Eton Mess | Everyday Dorie

The meringue turns out more beige than white

Making meringue is the direction I go from time to time whenever there are excess egg whites around — or not. There are many ways to play. Let’s start with a less obvious choice, a vegan or aquafaba meringue made with chickpea liquid. Piped meringue in the shape of hearts for Valentine’s day. Meringue ghosts for Halloween. My favorite has to be the meringue shard which looks amazing atop of a tall glass of lemon posset. All share the essential element of meringue — sweetness and the delicate crunch.

Elton Mess, served at the British boarding school Eton College, is customarily composed of meringue, whipped cream and strawberries or a saucy compote. In other words, there is a lot of play and plenty of room for creativity. You can take chunks of meringue and assemble something in the like of an ice cream sundae. That’s the spirit I approach Dorie’s adaptation of Elton Mess.

Meringue is easy to make in an electric stand mixer. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar until the whites form soft peaks. Add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until you have stiff and glossy white peaks. (The beauty of meringue is the simplicity of the three key ingredients.) In addition, Dorie folds in a sugar-and-cornstarch mix to the stiff meringue. Then spread the meringue about 1/2 inch thick on a baking sheet. Bake at 250°F for an hour 15 minutes. Lastly, leave the meringue with the oven turned off and the door ajar to dry for 2 hours. The thorough drying gives meringue its crunch.

For some reasons, my meringue takes on more beige than I’d like. Is it because I have the convection fan on with the bake?

I didn’t make a rhubarb compote or the crushed Biscoff cookies as Dorie outlines. Instead I stump for my usual mixed berry compote. Make a plateful of broken meringue pieces with crushed pistachios on top. In addition, I add lemon curd, yogurt and fresh berries, similar to the dish in the pages of Everyday Dorie. By and large, it’s a safe choice. This is the feedback I get from my family: too many flavors, all good, but mostly in search of a coherent theme. I can’t agree more! On the other hand, isn’t that what a mess is supposed to be?

Everyday Dorie by Dorie Greenspan