Every morning my daughters are up at the crack of dawn filled with excitement of the day to come. After their breakfast they head into their bedrooms to begin ‘getting dressed’. This is a very important part of their morning ritual and it is also very serious business. Eventually they will come out donning a concoction of clothes that should make them look like very badly (or madly) dressed little girls. There are skirts under dresses with jeans under the skirts, there are prints, plaids, florals in all the hues you can imagine from a dusty pinks to vibrant blues and vivid oranges, hats at skittish angles, brooches pinned and scarves wrapped randomly – there are no rules.
The funny thing is that even though they should technically look so mismatched, they don’t. They look beautiful. Everything that is so haphazard and chaotic about their outfits somehow works and I see these two gorgeous little girls who take my breath away.
Now talking of jumbled – here we have a dessert or pudding that is equally so, and much like my daughters – just beautiful. It’s called the Eton Mess and it originates from Eton College, England, circa around 1930. It consists of meringue, strawberries and whipped cream – so it’s very hard not to like. I can only wonder how a dessert like this came about but that is probably over thinking it considering it is basically a glorious mess of three very nice ingredients that taste luscious together and compliment each other so well.
I am tempted to take a leaf out of my daughters ‘how to dress’ book. To throw caution into the wind – along with my blacks and beiges. To wear an entire outfit that pops rather than just a scarf or a pair of shoes. So if you see spectacularly mad looking woman wandering through the streets of New York with two little girls in tow, give her a smile – there is a chance it could be me.
500 grams/1.1 pounds strawberries
Scraped seeds of ¼ vanilla bean
40 mls vodka
1 ½ tablespoons caster sugar
500 mls (2 cups) thickened cream
2 tablespoons white sugar
Meringue
6 egg whites
A pinch of salt
375 grams/13 ounces castor sugar
3 teaspoons cornflour
1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
few drops of vanilla extract
Meringue
Preheat over to 150C.
Beat egg whites & salt until satiny peaks form and then beat in sugar, a third at a time, until stiff and shiny. Sprinkle in corn flour, vinegar and vanilla and fold lightly. Spoon 6 equal mounds onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. They should roughly be the size of a large orange.
Place in the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 120c. Bake until hard on the outside and soft on the inside – around 30 – 40 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature and break into big chunks.
Strawberries
Puree half the strawberries in a blender, add the vanilla bean seeds, lemon rind and juice, vodka and caster sugar. Transfer to a bowl and add the remaining strawberries and refrigerate to allow flavours to combine – 1 – 2 hours.
Cream
Whisk the cream and white sugar in a bowl until soft peak form – around 4 to 5 minutes).
Assembly
So this is where the fun begins – assembling the Eton Mess. The best thing to know here is that you cannot mess it up. I opt for layers of crumbled meringue, cream and then berries, and I fold it a couple of times – just so it’s slightly combined. You can serve it in 6 individual bowls or 1 big bowl.
Source: Meringue adapted from Stephanie Alexanders Cooks Companion, Strawberry marinade from April Bloomfield, of The Spotted Pig and The Breslin in New York.
Notes: The Eton Mess is one dessert I am sure many people will want to add too, whether it be a different berry or perhaps icecream in addition to the cream. But whatever you do, do NOT skimp on the vodka – it brings out the flavour of the strawberries!
© 2010, Michelle. All rights reserved.
