Cherry Eton Mess
Easy
Crumbled vanilla meringue, stewed and puréed cherries folded into whipped cream and served with grated dark chocolate – simply divine.
Cherry Eton Mess
Easy
Introduction
Crumbled vanilla meringue, stewed and puréed cherries folded into whipped cream and served with grated dark chocolate – simply divine.
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites
- 175g caster sugar
- Seeds from 1 vanilla pod
- 60ml water
- 2 tbsp kirsch liqueur
- 50g caster sugar
- Reserved vanilla pod
- 500g fresh cherries, rinsed and pitted
- 500ml double cream
- 25g good quality dark chocolate, grated
FOR THE MERINGUE:
FOR THE CHERRIES:
FOR ASSEMBLY:
Method
- 1. <h5>For the meringue:<h5>
- 2. Preheat oven to 140°C/275°F/gas 1 and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
- 3. Whisk egg whites on medium speed in a large grease free bowl until frothy. Still whisking, slowly add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time. Increase speed to high, add vanilla seeds, and whisk until meringue is smooth and glossy and all the sugar has dissolved.
- 4. Drop 8 mounds of meringue on to prepared baking trays and flatten the tops with the back of a spoon. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off oven and leave meringues to dry out with oven door closed until oven is completely cold, ideally overnight.
- 5. <h5>For the cherries:<h5>
- 6. Combine the water, kirsch, sugar and vanilla pod in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil then add cherries and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cherries with a slotted spoon and set aside. Continue to boil liquid until reduced by half. Remove from heat and leave both cherries and syrup to cool completely. Discard vanilla pod once cool.
- 7. <h5>To assemble dessert:<h5>
- 8. Purée half of the cherries with the syrup. Set aside.
- 9. In a large bowl, lightly beat double cream with a whisk or electric mixer until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat.
- 10. In a large bowl, crumble half of the meringue, then top with half of the cream, cherries and purée. Layer with the remaining broken meringue, cream, cherries and purée then use a large spoon to lightly fold the mixture about 5 times, just enough to mix the cream into the ingredients but still maintain streaks of white.
- 11. Serve immediately with a sprinkling of grated dark chocolate. Components can be prepared ahead of time, but dessert should be assembled just before serving so that the meringue remains crisp.
