Strawberry custard Eton mess
A scrumptious mélange of rich, silky custard, sweet strawberries and light-as-a-feather meringue and cream. If your strawberries aren't perfectly ripe, macerate them in a generous sprinkling of sugar and a little balsamic vinegar while the meringue is cooking.
Ingredients
for the custard
- 3 egg yolks
- ½ tsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 200ml double cream
- 150ml milk
- seeds of ½ vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla essence
for the meringue
- 3 egg whites
- 175g caster sugar
for the cream
- 300ml double cream
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 generous handfuls strawberries, hulled and cut in half
Method
main
-
Step 1
Preheat oven to 150°C/Gas 2.
To make the custard
-
Step 1
whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl with the cornflour and sugar. Bring the cream and milk just to simmering point in a pan with the vanilla, then whisk gradually into the egg mixture.
-
Step 2
Pour back into the pan and cook, stirring constantly, over a very low heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Leave to cool.
For the meringue
-
Step 1
whisk the egg whites in a clean dry bowl until they form soft peaks. Whilst whisking add the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon, continuing until the mixture is stiff and glossy. Spoon dollops onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
-
Step 2
Bake until completely dry - about an hour. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues in until completely cool (you can do this overnight).
For the cream
-
Step 1
add the lemon zest to the cream. Whisk to soft peaks.
-
Step 2
Combine the meringue, cream and strawberries in any artfully messy way you like.
