I have been so excited for summer, purely to get this Vegan Eton Mess with Summer Fruits recipe out! And yes, I know what you’re thinking - what is Vanessa doing making a non-chocolate dessert?! Well it turns out I love a whole host of desserts, especially when it comes to summer fruits and whipped cream!!
Eton mess is a super simple dessert, and just consists of meringue, whipped cream and summer fruits. Of course, traditionally, meringue is made with hens’ eggs, and whipped cream is a dairy product - so here I have the vegan versions of both of these.
Making vegan meringue is magical, (really! Promise!)
The magic is that it's made from chickpea water. So literally, the water you get when you drain a tin of chickpeas! It’s called aquafaba, and it acts as an egg replacer. It also means you have another excuse to make hummus with the leftover chickpeas. Yum….
Aquafaba acts in the same way as egg white when it is whisked, ( and allows you to make meringue in the same way. It does take quite a bit of whisking - more than 10 minutes, so a little patience is required, but it is all totally worth it.
When placing the meringue mix on the baking trays, you don’t need to make the perfect ‘nests’, especially as you will be breaking them up for the Eton mess. So you can use a piping bag if you want, but using a spoon works fine. Of course if you want to use the recipe to make fruit and cream topped meringue nests, then piping bags will make them look prettier, but it is certainly isn’t a requirement.
And then there’s the whipped cream. I love this cream because although it is made from coconut cream, it doesn’t have an overpowering coconut flavour. But is still creamy and fluffy. You can buy tins of pure coconut cream, or just take a can of coconut milk and leave it in the fridge for 4 hours, or overnight. Then once you open the tin, the cream will have come to the top and you can scoop it out. The coconut milk left over is great for smoothies and baking. We love to have minimal waste in our cooking!
Lastly choose the fruit you like best for your Eton mess. I think the best are the traditional strawberries and raspberries, but nothing to stop you using blueberries, blackberries or black currants for your own twist.
This Vegan Eton Mess with Summer Fruits is a great dish to whip out and impress your guests over summer, and especially have them marvel at how you made it vegan! Enjoy the sun….
Vegan Eton Mess with Summer Fruits
Ingredients
To make the meringue (makes around 25 small meringues)
- Water from 1 tin (400g of chickpeas)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 150 g caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
To make the whipped cream
- Ingredients
- Coconut cream from the tin of 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 4 tablespoon icing suga
To put together the Eton Mess
- Ingredients
- Around 15 of meringue circles you made (meringues should make up a bit more than a third of the whole Eton Mess mixture)
- All of the coconut cream you made
- 2-3 cups fresh or frozen summer fruits such as strawberries and raspberries
Instructions
To make the meringue (makes around 25 small meringues)
- Method
- Pre-heat oven to 100⁰C. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
- Drain the tin of chickpeas, keeping the liquid (keep the chickpeas for a different use).
- Put the chickpea water in a mixing bowl with the cream of tartar.
- Whisk the chickpea water and cream of tartar with an electric whisk for a few minutes, starting on a low speed and gradually building up.
- Add the sugar gradually (a tablespoon at a time), still gradually building up the speed, until you get firm glossy peaks. This can take well over 10 minutes, so please be patient.
- Add the vanilla essence extract and whisk well.
- Using a piping bag or just using a spoon, make small circles out of mixture onto the baking tray, about 3cm wide.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 90 minutes, or until the circles are firm and can easily be taken off the baking parchment.
- Allow the meringues to cool fully before using.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
To make the whipped cream
- Put the tin of coconut milk in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight so the coconut cream rises to the top.
- Put the mixing bowl and whisk beaters in the fridge for 15 minutes prior to making the recipe.
- Open the tin of coconut milk carefully. You will find the coconut cream has risen to the top. Scoop this out and place in the mixing bowl. The coconut water can be used in your next smoothie or in other cake recipes.
- Add the icing sugar. Whisk the sugar and coconut cream for around 3 minutes.
- Use the cream straight away or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- If you use after storing in the fridge, it may need another quick whisk before being used.
To put together the Eton Mess
- Break up the meringues into chunks (around 4-5 pieces per meringue circle) and place in a mixing bowl.
- Add all the whipped cream and fruit, and carefully mix together.
- Spoon the mixture into bowls or glasses.
- Top with some extra fruit..
- If using frozen fruit, wait until these have defrosted before serving.
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