Eton Mess Cake

I love strawberries, nice juicy British strawberries.  I don’t know whether or not you feel the same but the imported strawberries that we get in the shops here in the UK all year round just don’t taste the same.  In a fact I might go as far as saying some I have eaten have been tasteless.  The British Strawberry season begins on 1st May and runs through until September.  I personally love to go strawberry picking and have fond memories as a child going most weeks during the summer with my Grandparents to PYO sites.  I also have fond memories of usually eating more whilst we were picking that we took home!

In preparation for those lovely British strawberries hitting the shelves soon I thought I would share with you a lovely cake recipe, a modern twist on a classic dessert; Eton Mess cake.  Eton mess is traditionally made from whipped cream, strawberries and meringues.  This recipe in essence puts all those ingredients in to a cake and is truly delicious.

• 175g unsalted butter
• 5 tbsp double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g plain flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 200g golden caster sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 400g strawberries,½ roughly chopped, ½ finely sliced
• 4 meringues nests
• a little icing sugar

Firstly line a 20 x 30cm tin with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 160 degrees.

Melt the butter then stir in the cram and vanilla.

In another bowl mix the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt.

Mix the eggs and sugar together until thick.

Pour in the butter and mix followed by the dry ingredients.  Mix briefly to keep as much air as possible.

Add the strawberries and then pour into the baking tray.  It is quite a runny mixture more like a batter than a cake mix. Spread the sliced strawberries and meringue over the top.

Bake for around 40 to 45 minutes until a skewer comes out of the cake clean. Leave to cool slightly in the tin for 30 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Sprinkle with icing sugar, serve with cream, sit back and enjoy.