Eton Mess

Separate the egg whites from the yolks and begin whipping them gradually into a light, airy foam. Then, adding sugar little by little, whip to stiff peaks. The mixture should be glossy, shiny, and thick enough that it nearly wraps around the whisk. The sugar should be fully dissolved by the time you're done whipping. For more detail on how to make meringue, see the introduction to the recipe — Coffee Meringue with Chocolate Ganache. At the end, add the cocoa and whip just a little longer, only until the cocoa is fully incorporated.

Transfer the mixture to a sturdy zip-lock bag and cut off a corner about 2 cm wide (or use a piping bag with tips). Pipe the mixture into small rounds onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Place in an oven preheated to 100°C. Dry for approximately 1–2 hours. The time can vary significantly depending on your oven. Let cool. I didn't end up using all the meringues for this dessert — just a little over half — so if you'd like, you can make the meringues using only 2 egg whites, which will be plenty.

Place 2/3 of the raspberries (about 200 g) in a small saucepan, add sugar, bring to a boil, and crush the berries with a potato masher. Then press through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

You'll end up with a raspberry purée like this. Let it cool.

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks, adding a little sugar and the vanilla sugar. Adjust the amount of sugar to your taste — it will also depend on which berries you're using.

Break the meringues into pieces in a bowl.

Now everything is ready — let's start assembling. Assemble the dessert right before serving. Place some meringue pieces at the bottom of each glass.

Next, add the whipped cream.

Then spoon on some of the berry purée.

Then add some of the remaining berries, lightly crushed — just a few, literally 5–6 per layer. Adding too many berries doesn't make it tastier, especially if the berries are on the tart side.

Then repeat all the layers again.

Finally, arrange a little of everything on top of the dessert in a casual, haphazard way.

It looks so pretty from the side like this. If you prefer, you don't have to layer it at all — just toss everything together in one bowl and spoon it into glasses.

Serve immediately, as the meringue will start to soften if left to sit. Eton mess is incredibly easy to make and turns out absolutely delicious! People kept asking for seconds, but I only made 3 servings)) So go ahead and double the recipe, especially if you have a lot of taste-testers!))