Red Berry Eton Mess

Before starting this Red Berry Eton Mess recipe, organise the necessary ingredients for the French meringue.

For the French meringue: Pour the egg whites at room temperature in the stand mixer recipient...

... and start beating at medium speed with the whisk until foamy.

When the egg whites have a foamy consistency (don't beat until firm), add 12 grams of castor sugar...

... and continue beating until soft.

Stop the mixer.

In the meantime, sift the icing sugar and 75 grams castor sugar in a fine sieve, over a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Add the sifted ingredients to the meringue...

... and incorporate carefully with a rubber spatula.

The French meringue is ready.

Transfer 2/3 of the meringue on a sheet of greaseproof paper (40 x 30cm)...

... and spread with a metallic cranked spatula to a thickness of 3 or 4mm...

... over the whole surface of the baking parchment.

Slide the baking parchment over a Silichef® perforated baking sheet.

Transfer the rest of the meringue over a second sheet of greaseproof paper and spread.

I used Timut peppercorns for this operation, but this is optional. These peppercorns have a delicious citrus flavour.

Grind the Timut peppercorns directly over the meringue.

Place the two meringue sheets in a fan-assisted oven at 80°C and bake for 3 hours. The meringue can be prepared in advance and stored in a dry room.

Assembling the Eton Mess: This should be done at the last minute. We need red berries, sugar, strawberry purée and whipping cream.

Stem the red berries and place them into a bowl. Cut the larger fruits in halves or quarters (such as strawberries).

Pour the whipping cream in the stand mixer bowl and add the sugar and vanilla sugar. Beat until you get a whipped cream. Only use vanilla sugar if you would like a lightly sweetened whipped cream.

The whipped cream should have a soft consistency, not too firm. Finish beating the Chantilly cream with a hand whisk. Refrigerate.

Minutes before serving, break the meringue into large chunks over the red berries. If the meringue chunks are too small, they will get wet and will dissolve in the preparation.

Add the vanilla Chantilly cream...

... and fold gently with a rubber spatula.

Add the strawberry purée.

Combine carefully until you get a red marble effect. The mix should not be homogeneous, with different colours and textures.

Fill the glass jars with the mix of red berries, meringue and whipped cream.

The result should be as shown in the photo.

For the finish: Place the red berries into a bowl.

Add 20 grams of strawberry purée...

... and combine carefully until all the fruits are coated with purée.

Arrange the red berries carefully on top of each glass jar.

Prick chunks of meringue with peppercorns over the red berries. If you didn't use Timut pepper, simply use regular meringue. This should be done at the very last minute to make sure the meringue doesn't soften.

Our Eton Mess desserts with red berries are ready to serve. Enjoy this delicious dessert!