Eton Mess – The easiest summer recipe ever

Summer is here and the weather is getting warmer and stickier. Cooking large hot meals and homemade, time consuming puds, at this time of the year, is only for the hardy.

Many of us in summer are looking for light, simple and quick recipes to keep us satisfied during the next couple of months.

There are many easy summer pudding recipes using delicious fruits such as strawberries and raspberries. The choice is endless. Nothing beats the sheer simplicity and satisfying taste and texture combination of Eton Mess.

Eton mess is traditionally served at Eton college during their annual cricket battle with long time rivals Harrow.

The name Eton Mess as a dessert, has references that can be found well back into the 19th Century.

There is probably no easier dish to make than Eton mess which is more of a construction job than cooking, but nevertheless a beautiful dish, and many peoples favourite summer food.

Eton Mess Ingredients

1 punnet of fresh juicy strawberries.

A good sprinkle of sugar.

A dash of ruby port.

Good quality shop bought meringues, broken up.

Double cream, softly whipped.

How to make the easiest dessert ever

In a large bowl, slightly break up/mash the strawberries with the sugar and the ruby port.

Add the broken meringues and combine.

Finally fold in the whipped cream and you are done.

Pile the Eton Mess mixture high in your favourite dishes or dessert glasses.

Eton Mess Variations

There are many suggested variations for an Eton Mess recipe. Whether it remains an Eton Mess when the recipe changes or not is another thing, but many of the variations are equally delicious.

Try using raspberries as an alternative to strawberries, or have both for an extra summery taste.

Some time ago I followed the original recipe but added a large scoop of vanilla ice cream to the melee. This is my favourite way to eat this dessert by far.

Vanilla extract or essence can also be added to the cream before whipping.  The possibilities are endless.

Do you have a variation to this dessert you would like to share?