A quintessential English pudding reworked as a fabulous cake, this Eton mess traybake recipe is one you'll make this again and again.
Preparation time 25 mins Baking time 40-45 mins Serves 15 Ingredients:
- 175g unsalted butter
- 300ml double cream
- 11/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 225g plain flour
- 100g ground almonds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch fine salt
- 200g strawberries
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 200g bilberries
- 4 meringues nests (approx 50g), broken into pieces
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method:
- Grease and line a deep 20x30cm traybake or roasting tin and preheat the oven to 160˚C/140˚C fan/gas mark 3.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan then remove from the heat and stir in the cream and vanilla extract. Set aside. Place the flour, almonds, baking powder and salt in a bowl, mix well then set aside. Finely slice half of the strawberries then roughly chop the remaining strawberries.
- Whisk the sugar and eggs together in a large bowl for approx 5 mins using an electric whisk until thick. Pour in the melted butter, whisk briefly then add the flour mixture and whisk briefly again until fully combined. Stir in the chopped strawberries and half of the bilberries then pour the cake batter into the tin and level the top.
- Scatter the sliced strawberries, remaining bilberries and meringue pieces over the top of the cake batter and bake for 40-45 mins until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.
TIP: * Unlike blueberries, the bilberry is native to the British Isles. The fruit is a round flat topped berry that grows in the wild, and is rarely cultivated. The berries grow profusely mainly on high ground in the north and west of the British Isles. * Blueberries are best eaten raw whereas bilberries are best cooked because when eaten raw the bilberry is rather acidic. However, once cooked with sugar bilberries makes a delicious jam, pie filling or compote. That said, if you cannot get bilberries, this recipe works well without them just add more strawberries or you could use any other berries.
