Fathers Day Treats..."Tidy Eton Mess"

Well it's Fathers Day today and of course me and my son had to go all out for the big day...so a couple of bottles of wine, a fab card, a karting voucher for him and some mates and a little something my son made him, he was over the moon, which I must say is a big improvement from what I had for Mother's Day...nothing :(! Not only that but I also made his favourite foods, a big chicken roast and Eton mess...well my version :))

I must say I'm not the biggest fan of meringue so I guess that means there's more for the hubby but I do like to make them as they are so simple to make and you can transform them into a wowtastic dessert. My version of Eton mess is "Tidy Eton Mess" I hate the thought of making these pretty meringues and then having to break them up to put into a dessert so I down right refuse and would rather make them pretty, so that's how my pretty Eton mess was created. I also like to make my cream filling a little more exciting, so I use a combination of cream and mascarpone, with a little icing sugar and vanilla extract, giving a lovely creamier taste and makes this dessert a little more interesting :)

So heres my recipe for the meringues and the filling...use these to create to wonderful "tidy Eton mess" tower :)

Meringue

3 egg whites

170g caster sugar

Put the egg whites into a bowl and with a hand mixer mix until you get stiff peaks

Slowly add in the cater sugar, about a tablespoon at a time until well incorporated

Spoon the meringue into a baking sheet and using a skewer swirl the meringue around and around until you get a good circle and a peak at the top

Pop into an oven at 140/130c fan for an hour (if one big one) or about 20 minutes if mini ones

Turn off the oven and leave to cool in the oven

Filling

125g mascarpone

200ml double cream

2 tbsp icing sugar (dependant on taste)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the double cream in a bowl and using a hand mixer beat until you get stuff peaks

In a separate bowl, add the mascarpone and mix to loosen slightly, add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and mix well

Add the mascarpone to the cream and fold in gently 

Tidy Eton Mess

Take one of the mini meringues and place on a plate, flatten slightly and spoon some of the cream mixture on top

Place some cut up strawberries on the cream and then a small amount of the cream (to hold the meringue in place) then top with another meringue. Flatten this one down slightly and repeat the process and top with the top meringue, I always use the nicest one for the top.

Another alternative is to use some lemon curd and blueberries, so after you have placed the cream on the first meringue, add a little lemon curd and top with some blueberries then a small amount of cream and repeat the process with another layer of meringue as above :)