Eton Mess with a French Twist

Since purchasing my Kenwood Chef, (yes, I know I've been mentioning it a lot, but it's my newest and most treasured possession!) I have wanted to try out meringues, specifically to make Eton Mess. I decided to add one of my favourite liqueurs, to give it that extra 'je ne sais quoi' and Creme de Cassis does just that. Married with the fact that it adds to an intense berry flavour through the dessert, the cute pink shade of the cream is just lovely. This would make a great dinner party dessert. It's light, yet really sweet and tasty and once you've your meringues made, it's a doddle to prepare! I adapted my meringue recipe from one of the culinary goddesses, Delia's recipe, on her website, which can be found here. Using all of the meringues, this would easily serve 8 people, but my recipe is to serve 4 people, so you can hold onto and store your leftover meringues for future sweet occasions.

Ingredients:
Meringues -

• 175g caster sugar
• 3 large egg whites (very fresh and free-range if possible)
• Half tsp. vinegar

Cream mix -

• 200g cream
• 2 tbsp. Creme de Cassis
• About 10 medium sized strawberries
• A handful of other berries (I used blackberries and blueberries)
• 1 tbsp. icing sugar

Method:

1. It's best to make the meringue in advance, that morning or even the day before.
2. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C/300 F/gas mark 2 and cover a flat baking tray with baking parchment.
3. Add 3 eggs whites into a spotlessly clean bowl and whisk well until they change to a pale white colour.
4. Pour in the caster sugar, one tablespoon at a time, followed by the drop of vinegar, and continue to whisk, until your reach a consistency of stiff peaks, just as my photo below should demonstrate.

   

   Check out the new shiny appliance!

5. Using a tablespoon, spoon out even rounds of meringue onto the baking tray. You can make these as pretty as you like, if you are planning on using some for mini pavlovas let's say, or as simple as you like, if you'll be bashing and breaking them all to smithereens for Eton Mess!

   

   My mixture made 9 large tablespoon rounds of meringue

6. Pop into the oven and bring the temperature down to 140 degrees C/275 F/gas mark 1.
7. Bake for one hour, after which time, turn off the oven, leaving them inside and allowing them to cool completely.
8. Now to assemble the Eton Mess... 
9. Pour your cream and Creme de Cassis into a large bowl and sieve in the icing sugar. Whip well until you get a nice thickish consistency.
10. Hull and chop strawberries and add a little over half of all your berries into the mixture. Stir together.
11. Break 5 meringues into the mixture and stir once more.
12. To serve the Eton Mess, add a little mixture to your glass or bowl, followed by some more fresh berries, and top again with the meringue and cream mix. Finish with extra berries and a light dusting of icing sugar and enjoy!

    

    I love Eton Mess 'berry' much indeed!