Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

 
Eton Mess

Wikipedia says that Eton mess (also called Eaton mess) is a dessert of English origin consisting of a mixture of strawberries, pieces of meringue and cream, which is traditionally served at Eton College's annual cricket game against the students of Winchester College. One anecdotal story is that the dessert was invented when a Labrador accidentally sat on a picnic basket in the back of a car on the way to a picnic.  Eton mess was served in the 1930s in the school's "sock shop" (tuck shop), and was originally made with either strawberries or bananas mixed with ice-cream or cream. Meringue was a later addition.  An Eton mess can be made with many other types of summer fruit, but strawberries are regarded as more traditional.

The word mess may refer to the appearance of the dish, or may be used in the sense of "a quantity of food", particularly "a prepared dish of soft food" or "a mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together".

 Photo by Nami-Nami

Ingredients

• 4 cups strawberries
• 2 teaspoons caster or vanilla sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 packet individual meringue nests
• fresh mint, to garnish

- Whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form.
- Clean the strawberries and cut into smaller pieces, if necessary.
- Layer strawberries, meringues and whipped cream into a large serving bowl or into individual glasses.
- Garnish with chopped fresh mint and serve.
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