Last Saturday I attended Taste of Melbourne 2011 (review in previous post) and I was inspired to change my original dessert recipe to this one. My most favourite dish at 'Taste' happened to be a delicious Eton Mess from Stokehouse restaurant. Eton Mess is traditionally made by throwing together strawberries, whipped cream and crushed meringue's. The Eton Mess I had at Taste of Melbourne had all of the above but also some rhubarb, some 'rose' flavour from rose scented geranium's and it was sprinkled with beautiful crystallised violets. My version of Eton Mess has ingredients a little easier to source and is also a bit healthier because I replace the whipped cream with our favourite 'Homestyle Cheesecake' yoghurt. My Eton Messes were road-tested by 4 adults last night (men in fact) and they gave it an approving thumbs up.
Eton Mess
Serves 6 or 4 large dessert portions
-1 box of mini-meringue's vanilla flavoured
-1 bunch of fresh rhubarb (all leaves cut off)
-1 punnet of strawberries
-1 punnet of blueberries (or defrost 1 cup of frozen blueberries in a single layer on a paper towel)
-4 little tubs of Dairy Farmer's Thick & Creamy Homestyle Cheesecake yoghurt
-2 tablespoon's of caster sugar
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-If you're using frozen berries, be sure to defrost them first in a single layer on pieces of paper kitchen towel.. If they're a little tart, sprinkle over some extra caster sugar
-Preheat oven to 180 degree's celcius
-Chop rhubarb into pieces, about 1cm thick
-Spread chopped rhubarb onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle over three quarters of the sugar (reserving the rest for the strawberries) & put in oven to roast for 30 minutes
-Prepare 6 or 4 dessert glasses
-Chop up strawberries, place them in a bowl and sprinkle over remaining sugar and stir
-Put bag of mini vanilla meringues into a larger freezer bag and bash them gently with a rolling pin until they're mostly broken into pieces.. The packet may burst open hence the extra bag
-Open packet and empty all of the meringue pieces into the freezer bag and break apart any whole meringue's with your fingers
-When rhubarb is softened, remove from tray and allow to cool (this shouldn't take too long)
-I then put the rhubarb in another bowl and stir, so it has an almost 'jam-like' consistency.. you can add extra caster sugar if it's too tart for your tastes
-Start assembling your Eton Mess desserts
-You want to use about half of the rhubarb in one go, so place rhubarb first in the bottom of all the glasses
-Add a few teaspoon's of yoghurt to each glass on top of the rhubarb, then add some strawberries and crushed meringue and a few blueberries
-Keep layering all of your ingredients in the glasses, leaving the remaining rhubarb for the second last layer, then top with yoghurt, a little crushed meringue and a few blueberries
-These gorgeous, yet refreshing dessert's can be eaten immediately - alternatively cover each one with a double layer of cling plastic wrap (so as not to absorb any fridge odours) , refrigerate and eat within 4 hours otherwise the fruit becomes too watery and doesn't look appealing in the glass (even though they'll taste fine)
13 comments, CLICK HERE TO ADD YOUR OWN!:
It looks delicious Maria :). Eton Mess is one of my favorite desserts! Anything with pavlova really...
Hey Maria, was browsing through your recipes and there's SO much good stuff there! Including this Eton Mess too... For some reason, I love any desserts served in a glass. Looking forward to your future posts/recipes! =)
I usually eschew cake mixes etc, but have you seen the Donna Hay Macaroon mix. I actually bought some but of course have not yet made them up.
Eton mess looks yummy.
Oh boo! I missed that dessert as I was busy stuffing my face with other food! So glad you posted this recipe though.. Will give it a try!
Lorraine: Thanks for dropping by :)
Winston: Thanks so much. I need to buy more dessert-type glasses, what you see in my photo's include some 'trick photography'. They're tiny sherry or whiskey? glasses. I have no recipe this week.. I'm miserable and sick with the flu. Again. Thanks for visiting my blog :)
Ozjane:
I bought my first Donna Hay mix a couple of years ago from a gourmet food outlet.. it was coconut and lemon cupcakes and the mix cost $15! They were delicious. Now Donna's range is available at supermarkets (albeit limited, no coconut and lemon for example).. I've tried the macaron's and also the vanilla cupcakes. I think I've given away a couple of boxes of the brownie mix.. as a gift and also to a 96three listener. I haven't tried the brownie's myself since I've stumbled upon a recipe I really love (which appears on my website).
Donna's almond macaron's with chocolate ganache were loved by my family.. I thought they were just 'ok'.. I'm not the biggest macaron fan, but love a good salted caramel version.. or anything not overly sweet. You'll have to tell me how you go when you get around to making them! :)
msihua: I hope you get to try it.. it's so easy..refreshing..and delicious :)
Tried this recipe out last weekend but added mango instead of rhubarb as I am not a fan of rhubarb. It was delicious and looked good too in the glasses.
Marion: I'm glad you tried it! I think it'd be delicious with mango. My hubby doesn't like mango or passionfruit, so I usually avoid putting those two in desserts. Instead I buy mango's and just eat them as a piece of fruit... I've bought two so far this season. I usually eat a mango in one sitting.
P.S. Marion.. sometimes I don't get emailed about comments on my blog (I should in theory), so I was surprised to find I had a comment to moderate when I logged in.
Hi Maria
Just discovered your fantastic blog! I'm newly retired and have more time to listen to Rhema. I saw a version of this recipe made on Better Homes and Gardens. It had port wine jelly and used a packet of frozen berries thickened into a sauce with cornflour. This dessert is great for the gluten intolerant ones in my family too!
Liane
Thank you Liane!
Nice of you to pop by my blog - and leave a comment :) I hope you enjoy this new time in your life... Do you like to cook?
I'm conscious of offering more gluten-free recipes in the future, I know there are plenty of coeliac's out there.
I know 'deep fried' is kind of naughty, but I'd like to recommend Woolworths/Safeway brand 'Macro' gluten free donut mix (with cinnamon sugar). Those little doughnuts are DELICIOUS! Just mix the dough and fry.
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