Take the classic Eton Mess to another level. This Eton Mess Stack is made with meringue kisses, juicy berries, whipped cream and a sprinkling of gold dust.
Making meringue with the Meringue Girls
I have been so excited about sharing this post and annoyed at how long its taken me to write up but the crazy heat the last few weeks has just knocked me for six. I am a real English rose and when the sun comes out so does the big floppy sun hat, sunglasses, factor 50 sun tan cream and glass after glass of ice cold water. Otherwise I will wilt!
2 weeks ago, on a particularly hot Thursday evening I found myself on a bus out to Hackney where I met up with a few fellow bloggers, the lovely ladies from BerryWorld and the Meringue Girls.
Over the course of the evening we made our meringue kisses from scratch before creating beautiful towers of crispy meringue, rich whipped cream, lashings of raspberry coulis and finished off with luscious fresh berries.
The Meringue Girls
I love, love, love the Meringue Girls. I first came across them at a Tate and Lyle show YEARS ago. I quickly booked myself on to one of their courses (read the review here) and have been making meringue kisses regularly ever since (check out this festive version).
Their bakery in Hackney is tucked away behind a row of coffee shops and restaurants and is absolutely tiny. It was a bit of a tight squeeze with all of us bloggers but we buddied up so that there were two of us to a work station.
All of their appliances are Smeg (very jealous!!!) and in beautiful pastel shades. I swear their kitchen was built to be as Instagramable as possible.
We were given a quick lesson in making the meringues and we soon got to work, whisking our egg whites, adding the warm sugar, painting our piping bags and finally forming our meringue kisses on our silicone baking sheets.
I had had a glass or two (or maybe 3...) of prosecco by this point so my piping could have been a little neater...
BerryWorld
As some of you know, Jon and I are doing our best to grow as much fruit and veg as we possibly can in our back garden. We've had tonnes of raspberries but unfortunately we had just one sad lonely strawberry this year and our blueberries were eaten by the squirrels before we could harvest them! Perhaps we will have better luck next year...
So, even we have to buy berries from time to time! Especially with Wimbledon well underway we are going to need a pretty regular supply of strawberries. That's where BerryWorld come in!
BerryWorld have been working hard to source the best berries around the world. They are not just trying to get berries on the shelf all year round, they want to make sure that we are getting, plump, juicy, tasty berries every time.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been disappointed by berries from the supermarket that quite frankly taste of nothing! Well...after eating my way through roughly half of a 12 punnet goody bag from Berry World I can safely say there's not been one bad berry in the lot!
There were a few giggles on the night when we saw how big the blackberries are, but they really do produce some pretty big berries. Perfect for snacking on, baking with, or adding to desserts this summer and all year round.
The recipe
You're probably more than familiar with eton mess. Eton mess is a traditional English dessert made with strawberries, broken meringue, and whipped cream.
According to Wikipedia (the source of all knowledge...) the dessert was first mentioned in print in 1893, and is thought to originate from Eton College. That would explain the name now wouldn't it...
This recipe is a twist on that classic. Instead of crushing a large meringue we used meringue kisses. As well as whipped creamy we used a variety of different berries (though I crowned mine with a strawberry in homage to the original recipe). we added some coulis too.
For extra berrytastic flavour these meringue kisses have also been flavoured with freeze dried raspberry. Yum! The gold dust is optional but really makes this one show stopping dessert!
Eton Mess Stack with Berry World and the Meringue Girls
Equipment
- Piping bag with round nozzle
Ingredients
- 300 g caster sugar
- 150 g egg whites roughly 5 medium eggs
- 1 tablespoon freeze-dried raspberries powder
- pink food colouring
- 6 tablespoon raspberry coulis
- 300 ml whipping cream
- 250 g berries
- gold dust optional
Instructions
- Place the caster sugar into an oven dish and place into a hot oven (220C/200C) for roughly 5 minutes until the sugar is hot but not melted.
- Take the sugar out of the oven and immediately begin whisking the egg whites in a large bowl.
- Once the egg whites have formed stiff peaks, turn the whisk speed to maximum and begin adding the warm sugar one spoon at a time.
- Make sure that the egg whites are forming stiff peaks again before adding in the next spoon full.
- Once all of the sugar has been added to the mixture, whisk on high for another 5 minutes to ensure the egg whites are thick, firm and glossy.
- Gently fold in the freeze dried raspberry powder.
- Next, take your icing bag and paint stripes with the food colouring.
- Fill the piping bags with the meringue and cut a large opening (about 1 inch) at the bottom of the bag.
- Pipe a small amount of meringue in the corners of a large baking tray and then line the tray with grease proof paper (the little bit of meringue in each corner will help it stick).
- Begin piping the meringue kisses in the top left hand corner - hold the piping bag upright, squeeze gently and lift away as you stop applying pressure.
- Repeat over and over again until the whole baking sheet is covered and all the meringue used up.
- Cook the meringues in the centre of the oven for 30-45 minutes at 100C/80C or until the meringue kisses come off of the baking paper without leaving their bottoms behind.
- Allow to cool completely before assembly.
- Once the meringues have cooled down, whisk the cream until stiff.
- Use a little of the whipped cream to stick the meringues to a cake board forming a square or circle base.
- Add dollops of the whipped cream in between the gaps and drizzle with the coulis.
- Add a few berries to this bottom layer too before adding the next layer of meringue kisses.
- You want to build up your eton mess stack a bit like a pyramid with each layer getting smaller each time, always adding more cream, coulis and berries.
- To finish, add more berries and a sprinkling of gold dust.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
I had so much fun at the Meringue Girls and it was lovely to meet up with my blogging friends. Do make sure you go and check them out:
- Find Kevin at The Crafty Larder here.
- Anna (aka Fat Chick in the Big Smoke) shares amazing healthy recipes on her instagram.
- Mandy at Sneaky Veg posts here (warning you may be tricked into eating vegetables!)
- My baking buddy and supper club queen Toral is over at The Urban Kitchen.
Pin it for later!
Pretty simple right? This recipe is definitely one you will want to have in your recipe files. Add it to Pinterest now!
Amanda says
This is adorable! I've never tried to make meringue kisses, but I need to learn. This dessert is a showstopper for sure. I can see it, too, as the perfect ending to a romantic dinner!
Emma Walton says
They are a lot easier than you think. The key is low and slow! If you can lift them off your baking sheet with thie bottoms still in tact they are ready. Otherwise leave them in a little longer 🙂
Michelle | The Last Food Blog says
I really need to make this! I love meringue kisses and eton mess! That bakery looks amazing, what a great way to spend an evening 🙂
Sarah Newman says
I can't get over the fun and colorful presentation here! It reminds me of Willy Wonka, LOL! So beautiful!
Emma Walton says
Now you say it it makes me think of willy wonka too 😀
Kate | Veggie Desserts says
An Eton mess stack is a great idea! Looks like you had lots of fun with the Meringue Girls.
Emily C says
This looks incredible Emma! Gorgeous pictures too 🙂
Emma Walton says
Thanks m'dear!
Jeni @ Coquette Kitchen says
First - this is just gorgeous and I love it! My husband is from London, but I confess I've never had Eton Mess. It sounds lovely! We will be coming to London again in the fall to bring our bay over to meet the extended family, and I am going to have to check out the bakery! But I don't think I'll wait that long for Eton Mess bc this just looks too tasty!
Emma Walton says
Hi Jeni! I'm glad you like it! If you do need any other foodie recommendations while you're over here do let me know as I have TONNES! Though I'm sure your husband does too 😀 All the best x
Nadia says
I've never made meringue before and would love to learn how to make it!! The raspberry Eton Mess sounds and looks so good!
Michelle @ Greedy Gourmet says
Oh, how pretty! I recently published an Eton Mess but I can't compete with gold dust!
Emma Walton says
Do leave the link and I'll take a look 😀 I'm sure yours is beautiful too. You can't beat globs of thick whipped cream on delicate, meringue and squished fresh berries!
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
This is such a gorgeous dessert! This would be so perfect for summer! Love it!
Emma Walton says
Thanks Liz!
Jagruti says
The dessert looks great! Fingers crossed for some more warm weather!!
Emma Walton says
Thanks Jagruti! Its so hot but wet here right now :'( worst case scenario!
Jill says
This is such a beautiful dessert with the pretty meringues and gold dust. I did always wonder about Eton Mess and the story behind it. I live in the states so I've heard of it but never tried it. I need to!
Emma Walton says
Whether you try a classic version or this epic stack I know you'll love it!
Trang says
Your meringue kisses are perfectly formed with gorgeous color! I love freeze dried berries, they give such powerful flavor to dessert. I made meringue once, but still a bit intimidated by it. This looks so wonderful though that I think I must try making meringue again. 😉
Emma Walton says
Thanks Trang! I'll admit I'm still scared of making big meringue disks for desserts like pavlovas but these kisses are so easy and they look awesome! You should give them a try 🙂
Ginny says
Those strawberries look wonderful! Also freeze dried raspberry powder sounds very interesting. I have not used that before. Thanks for the fun recipe.
Emma Walton says
My pleasure Ginny. It's not something I use a lot but when I do I always wonder why not! It adds SO much flavour!
Emily says
I so want to make those meringues! They are so pretty as is this dessert, I can't wait to give it a go.
Emma Walton says
Would love to see pictures when you do! You can always tweet me @Supper_Suburbs!
Su {Ethan & Evelyn} says
OMG! You have the most gorgeous recipes in the world! I LOVE meringues. However, since I've found out that my girl had allergy to eggs - I haven't had one since. :'( Sob! I would still love to give this a try for my boy though. 🙂 x
Emma Walton says
Thanks Su! Egg allergy seems to be all the more common these days! Would be lovely if you could make them for your son 🙂