Looking for some sweet treats for the upcoming Fourth of July? Celebrity chef and author Nigella Lawson shares two delicious dessert recipes that are full of fresh fruit: “Forgotten” pudding and Eton Mess.
Recipe: "Forgotten" pudding (on this page)
Recipe: Eton Mess (on this page)
There is a wonderful poetry to the name of this dessert which, thankfully, once eaten could never be forgotten. It's an old, old recipe popularly exhumed — I believe by the late, great Richard Sax. Think of it as a kind of marshmallow-based pavlova. That's to say, you whip the egg whites as if making meringue, spread on a jelly roll pan (or that's how I make it), and put in an oven which you immediately switch off, leaving the pudding to cook overnight — hence, “forgotten.”
1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until peaks begin to form.
3. Gradually add 1/4 cup of sugar, then the cream of tartar and vanilla, whisking all the while at high speed, until the whites are stiff and glossy.
4. Butter a jelly roll pan, then spread evenly with the meringue mixture.
5. Put in the oven, close the door, immediately switch off the oven, and leave overnight, without opening or even thinking of peeking.
6. When you want to serve it, remove to a large platter.
7. Whisk the cream until thick but still soft and spread over the marshmallow-meringue.
8. Scoop out the seeds and pulp of the passion fruit and dot over the cream in parts. Tumble over the blackberries. Toss the quartered strawberries in the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar and arrange them on the cream, too.
9. Cut into slices; I cut 3 down and 2 across.
Makes 12 squares
There is no variation of this dessert I don't like, and I must have made several in my time. This one uses bottled, proper fresh pomegranate juice to encourage the strawberries to ooze out their fragrant summery juices. If you’re making this with out-of-season strawberries, then you stand a chance of using freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, in which case, sprinkle some seeds on top of this voluptuous mound of meringue and berry-spiked cream.
1. Hull and chop the strawberries. Put into a bowl, add the sugar and pomegranate juice, and leave to macerate while you whip the cream.
2. Whip the cream in a large bowl until thick but still soft. Roughly crumble in 4 of the meringue nests — you will need chunks for texture as well as a little fine dust.
3. Take out about half a cupful of the chopped strawberries, and fold the meringued cream and the rest of the fruit mixture together.
4. Arrange on 4 serving plates or glasses or in a mound, and top each one with some of the remaining macerated strawberries.
Serves 4
© 2012 MSNBC Interactive
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