Name: Quick Eton Mess
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 1 x 8 pack meringue nests (or 112g / 3.95oz meringue shells (or cookies US)); 300 ml whipping cream; 150 g raspberries; 400 g strawberries (chopped); 2 tablespoons strawberry sauce (I use Askey’s Treat); Mint sprigs to decorate (optional)

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This quick & easy Eton Mess with ready made meringue is the perfect light, summer dessert to make when you are pressed for time, but don’t want to compromise on flavour. And I don’t just cheat by using ready made meringue, I use shop-bought strawberry sauce too!

Quick Eton Mess with ready made meringue and shop bought strawberry sauce - family recipes

I serve this Quick Eton Mess often in the summer when we have guests, it’s a real easy crowd-pleaser. When I make it for more people than just us four, I double the recipe, which is straightforward to do, you just need an extra large mixing bowl to combine it all together.

What is Eton Mess?

It’s thought that Eton Mess originated at Eton College during the 19th century. It’s traditionally made with whipped cream, meringue and strawberries, with other berries being used sometimes too. At Eton College sometimes they used to serve it with banana and no berries at all.

Easy Summer dessert recipes - family recipes

The Stars of my Quick Eton Mess

The Berries

Some Eton Mess recipes will only use strawberries but we love it with some raspberries in there too. You’ll need to use fresh berries, frozen strawberries and raspberries will let out too much liquid and you’ll quickly end up with a very sloppy pudding. When you come to chop the strawberries you can quarter small ones and chop larger ones into eighths.

The Cream

Use whipping cream and whisk on a high setting until stiff peaks form.

Quick and Easy Eton Mess with ready made meringue

The Strawberry Sauce

I use Askey’s Treat syrup always for this but any strawberry sauce you find in a shop will work!

The Meringue

One of the tricks to keeping this Eton Mess quick and easy to whip up, is to use ready made meringue. You can either use a pack of meringue nests or 112g / 3.95oz of meringue shells or cookies (US).

Dessert recipes using ready made meringue

Making my Quick Eton Mess

Watch me make my Quick Eton Mess step-by-step here, before or as you cook or jump straight down to the recipe.

Prep Ahead

You can chop the strawberries up in advance and if you have guests you might want to do that, but really that’s all you need to do. This dessert needs to be prepared just before serving and will take you just 15 minutes to do so.

Kids Bake Too

If you have little ones, they can help you make this Quick Eton Mess. They will LOVE to crumble up those meringues!

Feed a Crowd

As I said above, this recipe is very easily doubled to feed 8 people, so long as you have an extra-large mixing bowl!

Storing My Quick Eton Mess

This dessert is best eaten immediately. It is fine to eat the leftovers for the next 2 days, BUT it will go very sloppy and so I don’t recommend it. If you have leftovers instead I recommend you put them into a smaller bowl, cover with clingfilm and then foil and freeze! Alternatively store it in an air-tight food container. It will make a lovely frozen dessert. Depending how much you freeze, you’ll need to take it out 10-25 minutes before ready to eat to soften a little.

For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >

Diet Details

My Quick Eton Mess is nut and gluten-free, so long as the pack of meringues says so.

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Quick Eton Mess

This cheat’s quick & easy Eton Mess with ready made meringue, shop-bought strawberry sauce, whipped cream and fresh berries is the perfect summer dessert to whip up when you’re in a hurry.

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Prep Time 15

Total Time 15

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Servings

Equipment

Chopping board
Knife
Large mixing bowl
Electric whisk
Large metal spoon

Ingredients

1 x 8 pack meringue nests or 112g / 3.95oz meringue shells (or cookies US)
300 ml whipping cream
150 g raspberries
400 g strawberries chopped
2 tablespoons strawberry sauce I use Askey’s Treat
Mint sprigs to decorate optional

Instructions

In a large bowl, beat the whipping cream on high until it forms thick soft peaks.
Add in the meringue nests, breaking them up into pieces as you go. Add in the strawberry syrup. Using a large metal spoon fold the mixture until well combined.
Next, add the berries to a medium mixing bowl and add the strawberry syrup and fold it through. If you want to decorate the Eton Mess you can reserve some strawberries and raspberries first.
Fold the berries and sauce mix through the cream and meringue gently until it’s running through nicely, NOT completely combined, so there are some patches of cream and meringue with no berry mix. Transfer to a individual dessert bowls or one large serving dish. You can decorate with the reserved berries and mint sprigs if you like. Serve immediately*.

Notes

*It’s fine to eat the leftovers for the next 2 days, BUT they will go very sloppy and so I don’t recommend it. Instead, put leftovers into a smaller bowl, cover with clingfilm and then foil and freeze! Alternatively store it in an air-tight food container. It will make a lovely frozen dessert. Depending how much you freeze, you’ll need to take it out 10-25 minutes before ready to eat to soften a little.

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