Now, let’s clear this. Sometimes it’s not necessary to spend time making an impressive dessert when your organs urgently shiver demanding a sugar shot.
even if you are looking forward to your guests with unstinting enthusiasm, you may suddenly think that a chapter devoted to making dessert after preparing a good night dinner is going to complicate your life.
But no, it’s precisely intended to make it easier.
The name eton mess does’nt mean mess as not good, it’s an accidental creation of a dessert. That has been told that the name came when Eton college player crushed a picnic basket filled with cream, meringue, and struaberry sauce, those ingredient came together in a complimentary messy dessert.
Eton Mess is a lightly sweet, old-fashioned British dessert made by blending whipped cream with freshly crushed berries and crisp meringue. It’s simple and convenient dessert that you can do the ingredient a time ahead, then assemble once you want to serve. And to make it more easy and fast preparing dessert you may use store-bought meringues instead of homemade.
The most challengeable step in making eton mess is making the meringue. The key to making meringue cookies is beating the egg whites. Here are some tips on the best way to achieve a good meringue cookies:
1. Start with egg whites at room temperature.
2. Be sure the bowl and beaters are spotlessly clean, especially from oil. Clean the bowl occasionally with lemon juice or white vinegar to prevent any film of oil from developing on the surface.
3. Do not use aluminum or plastic bowls.
4. Be sure the eggs are at the soft peak stage before adding sugar. And be sure the egg whites look white, not yellow. At the soft peak stage, egg whites are shiny and when you lift the beater, the whites lift up and then rather gracefully curve over slightly
5. Do not beat the eggs too quickly. This may be the most common mistake, and the one that causes meringues to deflate. When you whip whites at a high speed, both large and small air bubbles form and the large ones burst‚ which causes flattening.
6. Meringues crack when they cool too quickly. Leave them in the oven after baking (with the oven turned off) to slow the cooling process and help avoid the cracks
Meringue Cookies:
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup superfine or caster sugar (if you don’t have superfine sugar simply take granulated white sugar and process it for about 30 seconds in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (105 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of your oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks.
Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla extract. (Note: The meringue is done when it holds stiff peaks and when you rub a little between your thumb and index finger it does not feel gritty. If it feels gritty the sugar has not fully dissolved so keep beating until it feels smooth between your fingers.)
Before placing the cookies on the cookie sheet, place a little of the meringue on the underside of each corner of the parchment paper. This will prevent the paper from sliding. Then, using two spoons or decoration bag, place 10 equal sized mounds of meringue onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet from front to back (about half way through) to ensure even baking. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and fairly crisp. Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying overnight.
Meringue Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for several days.
Mascarponi Cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1/2 cup mascarponi cheese at room temperature
In a large mixing bowl place the whipping cream, mascarponi, vanilla extract, and sugar and stir to combine. Cover and chill the bowl and wire whisk in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. When chilled, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form. If not using right away, cover and place in the refrigerator. (The whipped cream can be made several hours in advance.)
berry Sauce:
1 cup fresh strawberries
1 cup mixwd berry fresh or frozen (raspberry, blueberry, blackberry)
4 tablespoons granulated white sugar, or to taste
Place about one third of the strawberries in your food processor and process until just pureed. Alternatively, you can crush them with a potato masher or fork. Add the frozen berry mix along with pureed strauberry in a pot at low heat. Sprinkle the granulated white sugar over the berries, stir to combine and cook for 15 minutes. Cut the rest of the strawberries into bite size pieces and add to the cooked berries.(can be made about one hour before assembling the Eton Mess).
To assemble the Eton Mess: Break meringue cookies into bite size pieces. Then fold the strawberries and meringue cookies into the whipped cream. Place in pretty dessert bowls or long stemmed glasses. Serve immediately.
