Eton mess

Eton Mess
© TummyRumble (Flickr)

Ingredients:
600g of the best strawberries you can find!
300g Raspberries
300ml Double Cream
2 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Vanilla Pod
6 Tablespoons of Icing Sugar
6 Shop bought meringue nests
1 Teaspoon of Ground Pepper
Small Bunch of Mint

The first job is to chop the tops of the strawberries and discard. Half all the strawberries and place in a bowl. Place 2 tablespoons of the icing sugar in the bowl, all of the ground pepper and also all of the balsamic vinegar.

Put this in the fridge for at least half an hour. The sugar and balsamic will draw out some of the juices of the strawberries, and they will intensify in flavour.

Then, get a large mixing bowl, pour in all the double cream, split the vanilla pod and put the vanilla seeds in. Add the rest of the icing sugar to the cream. Whisk this until soft peaks. Taste the cream, and if it isn’t sweet enough for you, add a touch more icing sugar.

The all you have to do is create a mess!

Add the strawberries with all the lovely balsamic juices with it, add the raspberries, crumble the meringue (not too much, it’s good to have large and small chunks for a contrast in texture)

Mix it gently so it’s all evenly distributed and you create a ripple effect in the cream.

Place in either a large or individual bowls. Roughly chop the mint, and sprinkle over the top.

Serve to your lucky guests