Tuesday, October 28, 2025

This Simple Dessert Is an Elegant Riff on a British Traditional

Why It Works

  • Macerating the fruit with the herbs brings out and intensifies their flavors.
  • Including the fruit to the meringue cookies simply earlier than serving helps scale back sogginess.
  • Zesting the lime instantly into the compote ensures unstable oils aren’t misplaced in your reducing board.
  • Cardamom masks any ‘beaniness’ from the aquafaba.

Impressed by the Eton mess—a basic English dessert consisting of meringue, whipped cream, and strawberries—this vegan model options aquafaba meringue cookies served with ripe strawberries macerated in a aromatic combination of recent lime, mint, and Thai basil. Though this recipe skips out on the standard whipped cream, be happy so as to add a scoop of your favourite dairy or dairy-free selection. 

The meringues are ready from aquafaba, the cooking liquid for chickpeas, which is whisked with cream of tartar and sugar to supply a steady and ethereal foam that, when portioned and baked, produces white, satiny pillows that instantly soften in your mouth. Nevertheless, since aquafaba meringue can have a moderately sturdy “beany” aroma, I selected to tweak the standard macerated strawberry topping, including very fragrant elements like mint and Thai basil to cowl it up. Utilizing each lime juice and zest within the compote additionally provides to the flavors and helps present some wanted brightness to offset the sweetness of the dessert.

When you combine the berries with the meringue cookies, be certain that to serve and revel in instantly to stop the liquids from dissolving the cookies.

Might 2021

This Simple Dessert Is an Elegant Riff on a British Traditional



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For the Strawberry Compote:

  • 1 pound (454 grams) recent strawberries, hulled and quartered lengthwise

  • 12 recent mint leaves, thinly sliced

  • 12 recent Thai basil leaves, thinly sliced

  • 1 tablespoon (15 gramssugar

  • Zest of 1 lime (don’t zest till referred to as for in recipe step)

  • 2 tablespoons (30 ml) recent lime juice from 1 to 2 limes

For Serving:

  1. For the Strawberry Compote: In a medium mixing bowl, mix strawberries with mint, Thai basil, and sugar.

    Nik Sharma


  2. Utilizing a zester, zest the peel of 1 lime instantly over the strawberries (this may guarantee unstable oils from the lime peel get into the strawberries and will not be misplaced in your reducing board).

    Nik Sharma


  3. Add lime juice to the strawberries, combine properly, then let stand for no less than 5 and as much as 10 minutes.

    Nik Sharma


  4. For Serving: When able to serve, crumble the meringues into bite-size items and divide amongst 4 serving bowls. High every with the strawberry compote and serve instantly.

    Nik Sharma


Make-Forward and Storage

The dessert is greatest ready and assembled proper earlier than serving.

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