Let's make a mess - an Eton one of course!!

SIMPLE, LUSCIOUS, DELICIOUS!

But why is it called Eton Mess? Because it is traditionally served at the Eton College annual cricket game against the students of Winchester College. The word mess I would suspect refers to the look of the dish which is very rustic and free form but that part cannot be confirmed through my Googling. Strawberries are the traditional fruit used in an Eton Mess, for it is England after all, but I have chosen to use raspberries as there were no decent strawberries to be had and then along came some excellently priced and highly desirable cherries so I mixed the two - and why not?

It is so simple, with three main ingredients, and disarmingly charming! ...and if you choose to use purchased meringues instead of making them well then it's also awfully easy - just a matter of whipping cream, macerating berries and assembling your mess!

Always read through the recipe first to know what you need, and what you need to do and when.

You will need the following for one large serving or two small - I ate the whole thing above top and am now sitting here feeling a little overwhelmed so I suggest, if you can control yourself, to make this for two people - or one person at two sittings :) Of course you can double, triple or more for a crowd and everything will work just as well.

1 cup heavy/double cream - buy the very best you can, whipped with a couple of tablespoons of sugar (less or more to taste, your choice) and a teaspoon of vanilla. Return to the fridge after you have whipped it.

6-8ozs of your chosen fruit - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries - cooked gooseberries if you can find them - and I used cherries because I love them so - tossed with a good tablespoon of sugar and macerated for a couple of hours until the juices run.

4 small meringues either made or bought - recipe follows if you want to make your own

This ingredient list is very loose you can have more or less of whatever you want and it will still taste marvellous!

Here are my cherries and raspberries macerating happily

MERINGUE RECIPE: Try to make on a dry day - humidity and thunderstorms can either effect the consistency of the beaten eggs or make them curdle - so the dryer the day the better - my day was a little humid and they turned out a little chewier than I personally like but they were still very good.
 

Set the oven at 250F – nice and low. Cover your baking tray with a sheet of parchment or greaseproof paper – no need to grease the paper.

INGREDIENTS:

2 egg whites at room temperature

4 ozs sugar...fine if don't want your meringues to be gritty - mine were a bit gritty because I use organic sugar from the Belfast Coop and it doesn't come in fine - and I am OK with a little grittiness in my meringues

1/2 teaspoon of vinegar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Whip the egg whites until stiff

2. Add sugar 2 tablespoons at a time and whip, whip, whip until all the sugar has been added and the result is glossy and dense and divine as the picture below.

After much whipping you end up with a lovely dense deliciousness about the consistency of really good mayonnaise.

3. Mix vinegar and vanilla together in a small bowl and then gently fold into the egg white and sugar confection.

4. Pile dollops of meringue onto parchment and spread out into rough and rustic rounds for this is called a mess and the meringues end up being broken apart so their appearance is not important!

This was the first batch I made - they looked great going in the oven but they just did not set up - they stayed bouncy and soft - took me a while to back track and eventually discover I had only put in half the amount of sugar I should have done - so if you halve or double recipes do make sure you get the quantities right!

5. Bake in a 250F oven for about an hour and a half then turn oven off and leave meringues in there to cool - this is for a meringue that still has some softness and chew in the centre - if, like me, you prefer a meringue that is like ceramic (and yes I know that is not fashionable because of French macaron everyone wants a bit of chew) then you can cook for another hour making sure that they do not brown - so check on them occasionally.

The second batch baked to perfection!

So you have sweetened whipped cream, your chosen macerated berries and your perfect meringues - heaven is just a short while away!

TO ASSEMBLE Choose an attractive vessel for your ambrosial delight - plop some whipped cream in the bottom, crush a couple of meringues over this, dollop half the fruit over that and repeat. And now you have an ETON MESS - to make it even more perfect I like to let the flavours meld a little - pop in the fridge for about an hour - take out, allow to warm a little and dig in!!

Please do let me know if you try this and what you think and if you make one why not post your pictures and thoughts on my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PatriciaSheaDesigns

Here are some pictures of the day lilies blooming in my garden right now - aren't they the most wonderful colours and look at the red leaves on the two different individual ones - they are the opposite formation from one another!

Happy messing about everyone!

If perchance you like my jaunty little Union Jack design as seen in the top picture here's a link to many and varied items adorned with such at my CafePress shop. Cheers!

WHY have I never made Summer Pudding before???????

Pray tell...what is this lurid image I see before me? Why it is a Summer Pudding...a deceptively, almost cheekily simple dessert from the Isle of Blighty!! WHY have I never made it before...because I have always thought it is too simple to be truly good...was I right..NO I WASN'T...it is SSSOOOOOOOOO good, it so transcends the sum of it's parts, it is sublime and anyone can make it...really anyone!!

All you need is some good soft, summer fruits...I used just blackberries and raspberries but if you are lucky enough to have on hand red, white and/or blackcurrants, strawberries, loganberries, cherries or blueberries you can use any combination of two or three or all of them...

THE RECIPE:
8ozs raspberries

8ozs blackberries
(or 1lb of the above fruits in whatever combination you are inclined to use them)

4oz / 1/2 cup of sugar

about 4/6 slices of good white bread...something with a bit of backbone not the squushy stuff
THAT'S IT for the ingredients!!...well also some lightly sweetened whipped cream to finish.

1. Combine the fruits and sugar in a heavy pan and bring to a slight boil, stir gently and simmer for a brief minute. Take off the heat.

2 Cut the crusts off the white bread slices and line a medium sized pudding bowl with them...I did this in a rather haphazard manner but if you are somewhat organized you can cut the bread into triangles and apparently that'll make your life easier with the fitting of the curves, leaving no gaps and saving one slice to top the pudding with, as you can see below I ran out of my sliced white loaf and ended up using some baguettes slices but that's a bit naughty!!

3. Spoon half the berries and juice into the lined pudding basin, then add the crusts (not traditional but I didn't want to throw the crusts away and this gave my pudding a little more structure), or a circle torn from one slice of bread to fit in the bowl, and finish with the rest of the berries and juice.

4. Then cover the pudding with the final slices of bread torn to fit...not like mine with baguette slices!!!

5. Now find a saucer or similar...I used the top of a yoghourt container, and place some weight on to the saucer...I put a bottle of cider vinegar in a small flat bottomed bowl, and leave in the fridge overnight to settle.

6. Next day take the weights off and run a knife around the edge of the pudding to loosen it from the bowl...I also ended up dipping the bowl into hot water to help loosen...then invert the bowl onto a plate...good luck with this part!!

7. Dollop oodles of lightly whipped, lightly sugared cream around the screaming magenta pudding and eat to your hearts content...this pudding will not stay around for long so plan on having all the ingredients to hand the next day to make another...that's what I'm going to do!!
 I am thoroughly gobsmacked that this simple dessert is so delicious and could kick myself for never having tried it before...I am a total Summer Pudding convert.

A FOOL for Valentine's Day!!!

Is this a Fool or a Whim Wham...that is the question!

After reading through various books and tearsheets I realized that Fool and Whim Wham are somewhat interchangeable although Fool leans more to crushed fruit and luscious whipped cream gently folded together and Whim Wham tends towards custard, cream and crushed fruit with the excellent added addition of almond macaroons. I have to admit I swooned towards the Whim Wham but, of course, I wanted to use Fool in the title as it works so well with the whole concept of Valentine's Day!!! Tee Hee

Here is the recipe, which honestly is not at all unlike the trifle recipe below...the jelly/jello being the noteable absence.......please make in order...

MACAROONY PART:
2ozs ground almonds
2ozs fine sugar (I actually grind the sugar and almonds together in a coffee grinder to get them finer than they come from the store...the almonds don't go oily if you combine them evenly with the sugar and don't grind for too long).
2 egg whites...whisked to quite dry/stiff peaks
1 teaspoon rose water (not necessary if you can't find it but it does add a certain 'je ne c'est quoi')
Very simply gently blend all ingredients together so as not to deflate the whisked egg whites then drop in small mounds onto a greased baking sheet and cook in a slow oven ie about 275F for about 30-40 minutes until somewhat browned and 'dry'....the net result should be a very crunchy cookie/biscuit to crumble in with the Fool, allow to cool completely before you use them so they are nice and crisp.

CUSTARD/english custard/creme patisserie/pastry cream:
FINALLY, I have found a pastry cream that actually sets when cold, I tried about 3 other recipes that SAID the custard would set when cold but they didn't...this one WORKS!!!, and really well but you have to be vigilant!
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon of sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of regular flour
1 tablespoon of cornstarch (cornflour for the Brits)
1. Combine the milk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan and heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. In a bowl beat the egg and extra yolks with the remaining sugar until thick.
3. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch into yolk mixture and beat until well mixed and smooth.
4. Beat half the hot milk into the yolk mix until combined and smooth.
5. Then pour this into the remaining hot mixture in the pan.
6. HERE IS THE VIGILANT PART, keep your eyeballs peeled and whisk moving like the clappers!!! Bring the custard to a quick boil, whisking, whisking, whisking and as soon as it thickens..., take off the heat and whisk until it starts to cool....put pan in a bowl of cold water and continue to whisk until cold...you don't have to do it non-stop, but pretty often to prevent a skin from forming....when I was little if there was a skin on the custard it made me gag,

so don't go there!!!

WHIPPED CREAM:

Preferably organic and about 12 fl. oz of such with a little added sugar to taste and perhaps a teaspoon of vanilla extract/essence

FRUITY PART:

I chose raspberries for my Fool, a package of frozen organic ones which I put into a bowl, sprinkled with sugar and let steep and macerate whilst I proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

You can do strawberries or most traditionally gooseberries if you can find them.

ASSEMBLAGE:

In a tall glass layer the whipped cream, then the custard, then the crushed fruit, then the crumbled macaroons til the glass is elegantly full....add a macaroon to the top...consume!!

DID YOU KNOW??

In Medieval Europe lovers gave one another sprigs of YARROW at the beginning of a Valentine's Day dinner which if they wilted by the end of the repast, meant the love affair was doomed, DOOMED I tell you....now where do you get yarrow at this time of the year in Maine??

(This information courtesy of Gourmet Mag Feb 2008)