Eton mess

With Wimbledon on for a large part of this month, strawberries and cream are on the menu

Crunchy meringue, whipped cream and strawberry sauce is a winning combination, best served al fresco.

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 120g caster sugar
• 500g strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
• 450ml double cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

Method (Serves six)

1. Heat the oven to 120°C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl using an electric whisk or tabletop mixer until they reach stiff peaks, then add the sugar in three lots, re-whisking to stiff peaks every time.
3. Spoon dollops of the mixture onto the baking parchment and cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes until the meringues are completely hard and come off the paper easily. Leave to cool.
4. Blitz a third of the strawberries to make a strawberry sauce.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the cream with the icing sugar until it just holds its shape.
6. Roughly crush three quarters of the meringues and tip them in with the chopped strawberries and stir, then swirl through the strawberry sauce.
7. Dollop into bowls, then crush the remaining meringues, sprinkling the pieces over the top.

Text and photography | Sophie Godwin

Photography | Sham Clicks, Dennis Clevert

For more information, go to bbcgoodfood.com.

Tennis, anyone?

Strawberries and cream are closely associated with Wimbledon, arguably the most famous tennis tournament in the world.

•  Strawberries are in season in England in June and July, when the tournament is held.
• It was first enjoyed by crowds at the first edition of Wimbledon in 1877 after King Henry VII proclaimed that he enjoyed it.
• Today’s Wimbledon strawberries are grown at Hugh Lowe farms (around 50km away from the venue), where 100,000 new plants are planted in March each year to guarantee supply.
• Sports fans consume 1.9 tonnes of strawberries at Wimbledon each year.
• The price of a serving of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon has stayed the same since 2010: £2.50, or around R60.