Thanks to Chef Hugo Matheson, one of the restaurant’s co-founders and a British immigrant, we’ve had some version of Eton Mess, a popular British dessert, on the menu for years. It is an easy crowd-pleaser when you cook for your community. Make the meringues ahead of time. Then, to serve, all you need to do is whip the cream and put it all together.
- 1 cup heavy cream, well chilled
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- About 30 small classic vanilla meringues (recipe follows)
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
Add the vanilla paste or extract, whip again to combine, and continue to whip until it forms medium peaks, being careful to not over-whip. Keep the cream chilled until you’re ready to assemble your final product.
Classic Vanilla Meringues
Meringue is a key ingredient in our Eton Mess recipe, but it’s also so versatile and easy to make that mastering this technique opens up a world of options. You can use meringue as a topping to turn fresh fruit into a fancy dessert or to dress up a pudding or cake. Shape them into individual shells to hold custard or fruit. Or, serve them on their own any time you’d serve cookies—as a light, crisp sweet to enjoy anytime.- 6 large egg whites
- 1 3/4 cup (350 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
Start by separating the egg whites into a clean, dry stainless steel bowl that will fit nicely over a small saucepan. Be sure your whites are free of even a speck of shell or yolk. Once you’ve separated the eggs, mix in the sugar.
Next, fill the saucepan halfway full of water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, set the bowl with the egg white mixture over it like a double boiler, then reduce the heat to medium so that it remains at a consistent simmer.
Whisk the egg white mixture over the heat, stirring constantly but not vigorously, until the mixture comes to 165°F.
As soon as the egg white mixture reaches 165°F, remove from the heat and carefully transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until the meringue is glossy and very fluffy and the mixing bowl is no longer hot to the touch, about 5 to 8 minutes.
Next, pour in the vanilla extract or paste and whip on high speed until just combined.
Transfer the meringue to a piping bag. You don’t really need a piping tip for this step, but if you’d like to get fancy, choose one of your liking. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use instead a large zip-top bag with one bottom corner snipped off.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pipe the meringue into little mounds about the size of a quarter, or larger if you like—this is definitely a choose-your-own-adventure dessert.
Continue to pipe until all the meringue batter is used up. They won’t spread in the oven, so you can position the individual pieces quite close together.
Bake for 1 to 2 hours, until the meringues are dry to the touch. Turn off the oven but don’t remove the pan until the meringues are fully cooled. Meringues will last for up to 2 weeks (less when it’s humid out) in a tightly covered container stored in a cool, dry place.
