Eton Mess

As a Memorial Day Weekend tradition, I ask my mother to make me Strawberry Shortcake. Her recipe comes from one of the old cookbooks she got when my parents first married 40 years ago.

It’s delicious, and the only thing I insist she makes me all year.

The “cake” is more biscuit like, made with vegetable shortening and baked in a 9″ cake pan, then cut in half. Then it’s slathered with twice its height in fresh whipped cream and layered with strawberries in the middle and on the top.

Simple. Classic. And I truly love it.

I was savoring my last piece for the y ear when I thought that what I really enjoyed about this was the copious amounts of whipped cream. I mean, obviously. Whipped cream is delicious.

But it sparked something in the recesses of my brain. Isn’t there a recipe for something that is basically whipped cream and strawberries?

A fool! (Add that to the list of random things I know.)

A quick google search revealed that was close. Eton mess? Wasn’t that a thing?

And it turns out – yes! Not only was that what I was looking for, it was even better than I could have thought.

It adds in meringue. Oh, how I love meringue.

Eton Mess is a traditional English dessert that has 3 components: fresh strawberries, fresh whipped heavy cream, and meringue cookies.

As I am fond of saying: how could that be bad?

I made the meringues the day before I was going to serve. Only 2 egg whites whipped to foamy and then added a scant 2/3 of a cup of granulated sugar until stiff peaks produced a glossy meringue.

Spoiler alert: the meringues get crushed in the assembly.

I put mine into a piping bag and piped dollops that looked like super sized Hershey kisses. I definitely could have spooned onto the parchment that lined my cookie sheet, but I was trying to go the less-mess route.

250 degrees, 1 hour, turned off the oven let them sit for an hour or until I remembered them.

Taste tested and perfection! They went into an airtight container. Because June and North Carolina.

The morning came the strawberries.

Some recipes cook the berries, some leave them raw. I decided to do a mix. Sometimes raw smushed strawberries can be too tart and not “strawberry” enough. And sometimes I overcook strawberries into fruit leather. Tasty, but not what we want here.

I chopped up a half a cup of strawberries and put them into a glass bowl. I sprinkled over a tablespoon or two or sugar and let them sit for 10 minutes before microwaving for 1 min, stirring, and then another 30 seconds. I let them sit after that for 20-30 minutes to cool down.

Then I diced up about a cup (about a half of a package) of strawberries and, in what I considered pretty smart thinking, mashed them up with my trusty potato masher. They were still chunky but released most of their juices to create something syrupy without adding extra sugar, steps, or bowls.

Heavy cream went into the stand mixer bowl with a tablespoon of powdered sugar. (I tried it without the added sugar here, and it tasted flat.)

Then, the second best part, only to eat. Assembly!

In the mashed strawberries, I crushed up 6 meringue cookies with my hands. Then folded together with a spoon.

In two of my beautiful mint green Jupiter bowls by Fortessa, I spooned the cooked strawberries on the bottom. Then plopped in enough whipped cream to cover the strawberries about a inch. Into the whipped cream went the strawberry meringue mixture, swirled, then another layer, swirled.

Because I love meringue cookies so much, I put three whole cookies on top of the last whipped cream layer. Then I crushed up another meringue and sprinkled on top around the cookies.

They went into the fridge, uncovered, until ready to serve.

I was planning to eat outside and figured this was a perfect treat! Like a big bowl of ice cream – but more fitting to have as “lunch.”

I am also always using an excuse to use my bowls that I love dearly but don’t get used as often as I’d like. They perfectly match my Jupiter glasses, which are the love of my life. I filled those with some homemade decaf cold brew for a cute set.

Dining al fresco calls for my essentials: my Sunsetter awning, my bug fans, and placemats.

I remembered my green placemats that are part of my personal Easter entertaining kit which matched my green theme well enough!

Lucky for me they were easy enough to squeeze out of my Tower of Holidays in my spare bedroom closet. Nothing fell on my head. That’s considered a victory.

Another fun realization: you know that theory on capsule wardrobes? To build around a color scheme for easy dressing and easy travel? That applies to home, too! I always have things in green (usually mint, but all shades are welcome to the party.) Even if they’re not an exact match, they coordinate back nicely. It helps gives that cohesive look while having pieces you can use across the holidays, for fancy or laid back occassions.

It’s like: You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready. You don’t have to get green if you stay green…? No?

You get it.