Eton mess recipe

I’m not a huge cream lover, but that goes out of the window when meringues are involved. I like my Eton mess a little less sweet, and use yogurt to lighten it, and believe it or not, it works fabulously with frozen fruit too.

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes, plus cooling time

SERVES

Six

INGREDIENTS

• 300g mixed berries, frozen if fresh not available
• 180g caster sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• 400ml double cream
• 300g Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas mark 1 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Hull the berries and roughly chop, if fresh (leave whole if frozen) and place in a mixing bowl. Spoon over 20g of the caster sugar, mix together and leave to one side for 30 minutes.
3. Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. With the mixer still running, slowly spoon in the remaining caster sugar until all incorporated. Whisk on a high speed for 5 minutes, until stiff and glossy. With a spoon, add a couple of tablespoons of the juices from the berry bowl and gently stir through to create a ripple, then spoon the meringue mixture onto the lined baking tray to create four rounds. Don’t make them too domed or they will take too long to cook. Bake for 1½ hours, until cooked through, then turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there to cool down with the door closed. Transfer the bowl of berries to the fridge while they are cooking.
4. When meringues are completely cool, place the double cream in a large mixing bowl and whisk until you have soft peaks. Fold in the Greek yogurt and vanilla, then ripple in the macerated fruit. Crush in the meringues just before serving and gently fold all together. Serve straight away.