Mini Strawberry Eton Mess Food

STRAWBERRY ETON MESS

Steps:

• Transfer the meringue cookies to a large, resealable plastic bag. Use a rolling pin to lightly crush the cookies. (You should have pieces of varying sizes.)
• Trim the berries, discarding the greens. Halve or quarter 1 pound of the strawberries; add to a medium bowl. Blend or mash the remaining 1/2 pound strawberries until you have a chunky purée. Add the strawberry purée, lime zest, lime juice and 2 to 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar to the chopped strawberries and toss to coat. (The better the strawberries, the less sugar you'll need.)
• In a large bowl, beat the cream with 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high until whipped cream holds stiff peaks. Fold the crumbled meringue into the whipped cream.
• Starting and ending with the strawberry mixture, layer it with the cream mixture in individual serving dishes (preferably clear cups, bowls or jars), creating as many layers as you like. Serve immediately.

ETON MESS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas 1 and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl using an electric whisk or tabletop mixer until they reach stiff peaks, then add the sugar in 3 lots, re-whisking to stiff peaks every time. Spoon dollops of the mixture onto the baking parchment, cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for 1hr - 1hr15 mins until the meringues are completely hard and come off the paper easily. Leave to cool.
• Blitz 1/3 of the strawberries to make a strawberry sauce. In a large bowl whisk the cream with the icing sugar until it just holds its shape. Roughly crush ¾ of the meringues and tip them in with the chopped strawberries and stir, then swirl through the strawberry sauce. Dollop into bowls then crush the remaining meringues, sprinkling the pieces over the top.

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ETON MESS

Steps:

• Whisk the double cream and cream cheese to soft peaks. Hull the strawberries, then roughly chop half and quarter the rest. Blitz the chopped berries and icing sugar until smooth, then fold through the cream. Layer the strawberry cream into dessert glasses with the quartered berries, crushed meringue nests and crumbled gingernut biscuits and serve.

STRAWBERRY ROSE ETON MESS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, break up the meringues into bite-size pieces.
• Whip the cream until it holds its shape, but take care not to over-beat, then whisk in the rose water.
• Just before serving, fold the crushed meringue and cream together. Stir through the strawberries, leaving a few to garnish. Alternatively, make layers of meringue mixture and strawberries in a tall glass bowl or in individual tall wine or dessert glasses. Finish with rose petals scattered on top, if you like.

ETON MESS TRIFLE

Steps:

• First make the coulis. Put all the ingredients in a pan, bring to a simmer and bubble for a few mins until the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries have started to soften. Remove the vanilla pod and tip the strawberries into a blender or food processor. Whizz until smooth, then sieve into a bowl to remove the seeds. Leave to cool.
• You'll need a large trifle bowl or shallow dish to assemble the trifle. Arrange the Swiss roll slices on the sides and bottom of the bowl and drizzle over about 4 tbsp of the coulis. Cut enough strawberries in half to line the edge of the bowl and place them, cut-side facing out, on top of the Swiss roll layer. Save about 8 nice strawberries for the top of the trifle, slice the remaining ones and mix with 2 tbsp of the coulis.
• Add the vanilla seeds and icing sugar to the cream and softly whip. Fold in the yogurt and ripple through the strawberry coulis. Tip half the cream into the trifle bowl, add the sliced strawberries, then half the meringues. Spoon in the remaining cream. Slice the remaining strawberries into halves or quarters and pop these on top with the remaining meringues and the flaked almonds. Serve immediately, before the meringues start to dissolve.