The blackberries are not quite ready yet, but it won't be long now. We are lucky in this country to have an abundance of blackberries that grow in just about every hedgerow free for the picking. They call them Brambles over here and long about late July on, you can see people parked up and picking to their hearts content. We British are great lovers of the Bramble, and no small wonder.
We actually have plenty right in our back garden as well as in our hedge. I always end up the season with bags of them in the freezer, ready to turn into pies and crumbles and jams. This recipe I am sharing today makes good use of either fresh or frozen blackberries and is a RIF on our very popular Eton Mess Dessert, which is actually just whipped cream, strawberries and crushed meringues. A simple dessert. One thing I really love about British summers . . . they are a tasty berry fest from beginning to end!
I was recently gifted (as an early Birthday Pressie) with this lovely Cookhouse Hand Blender and I was really chuffed to receive it. As you know mine had recently disappeared and my electric hand whisk blew up. I have been busy putting it through its paces since I received it. I use it every day. It is great for making lovely homemade mayonnaise, and pureeing banana, making smoothies, etc. The mini food processor makes short work of blitzing small bits into crumbs, like nuts and bread. I use it to chop onions and celery. Oddly enough I had never used the whisk attachment on my old stick blender, but not having a working hand mixer now, I decided to use this the other day to whip together my cream and yogurt for this dessert.
It did an excellent job! This electric hand blender has variable speeds, so you can start it off at a lower speed and work it up to a higher speed. This was invaluable when it came to whipping up this cream mixture. It did not end up all over the kitchen because of that! Yay!
Eton Mess is a very traditional British dessert composed of fresh strawberries, broken meringues and whipped cream.
History says that it was first eaten at Eton College in 1893, created to serve at the annual cricket match between the pupils of Eton and Harrow.
Its very delicious in its simplicity, but then again . . . it is the simple things in life which often bring us the greatest pleasures.
This lovely dessert I am sharing today is a variation on that theme . . .
A simple whole blackberry sauce is layered in glasses with a good lemon curd. If you have your own homemade curd so much the better. You can find my recipe for that here. Its pretty darned good if I don't say so myself.
You don't have to use homemade curd . . . but its awfully nice if you can.
The cream mixture is simply thick Greek Yogurt and Single Cream (whipping cream) beaten together until soft peaks form.
I use full fat yogurt, why quibble over a few calories when it comes to this. In for a penny . . . in for a pound.
These are layered in dessert glasses. I like a layer of the yogurt cream on the bottom and then on the top.
With layers of the bramble sauce and lemon curd in between . . .
You top it with crumbled meringue nests and finish it off with a light dusting of icing sugar. This is so, so, so . . . lush and delicious.
Yield: 4
Author: Marie Rayner
Blackberry & Lemon Eton Mess
A delicious RIF on a traditional favorite using seasonal blackberries.ingredients:
- 150g fresh or frozen blackberries (1 cup)
- 1 TBS water
- 2 TBS sugar, divided
- 280g full fat Greek yogurt (1 cup)
- 240ml single cream (1 cup)
- 160g good quality lemon curd (1/2 cup)
- 2 meringue nests, crumbled
- icing sugar to dust
instructions:
How to cook Blackberry & Lemon Eton Mess
- First prepare the blackberry sauce so that it can cool enough to use. (I actually like to prepare it the night before.) Place the berries along with the water and 1 TBS of the sugar into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes until reduced. It should be somewhat syrupy. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely. (If making the night before, cover and place in the refrigerator.)
- Place the yogurt, cream and remaining sugar into a bowl. Whip with an electric whisk until soft peaks form. Layer this mixture into dessert glasses along with the lemon curd and blackberry mixture, making a bottom and top cream addition, with the lemon curd and blackberries in the middle. Crumble the meringues over top, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately. Fabulously tasty!
I cut the recipe in half for this, successfully, making only two servings which Todd was able to enjoy two days in a row. Oh but I was sorely tempted . . . and yes, I did have a tiny taste for review purposes you understand, lol. I could never recommend something I hadn't actually at least tasted for myself could I? Oh the things I do for you . . . . you are most welcome! 😋
