Eton mess cake

Eton mess cake

Bring the flavours of an English summer to your table with this clever twist on a traditional favourite

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 15 pieces

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 - 45 mins

Method

  1. Grease a deep, 20 x 30cm traybake or roasting tin, then line with parchment. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Melt the butter, take off the heat and stir in the cream and the vanilla. Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder and ¼ tsp fine salt and set aside for later.
  2. Put the caster sugar and eggs into a large bowl, and whisk with electric beaters until very thick and foamy, about 5 mins. Pour in the butter mix, whisk briefly, then add the flour mix and whisk briefly again until even. Stir in the chopped strawberries, then pour the batter into the tin and level the top.
  3. Scatter the sliced strawberries and meringue over the cake, then bake for 40-45 mins until risen, golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool for 20 mins in the tin, then transfer the cake to a rack. Just before serving, dust with a little icing sugar. Enjoy with the rest of the double cream, whipped if you like.

PER SERVING

306 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 31g, fat 18 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 1g, sugar 20g, salt 0.17 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2011.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • 20 May 2011

    same965 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    It was a great success! My friends loved it. I was in a hurry and finally I mixed all the strawberry into the batter (next time I will slice some on the top). I didn't put meringues nests either on the top.

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  • 27 May 2011

    frozenpixie rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was nice, but next time I wouldn't bother with the meringue, and I would probably use raspberries instead of strawberries. It also took more like an hour to cook, although I think the blame goes to my terrible oven and the size of my tin. Good thing to bring to a picnic, though. They look really pretty!

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  • 02 June 2011

    Fred rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is so simple and easy to make but I did find that I needed a bigger tin the first time, which was easy to fix the next time. I also found the timings to be right. It's best to eat it on the day.

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  • 03 June 2011

    PamV commented on this recipe

    Great summer cake. Eggs & sugar needed whisking much longer than stated (double the time) but well worth the effort; also needed to be in the oven 10 mins longer. Will definitely do again.

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  • 06 June 2011

    olympia rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I omitted the meringues nests but it came out just perfect!!! I will definitely make this cake again!!!

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  • 12 June 2011

    Avril rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This was a lovely pudding/cake which I made when the family was with us for a week. It was big enough for pudding two nights running. In fact, the piece that was left kept well in the fridge for another couple of days, and all it needed to make it as good as new was about 20 seconds in the microwave to loosen it up again. I don't think the meringue added anything except an unusual appearance - and of course, it wouldn't be Eton Mess Cake without it!

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  • 24 June 2011

    Gill rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Easy to make took slightly longer to cook excellent with icecream for a pudding.Making again for the cake stall at village flower festival as it looks good without having to spend ages icing and decorating.I was not sure about the addition of meringues but thought they worked really well with the finished cake.Lets hope it sells well!!

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  • 26 June 2011

    Beth commented on this recipe

    Worked well - though needed a lot longer in the oven.

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  • 04 July 2011

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really good but as with the couple of comments above, it needed a lot longer in the oven than the recipe states. I didn't put the meringues on top but before putting into the oven, I sprinkled over some golden caster sugar which caramelised the strawberries and stopped them drying out. Very good end result and a lovely summery cake.

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  • 15 August 2011

    HazySummerSky rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    Made this cake for cousins coming for dinner. Quite tasty but definietly needed longer in the oven and would maybe make it with raspberriess instead of strawberries or a mixture of both if I was making it again. looked superb and went well with a good dollop of whipped cream.

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  • 21 August 2011

    Belkey rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really popular, but best eaten on the day of making as the meringue sort of 'dissolves' within a day.

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  • 08 November 2011

    mandy rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • 01 April 2012

    Charliem rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • 10 June 2012

    Alibongo commented on this recipe

    Lovely, easy, great!

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  • 21 June 2012

    brendz rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    loved this recipe... easy to make and tastes delicious.. thank you

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  • 21 June 2012

    brendz commented on this recipe

    loved this recipe... easy to make and tastes delicious.. thank you

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  • 28 July 2012

    PURDYDOG commented on this recipe

    This has become the family favourite. Takes longer in the oven and longer to whisk eggs and sugar to get it really pale and thick. Have used home made meringues and shop bought ones and think the home made ones give better texture and more of a caramelised taste. Ive never seen a cake disappear so quickly! Served it with clotted cream and extra berries.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 15 pieces

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 40 - 45 mins

Ingredients

  • 175g unsalted butter
  • 5 tbsp double cream , from a 300ml pot
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
  • 225g plain flour
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 200g golden caster sugar
  • 5 large eggs , at room temperature
  • 400g strawberries ,½ roughly chopped, ½ finely sliced
  • 4 meringues nests (50g/2oz), very roughly broken up
  • a little icing sugar , to serve
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PER SERVING

306 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 31g, fat 18 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 1g, sugar 20g, salt 0.17 g

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