Last Updated on January 26, 2026
A Five Minute Dessert – Raspberry Eton Mess:
Proper cooks would make their own meringues, but I seldom make dessert, and when I do, I generally want something I can put together really quickly. While homemade meringues can be wonderful, they take two to three hours to ‘cook’. Personally, I’m quite happy with the shop-bought version in this recipe; broken up with a lot of cream, fresh fruit, and if you are feeling wicked, a spoonful or so of liqueur or brandy. I really can’t tell the difference. Most of the major supermarkets sell packs of ready-made meringues and, if you are lucky, you might even pick up a broken pack with a discount – perfect for making Eton Mess because you are going to break the meringue up anyway.
There are a couple of legends about the origin of Eton Mess. One, a frisky Labrador, sat on the picnic basket of some spectators during the annual cricket match at the college. The strawberry pavlova looked ruined, but when spooned into dessert bowls, it tasted great. A second legend is that one of the cooks tripped on her way to serve dessert at the college. Once again, the broken pavlova was served up – and nicknamed Eton Mess.
However it originated, Eton Mess is a lovely, simple-to-put-together dessert with infinite variations. Most commonly made with strawberries, I prefer the tartness of raspberries, and in any case, I have a rather bad allergy to strawberries.
Raspberry Eton Mess
Ingredients
- 150 g Raspberries
- 150 ml Double or Whipping Cream
- 2 teaspoons Icing Sugar Or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon Chambord Or liqueur of your taste to match the raspberry
- 5 Mini meringue shells Or 2 individual nests
- 2 sprigs Fresh Mint
Instructions
- Whip the cream with the icing sugar.
- Mash half the raspberries with a fork and mix with the liqueur
- Put aside 4 whole raspberries and roughly chop the remaining fruit
- Break the meringue into 1-2cm bits
- Roughly stir the chopped fruit into the whipped cream.
- Gently stir through the mashed fruit to create a swirly effect.
- Stir through the meringue pieces.
- Split the mixture into two serving dishes and garnish with the whole raspberries and mint.
Nutrition
If your preference is for strawberries, I’d suggest garnishing the dessert with a few sprigs of basil. But really, it’s all about personal taste.
Don’t try making this too much in advance; it’s best put together at the last minute. If you are entertaining and want to keep time in the kitchen to a minimum, just prepare everything up to mixing the ingredients together.
And, if you know you’d like to make this recipe, just not right now, why not pin the post for later!
This recipe was originally published on our sister site, London-Unattached.
Looking for something different? Try our recipe for the perfect Cranachan
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