Creamy Eton Mess with 1-minute microwave meringues

This decadent Eton mess is made with layers of whipped cream and meringue interspersed with summer berries. Use my recipe for 1-minute microwave meringues and you can put this together in no time at all.

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How recipes evolve

This post was supposed to be all about how to make meringues in the microwave. (Did you know that you can make meringues in the microwave? I’ve posted instructions below). However, once I’d made a batch of meringues, they were screaming at me to turn them into an Eton mess. And I’m so glad I did! This Eton mess is a creamy, crunchy, fruity dessert, made of layers of cream, meringue and fruit, that comes together in minutes.

It is literally the easiest dessert that I have ever made!

This Eton mess is my new favourites dessert, and I think you’ll love it too!

• Eton mess takes less than half an hour to make (including making the meringues). If you use store-bought meringues it will be even faster.
• You only need three ingredients (five if you make your own meringues).
• It’s packed with deliciously healthy fruit like sweet cherries and juicy berries.
• You can use a bag of frozen fruit – and you don’t even have to defrost it first.
• You can make this Eton mess in individual containers (as I’ve done here) which you can serve for a dinner party, or you can make one large dish for the entire family.

What ingredients do you need?

To make this Eton mess you will need:

Meringues – use store-bought, or make your own 1-minute microwave meringues (see below for instructions). If you do make your own meringues you will need icing sugar and an egg white.

Double cream – whipped to stiff peaks – you won’t need to add any sugar, the meringues are sweet enough.

Frozen fruit – whatever is available in the supermarket. I used frozen black forest fruits, which is a mix of cherries, blackberries, blueberries and grapes. If you prefer you can use fresh fruit – chopped strawberries, cubed mango, kiwifruit, even sliced banana. These will all work well.

Additional fresh fruit for decoration – this is optional, but I had a few raspberries in the fridge so I used those too.

Steps for making an Eton mess

Eton mess is so easy to make, I don’t even need any photographs to help describe the steps.

If you are using frozen fruit you don’t need to defrost it, unless you are planning on eating this dessert right away. You can use the frozen fruit right out of the packet. Let the assembled Eton mess stand in the refrigerator for half an hour and the fruit will have defrosted perfectly.

• Start off by whipping double cream to thick peaks.
• Break the meringues into bite-sized pieces and place a layer at the bottom of the dish (or glass bowl).
• Cover with a layer of whipped cream.
• Add a layer of fruit.
• Repeat the layers until all the ingredients have been used up.
• Top with a few more pieces of fruit – and add the fresh raspberries if you are using them.
• Leave in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat it.

1-minute microwave meringues

This is a super quick way to make meringues in the microwave. I didn’t think it would be possible until I tried it for myself.

The microwave meringues are as light as a feather and as crispy as oven-baked meringues but are made in a fraction of the time.

Making these meringues is an ideal way to keep children occupied. They can have a lovely time rolling the mixture into balls and coating with chocolate sprinkles or hundreds and thousands before they are microwaved!

This recipe will make approximately 60 meringues, which is rather a lot. If you want to make less, beat the egg white lightly so that you can scoop it with a tablespoon. You will need approximately half an egg white for each cup of icing sugar.

How to make them

• Start off by measuring 2 cups of icing sugar into a mixing bowl (image 1 above). Add the white of 1 medium egg and mix it into the icing sugar (image 2 above).
• Use a flat knife to mix until the icing sugar is incorporated. Then get your hands in and knead until you have a smooth, non-sticky, pliable ball (image 3 above).
• If you find that the dough is too sticky, add a little more icing sugar. The amount you will need depends on the size of the egg you used.

• Roll marble-sized balls (about half an inch round) from the icing-sugar dough and place them on a piece of baking parchment on the microwave turntable (image 1 above). Space them well apart as these meringues spread as they bake.
• Cook for 30 seconds on full power, then cook for another 30 seconds, still on full power. The exact timing will depend on the wattage of your microwave. Mine is 900 watts and 2 30-second bursts was perfect. Do be careful though – if you let them cook for too long they will turn brown and taste burnt.
• Remove from the microwave and allow to cool.

Be careful how large you make them

The meringues spread a LOT in the microwave.

These meringues were about an inch in diameter and as you can see from image 2 above they were larger than a teacup once they came out of the microwave.

If you want decorated meringues, dip them in sprinkles before putting in the microwave.

I like to stick two meringues together with a little melted chocolate, and spoon melted chocolate on top of the plain ones. Be careful when doing this, as these meringues are very fragile.

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How to store meringues

These meringues will remain crispy for up to 4 days if you store them in large ziploc bag or in an air-tight container in a cool place like the pantry.

Don’t try to freeze them though – they are so fragile they will disintegrate on defrosting.

If you enjoyed this recipe for Eton mess, you may like to try some of my other creamy dessert recipes:

• Fresh pear cream slice
• Easy lemon meringue pie
• No-bake pineapple icebox cake
• Boozy black forest trifle
• Citrus cheesecake with Greek yoghurt
• Peppermint crisp fridge tart

Creamy Eton Mess with 1-minute microwave meringues recipe

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