual glasses.
Garnish with chopped fresh mint and serve.

18 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

What's better than a simple, classic dessert that doesn't need to baked on a hot summer day? Delicious!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it funny that something called a 'mess' can look so beautiful?!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

a classic for sure and you make it look beautiful!

Y said...

Can't believe I've never had Eton Mess before. That's one of the prettiest versions I've ever seen.

lobstersquad said...

I had some strawberries in Aranjuez a couple of weeks back, just picked. They reminded me of that fabulous jam of yours.

Coffee and Vanilla said...

Delicious! Cream, strawberries, mint! :) I made strawberry cake recently with cream and mint, it was really nice...
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=2676
I did read recently in one cookbook about strawberries with cream and meringues and was thinking to make it. Now after I see it on your blog I have to try it!! :)

Have a good day, Margot

Patricia Scarpin said...

I agree! And the idea of adding fresh mint sounds amazing, Pille!

Mariajaan said...

Me too, too busy but still stopping by and reading your posts. This recipe is something I will be trying this weekend for sure. Meringues...where to get them from? I have never purchased them.

Anonymous said...

eton mess is beautiful in the summer! it's so light and tasty and OH. so good.
you're a genius for adding mint. why did i never think of doing that?!

this is so pretty..x

Clivia said...

oooh, that looks exactly like marängswiss as we Swedes call it, but witout the chocolate sauce...

Andrew said...

do you know, I don't think I have ever had Eton mess!

Sarah at Cocoa Bean said...

Someone on our blog, linked from www.cocoabeanchocolates.com, told us about your blog. Thank goodness! we have friends coming for dinner and I am n charge of pudding. Been lookng at recipes all morning and now I have the perfect excuse to spend afternoon fruit picking with the girls instead of making pastry! Eton Mess it is!

Anonymous said...

I have a feeling that everyone enjoyed dinner, including their dessert. ;-) By the way, have you received any of my emails? Just curious.

Paz

Hilda said...

Congratulations for your marvellous sites...
it´s a pitty I forguet nearly all my english.
I think I´m gonna study again to read your recipes.
Kisses from Spain

Hilda

Jeanne said...

Oh, how lovely! I made this last summer :
http://www.cooksister.com/2007/10/eton-mess---the.html

Love the addition of mint in yours though. And tell me about being too busy... My list of "yet to be blogged" meals and recipes just keeps growing and I just seem to have less and less time. You don't want to KNOW how many posts are in my Google reader either!

So, dear Pille, you are not alone :)

maybelles mom said...

such heaven.

Laura said...

Can I ask what meringue cookies are? My first thought (I'm from the U.S.) was of "Nilla Wafers" but as those are no-where near meringue I'm stumped. Are they like divinity, or perhaps macarons?
Thanks! Beautiful blog!

Pille said...

Lydia - I agree :) This has been very popular among my Estonian friends, too!

Alanna - :D

lobstersquad - I take it as a compliment :)

Coffee and Vanilla - quite a delicious combination indeed!

Patricia Scarpin - I did think it improved things indeed!

Mariajaan - thank you!! I got small meringues from a supermarket - try the sweets/cookies aisle.

diva - it may have had something to do with that big bunch of mint I had on a windowsill (plus thinking of 'mmm, how to brighten up that photo?')

Clivia - so marängswiss would be cream, strawberries, meringues and chocolate sauce?

Andrew - that's outrageous!! :D

Sarah at Cocoa Bean - welcome to Nami-nami!

Paz - they did indeed ;)

Jeanne - a classic Eton Mess remains the classic! (PS So glad to know that I'm not the only one NOT on top of my blogging!)

Laura - meringue cookies are small cookies made of eggwhites and sugar (whipped until thick) and baked in a very low oven, until they're dry, but still white. So they're neither divinity not macarons (though these might work, too). (Just checked Epicurious - they've got plenty of meringue recipes, so I suspect they're not just like that in the US, too).

Meeta, Y, Hilda, maybelles parents - thank you for popping by and commenting!