This Eton Mess with rasperries, blacberries, and raspberry jam is a tasty take on the famous parfait named after prestigious English boarding school. It's a tasty mash up of berries, whipped cream, and meringue.
Evidently, it is served at an annual cricket match!
This is my take on the summer fruit dessert that is traditionally strawberries, sweetened whipped cream, and crushed meringue cookies. It's so easy to put together and a great way to dress up summer berries.
Plus, to make it even easier, you can either assemble it in individual glasses or even a trifle dish.
I've always been intrigued by boarding schools. As a kid, I kind of wanted to go to one! It seemed like an opportunity to reinvent myself. Maybe it was my love of the Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy-Tacy) books or even of the Eloise at the Plaza books.
Additionally, as a college student, I had many friends who had gone to exclusive boarding schools in high school. They had seemed to have grown up in a mysterious and rarified world.
At one point in my life, I was a teacher at an exclusive private high school, and several of my students had spent time in boarding schools, including in Europe. It was fascinating.
Once I had children of my own, I totally couldn't understand how parents could send their kids to boarding school (although sending them off to college was joyful).
Instead of sending your kids to boarding school, just make them this Eton mess! And introduce them to cricket!
Ingredients in This Eton Mess:
Berries: The traditional Eton mess is made with strawberries, but a combination of blackberries and raspberries, and/or blueberries would work well too. I also added a few tablespoons of rasperry jam.
To Macerate the Berries: Lemon or orange zest, and sugar.
For the Whipped Cream: Heavy cream, vanilla extract, and confectioner's sugar. You could also add some crumbled freeze dried fruit to the whipped cream along with a bit of your favorite liqueur (for the grown ups).
Meringue Cookies: You can either purchase meringue cookies or make your own. If you exclude the espresso powder, these meringue cookies would work just fine. If you've had a macaron cookie fail (and who hasn't?), you can use the cracked cookies to make an Eton Mess.
I actually used crumbled leftover Pavlova from an amazing cake I had made that we couldn't finish.
Process:
To macerate the fruit, mix it with a little bit of sugar and lemon zest and let it sit. Be sure to set aside a few berries for topping the dessert. Once the berries have started to let off some of their juices, add a tablespoon or two of jam.
Next, prepare the whipped cream by beating it to soft peaks and adding confectioner's sugar and pure vanilla extract. You could also add some liqueur such as kirsch, creme de cassis, or Chambord. Even Domain de Canton (a ginger liqueur) would be interesting.
After that, crumble the meringue cookies, either in a ziplock bag or with your hands.
Finally, layer the ingredients in individual glasses or a trifle dish, beginning with the fruit mixture, the whipped cream, and the crushed meringue. Repeat two more times, topping with the reserved fresh fruit.
Make ahead: You can make the separate components up to a day in advance and then assemble them right before serving.
This week, the Sunday Funday group is sharing recipes for Parfaits. I'm excited to try everyone's recipes!
An Eton Mess is essentially a parfait.Parfait Recipes:
- Rhubarb Breakfast Parfait from Amy's Cooking Adventures
- Red Velvet Parfait from Sneha's Recipe
- Figgy Breakfast Parfaits from Food Lust People Love
- Eton Mess from Karen's Kitchen Stories
- Peaches & Cream Parfait from Mayuri's Jikoni
- Savory Chickpea Avocado Lunch Parfait from Cook with Renu
Eton Mess with Raspberries, Blackberries, and Jam
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh fruit, such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries, plus about 1/3 pound of berries to set aside for topping.
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest
- 3 tablespoons raspberry, strawberry, or blackberry jam
- 7 ounces (200 grams) meringue cookies
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, stir together the berries, sugar, and zest. Stir in the jam and set aside. Place the reserved berries in a small bowl.
- Place the meringue cookies into a ziplok bag and break into about about 1 inch pieces.
- In a medium bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the whipped cream to soft peaks. Sift in the powdered sugar, add the vanilla and salt, and beat to bring back to soft peaks.
- Layer the ingredients into 6 parfait glasses, or a trifle dish, beginning with the berry jam mixture, the whipped cream, and the meringue. Repeat two more times. Top with fresh berries.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to an hour to let the flavors meld.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
482Fat (grams)
31 gSat. Fat (grams)
16 gCarbs (grams)
49 gFiber (grams)
5 gNet carbs
44 gSugar (grams)
28 gProtein (grams)
5 gCholesterol (grams)
67 mg
