If you are looking for a delicious snack that you can enjoy at any time…
How to make meringues and Eton mess
There are times when cooking that a recipe will use only egg yolks. The egg whites sit sadly in a bowl and you wonder what to do with them. My son has a children’s cook book with a recipe that uses egg yolks. At the end of the recipe it says to give the egg whites to your mum who will know what to do with them. This always makes me laugh as I have no idea what to do with egg whites. I recently learnt how to make meringues.
After making raspberry ripple ice cream I was left with six egg whites. I used these to make meringues. Meringues are not something I have tried before as I always thought they were difficult to make. It turns out they are not that hard, they just involve lots of whisking. They are delicious sweet treats that are low in calories and definitely worth the effort to make.
How to make meringues
If you want to make meringues make sure you have an electric whisk or mixer. Mix the egg whites until they start to form soft peaks and turn a glossy white in colour. Add some sugar and continue to whisk until the mixture forms stiff peaks. It sounds simple but there is always a stage when you think they are never going to form peaks. Just as you start to give up hope the egg whites will transform.
To make the meringues the mixture has to be baked on a low temperature for two to three hours. You can choose to make one large meringue and use it as a base for a pavlova or make lots of small meringues. I put spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment and made 20 small meringues.
Eton Mess
Meringues are great as a sweet treat on their own but I used a couple of them to make Eton mess. I had some raspberry purée left over from making raspberry ripple ice cream. This was mixed with some whipped double cream and sprinkled with crumbled up meringue.
If you are watching your weight you could use Greek yoghurt instead of cream. It would also be nice with some fresh raspberries sprinkled into the mixture. Eton Mess is a simple and delicious dessert that looks as if you have spent ages making it. Perfect for impressing guests.
Eton Mess recipe
Eton mess
Ingredients
- For the meringues
- 6 egg whites
- 350 g caster sugar
- For the raspberry sauce
- 400 g raspberries
- 150 g sugar
- 330 ml double cream
Instructions
- To make the meringues
- Preheat the oven to 150C Gas Mark 2
- Put the egg whites in a bowl and whisk until they form soft peaks
- Add 100g of the sugar and keep whisking
- Add another 100g of the sugar a little at a time until the mixture forms stiff peaks
- Fold in the remaining sugar
- Place spoonfuls of the mixture on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Decrease the oven to 110C Gas Mark ¼ and bake for 2 -3 hours until crisp and dry
- To make the raspberry sauce heat the raspberries and sugar together until the raspberries pop.
- Pass the mixture though a sieve to remove the seeds.
- Whip the double cream and spoon into bowls. Stir through some raspberry sauce and sprinkle some crushed meringues on the top.
Why not pin the recipe to try later?
For other raspberry recipes why not try raspberry and almond cake which is perfect with a cup of tea? Alternatively raspberry and blackberry drizzle cake is another delicious way to use up summer berries.
Cheryl Pasquier says
Yum, the perfect summer dessert – I could dive in there and lick the screen right now !!
Dragons and Fairy Dust says
Its a shame that you can’t actually do that! Although its probably a good thing as I would put on loads of weight