Eton Mess

After making an abundance of meringues on Saturday, I shared the recipe and adventure on Facebook.  This struck up a conversation with an acquaintance who is now living in England.  She told me about a dessert they have in England that contains meringues, and told me it is called an Eton Mess, named after the famed Eton College.  I had to make it tonight with the last bit of meringues I had left, because well, it looked and sounded like it was to die for - rest assured, it is! 

A traditional Eton Mess calls for vanilla meringues, muddled strawberries, and vanilla whipped cream.  I only had chocolate meringues on hand, and blackberries were one sale, so this is where a little imagination brought me! 

Eton Mess
Yields 4 generous servings

Ingredients
1 pint heavy cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla 
1 pint blackberries 
15 - 20 chocolate meringues

If you don't want to make everything from scratch, you can use store bough meringues and a container of Cool Whip! 

To Prepare the Eton Mess
1. Put the blackberries in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of sugar and smush them down with a fork.  Put them in the fridge until it is time to serve!

2. Pour the heavy cream in a stand mixer on a medium speed, or pour it into a bowl to beat by hand or with a hand mixer. 
3. After the cream has been beating for a few minutes, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 
4. When the cream has turned into the consistency of whipped cream, fold in the blackberries.  If you are serving it later, cover it and put it in the fridge.  The meringues will get soft if they sit, so add them right before serving for the best taste!  If you are serving it immediately, move right along to step 5!

5. Break up the meringues and fold them into the whipped cream bowl. 
6. Garnish with a blackberry or two, and serve!