Eton mess is a simple but elegant no-bake dessert that your entire family will love. It is a traditional English dessert made with layers of whipped cream, crushed meringue cookies, and macerated strawberries. The creamy whipped cream, crispy meringue, and sweet strawberries make for a delicious combination of textures and flavors that’s a party in your mouth.
While it makes for a wonderful spring or summertime dessert, using sugar to macerate the strawberries means you can make this recipe year-round as the technique helps sweeten the berries and release their natural juices. I love that you can throw together this dessert with only a few simple ingredients in no time. As the “mess” part of the name indicates it’s not the neatest desserts, you don’t have to make it look perfect! If you have an abundance of strawberries, try making my chocolate covered strawberries recipe, Strawberry Cake, or strawberry shortcake recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Strawberries – for the best Eton mess, pick the brightest-looking berries you can find for maximum sweetness! If strawberries are not in season, opt for frozen strawberries.
Heavy cream — it is vital that you use heavy cream with a fat content of over 35% to ensure that the whipped cream will thicken. The higher the percentage of fat, the better! The cream whips best when cold, so do not let the cream sit at room temperature. Check out my whipped cream recipe for more tips.
Meringue cookies — I use my homemade meringue cookies recipe for this Eton mess recipe, but you can use store-bought meringue cookies if you don’t have time to make homemade ones.
How to Make Eton Mess
1. Place a third of the strawberries in a medium bowl and mash with a fork or puree in a blender. Cut the remaining strawberries into quarters and add them to the bowl. Add ⅓ cup sugar, and stir until well combined. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Beat on medium speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
3. Place 8 meringues in a sealable plastic bag and coarsely crush with a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy glass.
4. Fold the crushed meringue cookies into the whipped cream.
5. Break the remaining meringue cookies with your hands into various-sized pieces.
6. In small clear cups or dessert bowls, layer the cream, strawberries, and broken cookies, creating as many layers as you want. Serve immediately or chill for up to 3 hours before serving.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- If you buy store-bought meringue cookies, try chocolate meringue, swirled meringue, or lemon meringue to change up the flavor.
- This recipe works great with all kinds of seasonal berries and fruits. Some of my favorites to swap in are raspberries, blackberries, peaches, cherries, and plums.
- If you do not have fresh berries, you can use frozen berries.
- Put your mixing bowl in the freezer before whipping the heavy cream. The colder bowl helps whip the cream faster and increases its thickness.
- Making this for a crowd? Place each part of the Eton mess out, buffet-style, and let your guests assemble their own bowl.
- A drop of real vanilla extract adds a nice touch of vanilla flavor to the whipped cream.
- While you can whip the cream by hand, I highly recommend using an electric mixer as it’ll require a lot of elbow grease!
- When you fold the meringue into the whipped cream, do so gently as not to deflate the whipped cream.
- Allow the whipped cream and crushed meringue mixture to sit in the fridge for up to 3 hours if you’d like the meringue to soften into a marshmallow-like texture. Allow the mixture to sit for a shorter time if you prefer the meringue to be more crisp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this ahead of time?
While it’s best to eat this dessert the day you make them, you can make components ahead of time. You can macerate your berries up to 2 days ahead of time and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
Homemade meringue cookies last for up to 2 weeks at room temperature. Since the meringue softens as it sits in the whipped cream, you don’t want to combine them too far in advance. The whipping cream will also deflate over time, so avoid making that too early in the day. Only assemble as much as you’re able to eat.
Where did the name originate?
It’s believed to have originated at Eton College, where during a cricket match, a dog squashed a post-game strawberry pavlova, but the players ate it anyways. The dessert was also served at the school’s tuck shop.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Eton Mess recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Eton Mess
Video
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Electric or stand mixer
- Small glasses or dessert bowls
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds fresh strawberries hulled (675g)
- ⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar (caster sugar) (90g)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream (480ml)
- 16 meringue cookies
Instructions
- Place a third of the strawberries in a medium bowl and mash with a fork or puree in a blender. Cut the remaining strawberries into quarters and add them to the bowl. Add ⅓ cup sugar, and stir until well combined. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.
- Place 8 meringues in a sealable plastic bag and coarsely crush with a rolling pin or the bottom of a heavy glass. Fold into the whipped cream. Break the remaining meringue cookies into various-sized pieces.
- In small clear cups or dessert bowls, layer the cream, strawberries, and broken cookies, creating as many layers as you want. Serve immediately or chill for up to 3 hours before serving.
Notes
- If you buy store-bought meringue cookies, try chocolate meringue, swirled meringue, or lemon meringue to change up the flavor.
- This recipe works great with all kinds of seasonal berries and fruits. Some of my favorites to swap in are raspberries, blackberries, peaches, cherries, and plums.
- If you do not have fresh berries, you can use frozen berries.
- Put your mixing bowl in the freezer before whipping the heavy cream. The colder bowl helps whip the cream faster and increases its thickness.
- Making this for a crowd? Place each part of the Eton mess out, buffet-style, and let your guests assemble their own bowl.
- A drop of real vanilla extract adds a nice touch of vanilla flavor to the whipped cream.
- While you can whip the cream by hand, I highly recommend using an electric mixer as it’ll require a lot of elbow grease!
- When you fold the meringue into the whipped cream, do so gently as not to deflate the whipped cream.
- Allow the whipped cream and crushed meringue mixture to sit in the fridge for up to 3 hours if you’d like the meringue to soften into a marshmallow-like texture. Allow the mixture to sit for a shorter time if you prefer the meringue more crisp.
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