The History of Eton Mess

What is It?

Eton Mess is a classic British dessert consisting of a crushed mixture of fruit (usually berries), meriangue, whipped cream, and occasionally a berry compote.

History

The history of the popular and historic British dish, Eton mess, unsurprisingly can be traced back to the small town of Eton in southern England. Much of Eton’s notability is derived from its connection to the well-known boys' boarding school, Eton College. Established in 1441 by King Henry VI, the prestigious Eton College was originally created with the intention of providing free education and housing to 70 men who earned scholarships for this opportunity. As the school gained popularity, it expanded greatly to accommodate a wider curriculum, a larger and more qualified staff, and many more students. Besides its strong academic notoriety, Eton college is also well known for its extracurricular activities, one of its most prominent was cricket. It was at one of these Eton cricket matches that the desert we know today as Eton mess was created. The story goes that a pavlova, a dessert made up of fruit, meringue, and whipped cream was dropped at the match and crushed. Despite its broken appearance, the athletes still indulged in the dessert and found the new crushed creation a delicious dessert. Its name, “Eton mess” refers to the messy appearance of this dish that comes from the jumble of meringue, whipped cream, berries, and fruit puré. This dessert continued to gain popularity both from its taste, as well as its ease to make and its ability to use up leftover cream and berries. Whether this tale is the true beginning of Eton Mess is unclear, however, its association with Eton college remains to this day.

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites

• 120g caster sugar

• 500g strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped

• 450ml double cream

• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Directions

1. Gather the Ingredients

2. Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/gas 1 and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl using an electric whisk or tabletop mixer until they reach stiff peaks, then add the sugar in 3 lots, re-whisking to stiff peaks every time.

3. Spoon dollops of the mixture onto the baking parchment, cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for 1hr – 1hr15 mins until the meringues are completely hard and come off the paper easily. Leave to cool.

4. Blitz 1/3 of the strawberries to make a strawberry sauce.

5. In a large bowl whisk the cream with the icing sugar until it just holds its shape.

6. Roughly crush ¾ of the meringues and tip them in with the chopped strawberries and stir, then swirl through the strawberry sauce. Dollop into bowls then crush the remaining meringues, sprinkling the pieces over the top.