Eton un-mess

I'd planned a big roast dinner today for 3 hungover Scotsmen, and asked my housemate what he fancied for pudding. "Eton Mess" (I know, not in season). I decided to be pretentious and fancy just for the sake of it and deconstruct it... a sort of DIY Eton Mess. I was a little concerned that I wasn't going to be able to let the meringues rest in the oven for long enough but that issue resolved itself nicely. Will say how later.

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1/2 cup caster sugar + maybe a few extra tablespoons

Small tub double cream

Seasonal berries (2 punnets)

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 150*C

Whisk up egg whites to really stiff peak stage - people have all sorts of weird speed combinations for whisking up egg whites but to be perfectly honest, I just whisk them up fast and it works fine for me. 

Add caster sugar one tablespoon at a time and whisk the life out of the mixture until it is glossy and firm.

Spoon 4 mounds onto lined baking sheet and bake for 30 mins at 150, then turn off the oven and LEAVE the meringues in the oven for as long as possible. This is to dry out the meringues. I needed to get my birds in the oven for the Sunday Lunch, so I had to take them out, which meant that the inside had a great squishiness to it! 

While the meringues were cooling down, I whipped up a quick coulis. I don't know if it was technically a coulis, but it was bloody lovely. I halved just over half of the berries and popped them in a wee saucepan with a glug of water and a few tablespoons of caster sugar. I just let the pot do its thing over a medium heat, every now and then giving it a vigorous stir. The smell is just gorgeous. I was using strawberries and the smell was just so sweet. I let it simmer for about 30 minutes, which seems like a long time, but I just didn't want to stop the smell. I sieved out the pulpy bits and piped the saucy goodness into the bottom of the meringue nests (with some left for decoration). 

I whipped up the double cream and plated with the remaining berries. I must say, even the most manly Scotsmen were oohing and aaahing over this pretty pink pudding. Even if strawberries aren't in season.