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Red Berry Eton Mess with Mascarpone

Red Berry Eton Mess is a quintessential British dessert. Here we crush crisp yet chewy homemade meringue into fresh summer berries and cherries muddled with a thick mascarpone cream
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Fruit macerating time2 hours
Total Time2 hours 55 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 346kcal

Ingredients

Fruit

  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • Juice of ½ lime
  • 200 g strawberries hulled and halved
  • 200 g cherries de-stoned and halved
  • 125 g raspberries

Meringues

  • 2 egg whites medium size
  • 100 g caster sugar

Mascarpone Cream

  • 200 g double cream
  • 125 g mascarpone
  • 20 g icing sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Fresh mint leaves to decorate

Instructions

Fruit

  • Whisk together the honey and lime juice in a large mixing bowl until the honey has dissolved in the lime juice.
  • Tip the prepared fruit into the bowl and toss together so they are all coated in the juice.
  • Place the bowl in the fridge and leave to marinate for a couple of hours.

Meringues

  • Pour two egg whites into an extremely clean mixing bowl and whisk until almost firm.
  • Keep whisking and gradually pour in 100g caster sugar. The egg whites will turn beautifully glossy and begin to firm up.
  • Whisk for about 5-8 minutes until the egg whites form stiff peaks when you drag the whisk through.
  • Scoop the meringue into a piping bag fit with a 1M piping tip and pipe out 12 meringue kisses or stars onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
  • Bake in an oven pre-heated to 140°C/120°C fan/gas mark 1 for 45 minutes.
  • Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there for a further hour.

Mascarpone Cream

  • Pour the double cream into a large mixing bowl and whisk by hand until the cream has slightly thickened.
  • Add the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. The cream should be thick but still loose enough that it can drop easily from a dessert spoon.

Assembly

  • Serve two meringue kisses per person. Place on a plate and crush gently with the back of a spoon.
  • Spoon over some mascarpone cream, then add the fruit.
  • Drizzle over the macerating juice from the fruits and scatter with fresh mint leaves if you like.

Notes

Make Ahead - All the components of this Red Berry Eton Mess can be made up to two days before. Keep the fruit and the mascarpone cream separately in the fridge. The meringues should be kept in an airtight tin. Assemble the Eton Messes directly before serving.
Mascarpone Cream - I recommend hand whisking the double cream. It turns from light and billowy to stiff and heavy very quickly so you want utter control when you are whisking. Always under whisk if you are unsure.

Nutrition

Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 67mg | Sodium: 42mg | Potassium: 198mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 30g | Vitamin A: 805IU | Vitamin C: 27.6mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 0.4mg