A lovely mess of marinated berries, softly whipped cream, and crunchy airy vanilla meringues, Eton Mess is my go-to summer dessert. I’ve been making Eton Mess long before I knew it was called Eton Mess! Apparently this is a traditional English dessert named after Eton College, where the dessert is always served at this big annual cricket game against their rivals. The story goes that the Eton Mess was first created when a meringue dessert was accidentally crushed by a dog while travelling to a picnic at Eton College, and all that could be salvaged was a crushed meringue with strawberries and cream. Big thanks to that dog, because this is one wonderful dessert!
Easy breezy and versatile, this dessert is made for summer living. Sometimes, I’ll make it with blueberries zinged with lemon zest, and pistachios. Today, I wanted to take a dairy-free spin on the recipe – remember that whipped coconut cream I showed you a few weeks ago? That’s getting layered into our strawberries and blueberries for a patriotic red, white, and blue treat this July 4th!
Let’s start with the berries. They get marinated in a mix of orange zest, some fresh orange juice, vanilla, and a touch of sugar to bring out all the natural sweet tart goodness of the berries.
Then comes the coconut cream. So easy and so insanely good. You’ll be hooked on this stuff.
Layer it all together, and don’t forget the meringues! Crunchy and light as air, they add such a delightful textural component to the dessert. I get them from Trader Joe’s – they’re seriously one of my favorite secret tricks to add textural interest in desserts.
The best part about this mess? You get it eat it all up! Happy Fourth of July, friends!
A lovely mess of marinated berries, softly whipped coconut cream, and crunchy airy vanilla meringues, this easy breezy dessert is made for summer living.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (2 pints) strawberries
- 11 oz (1 pint) blueberries
- zest of 1 orange
- Juice of ½ orange
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 pinch of salt
- 4 vanilla meringues (Trader Joe's)
- Whipped Coconut Cream
Instructions
- Wash, hull, and slice up the strawberries. Give the blueberries a rinse too. Combine the berries in a big bowl with the orange zest, orange juice, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes, or up to 4 hours.
- Make the Whipped Coconut Cream .
- Give the berries a quick toss. Layer them with the cream into glasses or dessert bowls. Crush the meringues over top. Dig in!
Recipe Source: LickMySpoon.com.
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