Eton Mess

Can't believe this is the first time all summer I've had this.

meringue > strawberries/cream

I would eat strawberries and cream without meringue, but not meringue without strawberries and cream. But I think it is the meringue that raises it from "strawberries and cream" to "Eton Mess" ergo quintessential.

yeah exactly plus gooey meringue once it's soaked in strawberry juice & cream is something else

Depends on how liquid or solid the cream is. I went through a phase last summer of using really liquid unbeaten single cream and it would completely dissolve the meringue into a sugary pink slime. But if you use, say, Sainsburys Taste The Difference Extra Thick Double Cream From Jersey Cows Fed Only On Sunbeams And Clover Flowers then it doesn't actually goo up the meringue properly. So the cream might be the crucially important part that makes it stand up and hold together or dissolve into mush.

What would happen if you used clotted cream in Eton Mess? Would it cease to be Eton Mess?

Naomi is the Mess technician in our house and i think she just uses regular double cream usually

clotted cream wouldn't work? too thick. nice tho

All this is a lie, though. I always go through and pick out the strawberries because they are clearly the best bit.

well the point is that each element improves the other otherwise it wouldn't be a popular dish

The whole is greater than the sum of its part.

But if I had to pick any one bit to have on its own, it would definitely be strawberries.

i have NEVER had this! so it's basically a pavlova huh?

It's basically a pavlova smashed up. I love it. I use double cream, but whip it to soft peaks. I need to get more focused and fry the saw berries quickly in a drop of balsamic vinegar first to intensify the flavour. I don't like the meringue to go too squishy and dissolved. Raspberries make a good alternative to strawberries.

Voted meringue, btw.

WTF is a pavlova?

I like adding a few raspberries for accent, but not too many as their tartness can overpower the strawberry goodness.

a pavlova:

http://girlfromthehills.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/pavlova_image.jpg

an...unsmushed up eton mess, i guess.

voted strawberries, love them. never been a huge raspberry fan and while i like meringue, i don't go nuts for it or get cravings for it really

But that has kiwi and banana in it, which is just bucketloads of wrong.

(I like bananas, just not on sweet things - put them on curry or mueslix.)

((Kiwifruits can go to the actual devil, though))

I have never heard of this and I don't understand what the meringue would add.

the kiwis and bananas are optional, i've never had a pavlova with either (bananas don't strike me as appropriate at all and i strongly dislike kiwis)

There are *rules* about this sort of thing. You can't just go chucking any old fruit in, it has to be a *berry*. Like, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, logan rock berries, all fine. Kiwifruits and bananas? You might as well chuck in an avocado pear for the wrongness that brings.

Used to make it with these meringues that had this very thin layer of very dark, bitter chocolate on the bottom of them. It was absolutely sublime, added a whole nother level to cut through all the sweetness. Can't seem to find them any more, though. ;_;

Is this... more prominent this year than usual? I have seen a lot of Eton Mess in the past six months, I wasn't even aware of it existing before this summer!

This is the first one I've had all summer! Last summer was, for me, the summer of endless Eton gluttony.

I think I have some meringue nests in the cupboard so prob gonna make a mess this week if I can find some good fruit.

Although i Essentially agree with you about what should and should not top a pavlova, an Aussie friend of my mum makes a great one with everything on it and I'm therefore prob a bit more flexible on the rules. Any involvement of chocolate sounds even more rong to me than avocado though.

hate strawberries
hate meringue

bowl of cream pls

Mmmm.... voting meringue. This poll is making me crave, damnit.

There are *rules* about this sort of thing. You can't just go chucking any old fruit in, it has to be a *berry*. Like, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, logan rock berries, all fine.

I am willing to bet that at least half of these aren't technically berries, despite their name.

(I know, I know, I should get out of pedantic QI asshole mode, but... just sayin'.)

Ha, and just to really get in your craw, apparently bananas are berries. Or more specifically, 'leathery berries'. Thanks, wikipedia.

VOTED TOOTH DECAY

This is too hard! I love cakes. Strawberries make so many other foods better so probably them.

Kiwis weird me out, fruit shouldn't have hair growing on it.

Meringue is a waste of calories; voted strawberries.

are loganberries really called "logan rock berries" too or was that a "too much time listening to RDJ" moment?

also i don't think people get that yeah, u wouldn't eat a meringue on its own, really, but the point of it is what happens when it joins in with other ingredients. same as lemon meringue pie - the meringue is totally necessary.

"too much time listening to RDJ" moment

Eton mess is ruined by hard dry meringue nests. Must have some gooiness.

Last time I had EM, the meringue was all runny. Badbadbad.

Better, no mer.

In order of importance.
Strawbs, Cream, Sauce, Decent meringue.

I don't mean the dance, although Strawbs, Cream, sauce and a dance is better than runny meringue.

Yes, everything needs to be firm.

Even that, yes.

I think I could get with this if it were made with soft, warm lemon pie-style meringue. Hard meringue makes my teeth sing.

going to a wedding in a couple of weeks and the invitation said "eton mess or trifle?". disgusting savages.

This stuff is okay but it's no CRANACHAN, which wins for having crunchy oats in it instead of meringue, but mostly for containing whisky. As far as ridiculously unhealthy desserts go, Scotland > posh kids.

That would be logon rock berries, surely? (not quite good enough for a screen name)

Cranachan is also known as Atholl Brose and I refuse to eat Cocteau Twins songs on principle.

Lemon meringue pie is a whole nother kettle of fish. Or lemon curds as the case may be. It is about the interplay of tart lemon curd, sweet confectionery meringue and a firm and moist but not soggy crust. The meringue in LMP should not be as hard as that in Eton Mess. Very different function.

You wouldn't order a Sugar Hiccup in a cocktail bar?

The meringue in LMP should not be as hard as that in Eton Mess. Very different function.

Abs, "like" and all those other things those youngsters do on their public access forums...

No. Nor a Peppermint Pig nor an Orange Appled.

Oh, I know the meringue in Eton Mess needs to be harder than for LMP, but I am proposing another dish that combines the warmth and sponginess of the LMP meringue with the rest of the Eton Mess - genuinely believe this would be a great dessert and not something to be dubbed Slough of Despond.

Yeah but runny meringue with runny cream is a bad look.

on desserts, anyway.

If you were eating runny meringue on LMP, your chef was doing it wrong.

Boggled @ ppl not knowing what a pavlova is fwiw

no one cares about our funny little colonial puddings.

I had one on Saturday. I care.

Given that Eton Mess has been around since the 19th Century and Pavlova was not invented until the 1920s, I think it's fair to be familiar with one but not the other.

i had no idea pavlova was australian in origin until today

From New Zealand, I discovered? (alleged?) which would explain the use of kiwifruit above?

I could be wrong, this is only the second day of my discovery of its very existence and this is the result of googling rather than eating.

Peach Melba?

nz invented pavlova but australia has uncharacteristically tried to claim the credit for it ever since.

There. The voice of ultimate wisdom has spoken.

i shouldn't have used a picture with kiwifruit, that was the first and only time i've actually seen kiwis present on pavlova

Oh no no. kiwifruit is a very staple addition, as is passionfruit.

there is also a pavlova roll, which is an australian variation on pavlova (i think, i've only ever seen it over here), which might fit suzy's bill: it's a rectangle of soft but firm meringue spread with cream and fruit and then rolled lengthwise like a swiss roll, and then cut into slices. i didn't like the look of it at first but it's very nice. really i like all these meringue/cream/strawberry desserts. i don't care so much for kiwifruit or passionfruit on them but i'll still eat them.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

PHILADELPHIA

http://www.youtube.com/user/phillyrecipes?v=x0eJK3uWpPk

I am baffled at the lack of pavlova knowledge and bewitched by my new-found "leathery berry" knowledge.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

People keep making eton mess on Come Dine With Me these days. Someone made that pavlova roll thing that estela mentioned up there this week though. It looked nice, I think I might try and make it some time.

I'm with Matt on cranachan being the real winner of things with cream and berries in them though.

Feel a bit sick from just eating about 600g of this.

It's been too cold & rainy for Eton Mess this summer.

Also Sainsburys stopped getting in the nice meringues with the dark chocolate drizzles over them.

This was a fancy cocoa-dusted meringue from Carluccio's.

If you make Eton Mess with Scottish raspberries instead of English strawberries, is it called Fettes Mess?

Either way, I've had a lot of both this week.