Easy Eton Mess Cake with Whipped Cream & Meringue Magic

 

One of my favorite childhood memories is of picking wild strawberries.  There was a railway line that ran across the end of our back yard, and, in the summer months, the railway ties would be lined with fresh wild strawberries. 

It was a largely unused rail line, so there was no real danger in picking them. The train only came along about once a week to bring the supplies to the Airforce base that we lived on.

As soon as we noted those little white blossoms we would be keeping a close eye on them, waiting with great anticipation for the first ripe berries to appear. Our mother would give us each a small plastic tub to go and pick them. There would not be many, to be honest, only what amounted to a small handful each.

 

There was nothing more delicious on earth than those tiny, sweet berries. All the deliciousness having been condensed into a fruit not much larger than your baby fingernail.  

The temptation was there to gobble them up as we picked them, but we knew if we were patient and gathered enough of them our mother would put them into a dish for each of us to enjoy, along with some sugar and a drizzle of cream. The promise of that indulgent treat was enough to keep our greed at bay!

Strawberries.  They are a true summer treat.  It is not often that you see the wild ones these days, but in early July our local fields begin to fill with fresh summer berries.  I wait all year for the to ripen. 

I am one of those odd people who refuses to eat strawberries out of season. They cost an arm and a leg and are only contain a whisper of the true deliciousness of a fresh summer berry.  I would rather wait and indulge in those than to be disappointed something so lackluster as a winter berry that has travelled thousands of miles to our grocery store shelves.

 

Once strawberry season hits, there is no end to the way I like to enjoy the fresh berries.  Some are eaten out of hand, others make it into pies and jams . . .  strawberry shortcake is a real favorite.  Another delicious option I like to indulge in is this Eton Mess Cake.

It is a recipe I purloined many years ago from a British cookbook and it is heavenly.  Eton Mess is a traditional British Dessert, usually enjoyed during the Wimbledon Tennis Season.  That is when British Strawberries are a their best.  A delicious mix of fresh berries, softly whipped cream, and broken meringues. It is truly delicious!

This fabulous cake is a tasty riff on that idea.  What you have here is a beautiful buttery and moist cake, with a batter containing ground almonds and chopped fresh summer strawberries.  This gets topped with more berries, sliced this time . . .  and crumbled crisp meringues before baking.

It is then baked until golden brown. Once cooled, it is dusted with confectioner's sugar and served in thick slices adorned with mounds of softly whipped double cream.  Cake just doesn't get much better than this. Trust me.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE AN ETON MESS CAKE

The usual suspects. A few fresh ingredients along with some baking cupboard staples.

• 3/4 cup (175g) of unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 5 TBS heavy (double) cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup plus 2 TBS (225g) plain flour
• 1 cup plus 3 TBS (100g) of ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup (200g) of sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups (400g) of fresh strawberries, washed, half of them roughly chopped and half sliced (about 1 pound)
• 4 meringue nests, roughly broken up
• icing sugar to dust

 

You can also use salted butter for this cake. As there is no salt in the actual recipe it won't make much of a difference. I use salted because I only keep salted butter in the house and I don't really want to go to the expense of buying unsalted butter just to use in one recipe.

Plain flour is all-purpose flour.  Ground almonds are made from ground blanched almonds. In North America use almond flour.  You do not want to be using the ground almonds that have almond skin mixed into them. This would be most unattractive.

Meringue nests can be purchases in the baking section of any good grocery store. They are quite crisp. You can also buy them online.

 HOW TO MAKE AN ETON MESS CAKE

This is really a very easy cake to make.  Make it once and it will go to the top of the list of your summer "must make" cakes! The only negative thing to be said about it is that it is best eaten on the day it is baked, but even the day after, it's pretty special. 

1. Preheat the oven to 160*C/ 325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a deep 8 by 12-inch baking tin. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, almonds and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter. Whisk in the double cream and vanilla. Set aside.
4. Place the sugar and eggs into a large bowl. Beat together with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes, until very thick and foamy. Pour in the butter mixture. Mix lightly.
5. Add the flour mixture and whisk briefly until evenly combined with no dry streaks.

 

6. Stir in the chopped strawberries.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, smoothing over the top. Scatter the sliced berries over the top along with the meringue pieces.

8. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until risen and golden brown. A skewer should come out clean.

9. Allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

 

OTHER FRUITY SUMMER DESSERTS YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY

Here are a few other fruity offerings that you might also enjoy making during the summer months. I promise you that they are as equally delicious as this!

RASPBERRY SHORTCAKE - Raspberry Shortcake is a delicious summer dessert that will have your family gushing with praise.  Nor surprise there. It's not only a very pretty dessert but is also incredibly delicious. Flaky butter biscuits layered with whipped cream and a sweet raspberry compote. Fabulously tasty!

LEMON SANDWICHES WITH BLUEBERRIES & CREAM - Thick slices of a moist and delicious lemon cake are topped with a rich yogurt cream and a sweet fresh blueberry sauce. This is quite simple to make and very tasty. It makes a great dessert for impromptu get-togethers. The cake itself is pretty amazing, but with the other additions, this is a dessert you can be proud of. Nobody needs to know how simple it really was to make!

 

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Yield: One 8 X 12-inch cake

Author: Marie Rayner

Eton Mess Cake

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinInactive time: 20 MinTotal time: 1 H & 20 M

The perfect summer cake, loaded with fresh berries and sweet crumbled meringues. All you need to serve it with is perhaps a dollop of softly whipped cream.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (175g) of unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 5 TBS heavy (double) cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup plus 2 TBS (225g) plain flour
• 1 cup plus 3 TBS (100g) of ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup (200g) of sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups (400g) of fresh strawberries, washed, half of them roughly chopped and half sliced (about 1 pound)
• 4 meringue nests, roughly broken up
• icing sugar to dust

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160*C/ 325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a deep 8 by 12-inch baking tin. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, almonds and baking powder. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter. Whisk in the double cream and vanilla. Set aside.
4. Place the sugar and eggs into a large bowl. Beat together with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes, until very thick and foamy. Pour in the butter mixture. Mix lightly.
5. Add the flour mixture and whisk briefly until evenly combined with no dry streaks.
6. Stir in the chopped strawberries.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, smoothing over the top. Scatter the sliced berries over the top along with the meringue pieces.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until risen and golden brown. A skewer should come out clean.
9. Allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Notes

This cake is best eaten on the day. Sooooo NOT a problem! Left overnight, the meringues will soften, which still tastes quite good, but the crunch is not there.

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