Heston’s Recipe for Eton Mess

There is something unashamedly wicked about this dessert. An interesting aside is that the seeds of the strawberry — the ones visible on the outside of the fruit — are, in fact, the fruit itself. The red-fleshed berry is not the true fruit of the plant.

So, after that useless piece of information, here is the recipe.

Ideally, start preparing this an hour before serving. These quantities will feed four at a delicate dinner party or one strawberry-frenzied diner: the more of it you make, the more will be eaten.

If you’re making your own strawberry juice, you’ll need to start the day before, as it needs to hang overnight to drain.

Meringue

Ingredients

• 250g egg whites
• 250g caster sugar
• 250g icing sugar, sieved

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C.
2. Whip the egg whites until soft peaks begin to form.
3. Add the caster sugar and continue beating for 5 minutes.
4. Add the icing sugar and beat slowly for a further 5 minutes.
5. Spread the mixture onto a non-stick baking sheet.
6. Bake for 2 hours, or until the meringue is crunchy and dry.
7. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Strawberry Juice

This produces a wonderfully pure juice that will keep in the fridge for several days and has many other uses, from pouring over ice cream to serving as the base for a cordial. (The method works equally well with raspberries.)

These quantities will make 250ml of juice, though it can be reduced to taste. The fructose intensifies the strawberry flavour, but this will still be delicious with sugar instead.

Ingredients

• 750g strawberries, washed and hulled
• 70g fructose (or icing sugar or caster sugar)

Method

1. Quarter the strawberries and place them in a bowl.
2. Sprinkle with the fructose (or sugar) and cover with clingfilm.
3. Choose a saucepan over which the bowl will sit snugly. Fill the pan with 3–4cm of water and place over a very low heat.
4. Place the covered bowl on top of the pan and leave for 1½ hours. The water should be only lightly simmering. Take care not to let it evaporate and top up as necessary.
5. Carefully lift the bowl from the pan and remove the clingfilm.
6. Place a clean, unused double muslin or dry J-cloth in another bowl so that it lines the bowl and hangs over the edges.
7. Tip the still-warm strawberry mixture into the cloth-lined bowl.
8. Gather together the edges of the cloth to form a bag-shaped parcel. Tie the neck securely with string.
9. Hang the bag from a shelf in the fridge with a bowl underneath to catch the juices.
10. Leave to drain overnight.
11. The next day, discard the contents of the bag — all of the strawberry flavour will have been extracted.