Pimms Eton Mess

Fri, 9 July 2021

Chef: Aisling Larkin

 

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

200g Pavlova / Meringue ( or shop bought )

4 large eggs

225g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp vinegar

½ tsp cornflour

Pimm’s Syrup

100 ml Pimm’s No. 1

75 g caster sugar

1 tbsp. seedless strawberry jam

Zest of 1/2 orange, peeled into strips

Zest of 1/2 lemon, peeled into strips

Small handful mint leaves

1 cucumber slice

Macerated Strawberries

600g strawberries

2 tbsp castor sugar

50mls Pimms ( or orange juice )

Filling

125g Orange Curd

400mls fresh cream + 1 tsp vanilla

To garnish

400g Strawberries

Cucumber strips

Orange

Mint

Method

Pimms Syrup : Put the Pimm's and sugar in a small saucepan, heat gently, stirring to dissolve, then bring to the boil and bubble for 4-5min or until the mixture is syrupy. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the strawberry jam. Add the strips of zest, mint leaves and cucumber and swirl the pan. Leave to infuse and cool completely (at least 1hr), then strain into a small jug, cover and leave at room temperature.

Pavlova: Separate 3 large room temperature eggs. Put in the electric beaters and beat well for 3/4 minutes. When soft stuff peaks have formed, gradually add the sugar spoon by spoon and the vinegar and cornflour until the texture is smooth, velvety, not grainy and you can confidently hold the bowl over your head without the mixture falling out. Dollop out spoonfuls or pipe them on to parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 1 hour ( if you make very small ones 50 minutes in the oven ). Turn off the oven and allow to cool.

Dehydrated orange wheels - slice an orange into circles, place on parchment paper a flat oven tray. Pop in to the oven to dehydrate. Allow to cool.

Strawberries: Mascerate the strawberries to bring out the flavour. Wash and hull them. Cut in halves and quarters and sprinkle with castor sugar and Pimms. Allow to sit for only 30 minutes so prepare these just in advance of assembly.

Cream: Whip the cream to form soft peaks.

Assembly: Crack the pavlovas into pieces. Place some in the bottom of the dessert glass. Dollop in the cream, dot in the orange curd, layer in some strawberries, drizzle over the Pimm’s syrup ( use a heavy hand here - just make sure you divide it out evenly for all four desserts) and repeat. To finish dollop on teaspoons of cream, small shards of pavlova, top with fresh strawberries, dehydrated orange wheels, strips of cucumber and fresh mint.

Serve and enjoy.