Vegan lemon raspberry Eton mess

Today I have for you a slightly unusual recipe for this blog—Eton mess, a treat made with vegan meringue and some simple custard. Fitting with this unusual dessert, the photos are a leeetle bit greener than you may be used to.

Pretty sexy color if I do say so myself.

Yes, my bedroom has green walls. Yes, I took these photos in my bedroom. Deal with it.

That's right. source

Speaking of green...you probably don’t remember that I mentioned I enjoyed a short vacation in New York City—superficially Manhattan—during spring break (which is, sadly, over as of this time). And you’ll never guess what we did.

We got to see Adele Dazeem! source

Well, actually, we didn’t. After a few years Idina Menzel moved on to bigger and better things than a silly musical about a couple of bitchy witches. Instead, we saw Jennifer DiNoia and Kara Lindsey as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, at Gershwin Theater, playing yes all right I’ll say it Wicked: the Untold Story of the Witches of Oz.

It’s painfully ironic that we chose to see this musical, of all the options on Broadway, considering the fact that I am the only one of my mother and I who has read the book, and I absolutely loathed it, so much so that I couldn’t finish the damn thing. So why did we fork over a hundred dollars each to go watch a trumped-up production of the same story? Well, um, blame the hype. We’d heard lots of good things about the musical and figured it would be interesting to see some obscenely talented actors and actresses sing and dance their hearts out across an expensive and glittery set in uncomfortable-looking costumes and—in the case of Elphaba—green body paint.

And yes. It was interesting.

This was our second experience with a Broadway musical. The first time around, which was several years ago, we enjoyed a significantly less expensive-looking play called Billy Elliot, which was about a boy and his ballet-dancing ambitions. And by “significantly less expensive-looking” I mean it didn’t have a huge set with a mechanical dragon hovering ominously above and a thousand different lighting doohickeys and a generally very elaborate set. No, Billy Elliot wasn’t that fancy.

So imagine our faces when we strolled right into Gershwin Theater and beheld the mechanical dragon, the glowing map, the generally elaborate set, etc. Already I knew this was going to be far, far better than the quite honestly really shitty book that is Wicked.

I’m no expert on musicals, but I can confirm for you that the hype is justified. There was just something magical (okay I just made myself vomit) about the combination of expert lighting and special effects with hugely talented actors singing their guts out for like two hours straight. Because good god—the actress who played Glinda the Good Witch was crazy. She had that princess-y voice and caricature down to the vocal fry and the hair tossing. And you had to admit some parts were funny. Take, for example, the time Glinda just casually said, in response to Elphaba’s anger, “Well I guess the artichoke is steamed!”

You had to be there. It’s true.

Yes, it was cheesy as hell, but that’s just the thing about musicals—they’re all cheesy, to varying degrees. This one was cheesy enough to give you high blood pressure, and yet we loved it.

The musical, thankfully, differed quite a bit from the plot of the book, but I still got the closure of knowing there was a reason I had plodded through a few chapters of gross sex and boring background information at the beginning of the book. At the end of the play, there was a nice twist that resolved that plot point quite neatly. I won’t tell you though. Don’t worry.

So there you have it. A shitty book can actually make a great musical. Who’da thunk it?

Now let's talk about this Eton mess!

I’m done talking about the musical. Time to get on to this Eton mess.

Now. What, exactly, is Eton mess? Another English dessert, much like banoffee pie, originating at Eton college and consisting of meringue, fruit, and cream. Pretty easy.

So when I whipped up some meringue cookies, having extra meringue on hand after making this butterscotch pie, I decided to try my hand at this classic treat. In lieu of the traditional strawberries and cream, I used raspberry yogurt (with freeze-dried raspberries, but you could certainly use fresh) and lemon curd. Just layer it with some crumbled meringues, and you’ve got a pretty tasty mess.

Here is the recipe.

____________

Vegan lemon raspberry Eton mess

Ingredients

Meringues (adapted from Vegan Desserts)

22 grams • Ener-g egg replacer • 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons

90 grams • water • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

50 grams • granulated sugar • ¼ cup

2 grams • vanilla extract • ½ teaspoon

Lemon curd (adapted from these cupcakes)

122 grams • nondairy milk • ½ cup

60 grams • water • ¼ cup

8 grams • cornstarch • 1 tablespoon

75 grams • sugar • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

90 grams • fresh lemon juice • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons

2 grams • lemon zest • 1 teaspoon

71 grams • coconut oil • 5 tablespoons

Raspberry yogurt

14 grams • freeze-dried raspberries • ½ cup

245 grams • nondairy yogurt • 1 cup

30 grams • powdered sugar • ¼ cup

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.

To make meringues, start by combining egg replacer and water in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat on high for 5 minutes. Slowly sprinkle in granulated sugar; then continue beating for another 5 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy, almost like whipped cream. Fold in vanilla extract.

Spoon or pipe little dollops of meringue on the baking sheet, spacing each about 1 inch apart. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until they no longer look shiny—don’t wait until they start to brown, or they will be over-cooked. Let cool completely on baking sheet.

To make lemon curd, start by whisking together nondairy milk, water, and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continuously stir the mixture. Add sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and coconut oil and continue to cook until it is beginning to thicken and is bubbly. Whisk rapidly for about 90 seconds, then remove from heat and chill completely until needed.

To make raspberry yogurt, start by placing raspberries in a food processor and grinding into a fine powder. Combine yogurt, raspberry powder, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined.

Finally, make the Eton mess trifles. Break meringues into small bite-sized pieces. Layer in a glass with lemon curd and raspberry yogurt. Top with freeze-dried raspberries for garnish. Serve immediately.

________

I can't speak for the greenness here.

Here are some other recipes you might want to check out, while you’re here.

Vanilla mug cake with chocolate chips and raspberry. Another raspberry treat.

Meyer lemon crepe cake. If you like lemon desserts, you’ll love this one.

Lemon blondies with thyme buttercream. A fabulous, if unusual, dessert flavor.