Recipe: Sandra Herbert’s Eton Mess

June 8th, 2012

Published June 19, 2012

Sandra Herbert makes a range of traditional jams – branded Sandra’s Jams – using fruit grown on her farm. They are sold at farm shops throughout the region and also at Whetstone Pastures Farm, Whetstone, Leicestershire.

Here’s Sandra’s take on Eton Mess…

Serves 4
* 300ml whipping cream
* 1 tbsp fine sugar
* 100g ready-made meringue
* 450g fresh strawberries
* 1 tbsp icing sugar
* 1 tbsp Cointreau (optional)

1 Lace the whipping cream in a large mixing bowl, add sugar and whip until light and fluffy. Do not over whip – the success of Eton Mess depends on softly whipped cream.

2 Break the meringue into large, bite-size chucks and gently stir into the whipped cream. Don’t worry if some of the meringue crumbles – add this too.

3 Set aside a good number of strawberries and place the rest of the berries into another large mixing bowl. Press with the back of a fork to break them up and release some juice. Stir gently into the cream.

4 Halve, then quarter the remaining strawberries.

5 Place the cream mixture into a 7-inch glass serving dish, top with the strawberry pieces, chill for 30 minutes in the fridge and sprinkle with the icing sugar before serving. You can spice things up by adding a bit of Cointreau!