Strawberry Eton Mess

Shop-bought meringue will work perfectly well if you don’t want to make your own

Meringue Ingredients

100g egg white

100g caster sugar

100g icing sugar

Method

Whisk egg whites and caster sugar together in an electric mixer until very stiff

Add the icing sugar and whisk again until stiff and glossy

Place into a piping bag and pipe 20p sized blobs on to a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper — if you don’t possess a piping bag, use 2 teaspoons to make the blobs but keep them small.

Cook at 100°c for 1½ — 2 hours, until completely cooked through

Leave to cool completely on the trays then place in a clean, dry plastic container with a lid. The meringue keeps for up to a week in a cool, dry place.

Chantilly Ingredients

200g cream

20g caster sugar

½ vanilla pod

Method

Scrape the seeds from the ½ vanilla pod into a large bowl, then add the cream and sugar.

Whisk together until the cream forms soft peaks- be careful not to over whip.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate until needed.

To assemble - Ingredients

500g strawberries

200g meringue

220g chantilly

Method

Wash and hull the strawberries then cut into quarters, or eighths if they are very large.

Sprinkle the strawberries with a light dusting of sugar, mix gently and leave to sit for 10 minutes.

To finish the dish, mix the strawberries (and their juice), the meringue and Chantilly together immediately prior to serving.

Variations

You can add a sprinkling of black pepper, pink peppercorns or even crushed, dried chillis to the meringue — a bit of spice really enhances the flavour of strawberries and the heat is a nice contrast to the fresh strawberries.

To make a Pavlova instead of Eton Mess, simply pipe or spread the meringue out into 2 large squares instead of blobs and bake for approximately 2 hours. Once the meringue is cooked and cooled, make the Chantilly as above but whip just ever so slightly stiffer. Prepare the strawberries as directed above, but reserve a couple to cut into slices for decorating the top of the Pavlova. Spread two thirds of the Chantilly over a square of meringue. Cover with the strawberries and their juice then place the second square on top.

Spread the rest of the Chantilly over the top then decorate with the slices of strawberry.

Add 6g of rosewater or elderflower cordial to the Chantilly before you begin to whip it to add a lovely floral note which really lifts the whole dish.