Learn by doing. Or in my case, learn what you can't make by doing. I have now tried to make Italian chocolate meringues several times and always end up with a flat sheet of meringue, tasting deliciously but very very flat. So I have given up on getting it actually look like a meringue should and decided on loving it just the way it is, after all it is the goodness that count, moral and taste-bud oriented. My chocolate meringue (because what should be ten meringues, is one. We ten are one it seems to tell me) has that lovely crunchiness of Italian meringues and a nice chewy centre and it is really good eaten alone but a very old love of mine suddenly turned up when I was thinking about what to do with it.
When I was a child, I loved a dessert called Meringue Swiss in Swedish; it is a very simple dessert, you just take whipped cream and meringues and mix the two, it is a simplified version of Eton Mess where you also add strawberries so I thought why not make my own Mess, my own version of the famous Eton Mess with the chocolate meringue, strawberries and whipped cream? I did and I loved it which just proves that we never really let go of the child inside you and to be honest, I'm happy we don't because who want to be just the age where you are right now? to leave all the yous of the past behind you? I don't and neither do you I hope so feel free to indulge yourself on My Mess!
MY MESS - CHOCOLATE MERINGUE, STRAWBERRIES AND WHIPPED CREAM
4 servings
meringue:
3 egg-whites, better if they are a old ones
230 g/ 8,1 oz sugar
3-4 tblsp cocoa powder, the amount depends how pure the cocoa powder is and how chocolaty you want the meringue
300 ml/1,25 cup fresh cream
500 g/ 1,1 lb strawberries
- Now you can make Italian meringue in several ways, there is the classical way (which I will try next time. I think.) and the easy way, less exact way that I will give you here: take a pan and fill it to the half with water that you heat up to a simmer. Whisk egg-whites and sugar in a heat resistant bowl that you put in the simmering water and whisk until the sugar has dissolved.
- Now you turn on your electrical whisk and keep on whisking for about 15 minutes when the meringue should be fluffy and stiff. Sift the cocoa powder in and whisk for another minute.
- The meringue will now be less stiff so you better put a parchment paper in a square cake tin, I use one that is 25 cm x 29 cm/ 9,8 in x 11,4 in and spread out the meringue evenly.
- Put the tin in a pre-heated oven (150°C/300°F) that you turn down to 120°C/250°F when you have closed it.
- Bake for 45 minutes, turn down the oven and let the meringue in it for at least one hour, preferably more. When it is ready, break the meringue into smaller pieces
- Slice or cut the strawberries into pieces.
- Whip the fresh cream and start making layers of cream, strawberries and chocolate meringue in a big bowl or in smaller dessert bowls. Or you just mix it all into a big Mess.
- If you want, you can sprinkle chocolate shavings over before serving.
- Now you turn on your electrical whisk and keep on whisking for about 15 minutes when the meringue should be fluffy and stiff. Sift the cocoa powder in and whisk for another minute.
- The meringue will now be less stiff so you better put a parchment paper in a square cake tin, I use one that is 25 cm x 29 cm/ 9,8 in x 11,4 in and spread out the meringue evenly.
- Put the tin in a pre-heated oven (150°C/300°F) that you turn down to 120°C/250°F when you have closed it.
- Bake for 45 minutes, turn down the oven and let the meringue in it for at least one hour, preferably more. When it is ready, break the meringue into smaller pieces
- Slice or cut the strawberries into pieces.
- Whip the fresh cream and start making layers of cream, strawberries and chocolate meringue in a big bowl or in smaller dessert bowls. Or you just mix it all into a big Mess.
- If you want, you can sprinkle chocolate shavings over before serving.
Here we are, me and my child inside, ready to indulge into such a beautiful mess!
ReplyDeleteI've never made an Eton Mess before, but it sounds really interesting and taste buds oriented! ;)
Baci
Juls
If only all messes were this delicious. If you lived neare, I'd be there now! :D
ReplyDelete<span><span>Hub & Poppet will gladly eat your mess any time, including me. If only my mess comes out as lovely n beautiful as yours. :) </span></span>
ReplyDeleteIt looks dangerously good ;) and that pic of the strawberries in the carton is GORGEOUS!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.talkoftomatoes.com
Oh my Ilva I do love your talk ... the little girl you ... and me ... it makes me very happy when they can come out and play together in a chocolate strawberry mess!
ReplyDelete三分之一的人生,可以決定另外三分之二的人生！！共勉哦！ ....................................................
ReplyDeleteLooks like the most delicious mess I've ever seen!!! And the strawberries make me long for the summer!!
ReplyDeleteHi Ilva.
ReplyDeleteThe method you described it is called Swiss meringue. The trick is to heat the whites really well, they should almost feel too hot to the touch. Then you whip them until they are cooled down, then you fold slowly the cocoa powder (I used to make them with chopped chocolate as well). The other trick for a stiff meringue is to have double weight in sugar. So weigh your whites next time, and add double weight in sugar. There is a huge variability with the size of the eggs, so the weight is a better indication.
I love the color combination in the shots with the spoons.
Det går ju lika bra med platta maränger :) Jag är inte heller någon höjdare på dom. Prövade faktiskt i tisdags att göra rabarbermaränger. vispade och vispade och tyckte det började bli tillräckligt tjockt men så plötsligt blev smeten bara helt lös... Jag fick hälla ut på bakplåtspapper till en stor platt "marängkaka" istället. Blev seg i mitten men fungerar ju att bryta lite ändå över glass, frukt eller vad man nu vill äta för gott :)
ReplyDeleteHey... last night I was in Martigny and had a delicious dessert with Meringues, cream and a little ice cream, all that very well presented ;)
ReplyDeleteIlva if you want some Meringues de Gruyeres, we need a way to meet and I'll bring you some from Switzerland ! Don't hesite to ask !
Ciao !
That is the only mess I am willing to eat.
ReplyDelete<span>bittersweetsugarandsarcasm.blogspot.com</span>
Devine looking. I've just read of the benefits of the calorie-restricted diet and what it can do to one's longevity. No calorie restriction with this bowl of delicious.
ReplyDelete<span>Oh to be a child again just to eat this fabulous dessert! And I really think that I would much rather have a bowl of whipped cream and fresh strawberries with bits and pieces of chocolate meringues in it then just the meringues themselves. Looks fabulous and gorgeous pics!
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Hi Ilva.... Fab photos.. My husbands mum always used to make Eton Mess for them, I had never heard of it til I met him.. Looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteMess or not, still sounds yum!
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious, Ilva. The strawberries are calling out to me. ;)
ReplyDeletePaz
This looks delicious! Always such beautiful photos :)
ReplyDeleteHaven't ever seen or heard of a prettier looking mess.
ReplyDelete