Sluttishly Sweet: Eton Mess

Remember last week when Carrie told you how to make meringue? It's as easy as she said. I've always been wary of whisking the white stuff, but it's so simple.

I read a trick somewhere that you should use 55 grams of sugar for every egg white. Sounds simple enough. Just whisk up the whites until they're firm, then gradually add the sugar and whisk in soft peaks and they're ready to go in the oven on a low heat for an hour.

The best thing about making Eton Mess is that if if do all go wrong, you won't care because you're going to bash up your meringues anyway. And that's the fun part. Of course, if you don't fancy making your own meringues, you can buy some ready made (there's no such thing as meringue police, I've checked). You can use whatever cream you like, too - I've made this recipe with whipped and unwhipped now. I prefer it with whipped, but it's tasty both ways. There aren't many things that taste better than strawberries and cream.

You'll need (for four)

• 200ml Cream
• 4 meringues, bashed up.
• Half a punnet strawberries

Make it!

• If you're whipping your cream, do that first. Do use an electric whisk.
  
• Slice up your strawberries. Slice some more because you keep eating them.
• Bash up your meringues (OK, if you've made them yourself they'll probably break up just fine, but where's the fun in that?)
• Fold your meringues into the cream and put in bowls or cocktail glasses. I used champagne bowls which are always perfectly sized for pudding portions.
  
• Pop the sliced strawberries on top of your mess. (Don't fold it into the cream mixture - everything will go pink before you've even served it.)
• Serve to your favourite people, and wait for them to be impressed with your meringue making. Then send them to Domestic Sluttery so they can learn how to do it themselves.

Flickr image from geishaboy500's photostream.