Strawberry Pistachio Eton Mess

For those of you not familiar with an Eton Mess, it’s an English dessert, traditionally made with whipped cream, strawberries and meringue. It’s usually all muddled together and served haphazardly…which I find to be the dish’s best quality. A no fuss no muss kind of mentality. This Strawberry Pistachio Eton Mess is one of my new favorite desserts and I’m so excited to share it with you because honestly, pistachio and strawberry, for me, is the ultimate flavor combination. Like peanut butter and jelly. Or banana and nutella. Don’t let the homemade meringue intimidate you at all because it couldn’t be easier to make. The whole dish comes together for an unbelievable dessert you’ll want to make again and again.

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl with the cream of tartar on high until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, in a steady stream, while continue to beat on high until stiff glossy peaks form.

**Tip: I find that eggs separate better when the eggs are cold BUT the white beat up better when they’re at room temperature.**

Gently fold in the pistachio butter, if using, and 3/4 of the chopped pistachios.

**Tip: Pistachio butter is basically like any other nut butter. Just blended pistachios with sugar and whatnot. I really love the flavor it adds to the meringue but I know it can be hard to find and sometimes can be pretty pricey. So if you can’t find it, simply omit it.**

Using two spoons, dollop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with a few more chopped pistachios (saving some for garnish at the end) and bake until the meringues are completely hard and come off the paper easily, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Hull the strawberries and roughly chop them. Add half of them to a blender and purée until smooth. Reserve the remaining chopped berries for later.

**Tip: Depending on how ripe/sweet your strawberries are, you can purée them with a sprinkle or two of sugar, but it’s not completely necessary.**

Beat the heavy cream in a large bowl with the powdered sugar and vanilla, on high, until soft peaks form. Remove about 1 cup of the whipped cream and reserve. Crush up 3/4 of the cooled meringues and add them to the bowl with the cream along with the reserved chopped strawberries and half of the puréed strawberries.

Fold everything together until somewhat combined, but it doesn’t have to be perfect. This dessert is known for not being perfectly put together.

Divide the mixture between 4 or 6 individual serving glasses (depending on the size of the glass). Top each with the reserved whipped cream, reserved crushed up meringues, remaining puréed strawberry and finally some more chopped pistachios.

It’s best served right away but it can definitely be made ahead of time and chilled in the fridge until ready to serve. Just know that the longer it sits the softer the meringues will become….which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Just a different texture is all.

If you want to ditch the pistachio route (because you can’t find the pistachio butter or just don’t like pistachios) this would be great as a chocolate twist. Fold in nutella and chopped up hazelnuts into the meringue instead. Make a chocolate whipped cream (using cocoa powder and powdered sugar when beating the cream) and you’ll have yourself chocolate strawberry eton mess.

If you’ve never tried an eton mess before (let alone heard of it), let this post be the sign you didn’t know you needed to make it and try it for yourself. It’s absolutely delicious and the addition of pistachio together with strawberry is a match made in heaven. Let me know what you think below and as always, thank you so much for reading and following along.