Recipe – Flower Power Eton Mess

Meringues are one of those treats that seem tricky, but in reality couldn’t be simpler. Just some intense whisking turns a few simple ingredients into a beautiful dessert. Using these tea-infused meringues in an Eton Mess means there’s plenty of room to make mistakes and still end up with a delicious, and easy, dessert. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the Meringue:

30g Flower Power Loose Leaf Tea

100ml Water

4 Egg Whites

220g Caster Sugar

For the Honeyed Cream:

150ml Double Cream

2 Tablespoons Runny Honey

To serve: 

200g Fresh Raspberries

 

Method:

For the Meringue:

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. 

Infuse the tea in 100ml of boiling water, for 5 minutes.

While the tea is infusing, separate your eggs, and save the yolks for another recipe. (Meringues are, if nothing else, a brilliant excuse to make a carbonara the next day). 

Strain the infused tea into a small saucepan, and add the sugar. 

 

Bring this mixture to the boil, and allow to cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid the syrup boiling over or catching on the base of the pan. If you’re the type of person to own a sugar thermometer, you’re aiming for the syrup to reach 120 degrees. If you aren’t the type of person to own a sugar thermometer, don’t panic. 

After 5 minutes, take the sugar syrup off the heat and begin to whisk the egg whites, either with an electric whisk or in a stand

mixer.

Very carefully, pour the syrup into the egg whites, while continually whisking. 

Continue to whisk until the meringue mixture is white, glossy, and stands up in stiff peaks. 

Spread two thirds of the meringue mixture on a flat baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper. On a second, lined, baking tray, spoon out dollops of the mixture to make individual meringues.

Place the meringues in the oven and immediately drop to 100 degrees. Bake at 100 for 2 hours, then turn the oven off and leave the meringues to cool completely. 

For the Honeyed Cream:

Again, use an electric whisk or stand mixer. It is possible to whip cream by hand, but you’ll be left with sore arms for a day or two!

Combine the cream and honey and whisk until stiff peaks form. Watch it like a hawk, as under-whipped cream will collapse, and over-whipped cream will separate and become butter. 

To Serve: 

Crumble your meringue slab into small pieces and fold into the honeyed cream, along with the fresh raspberries. Spoon the mixture into serving glasses, and garnish with the prettiest of your individual meringues. 

Notes:

This method is called “Italian meringue”. Because the egg whites are cooked by the hot sugar syrup as they’re whisked, this version of meringue is far more stable than French meringue, and does not have to be cooked again. It’s a perfect topping for a meringue pie, a baked Alaska, or whisked with butter to make a delicious meringue buttercream.