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If you haven’t discovered Eton Mess now is your chance! Blackberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Eton Mess is simple yet so impressive! 

Fans of Eton mess will love this Eton Mess Semifreddo!

Stemmed glass dish with the ice cream
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Summer should be the season for fresh fruit and cold treats. Sadly the British summer often doesn’t cooperate, giving us the same grey clouds and drizzly days we get in other seasons.

Still it’s our summer and we make the best of it, which brings me to the best of British classics, Eton Mess.

Admittedly, I messed with the original quite a bit. Traditionally Eton Mess is a combination of fresh strawberries, cream and meringue pieces artfully thrown together.

Glass dish with the pistachio ice cream Eton mess and three blackberries

But there are plenty of traditional recipes on the internet, so why write another one! Also, blackberries are fantastic to experiment with and bring something really special to a dessert like this one.

We happen to live a short walk away from a copious amount of wild blackberry bushes and we try to take advantage of them every August. The proof is in all the blackberry recipes on my blog!

Dish of the Eton mess with a spoon and berries

We try to make the most of blackberry season and gather enough to keep us going all year long. They freeze very well and are a great addition to so many desserts and drinks.

Blackberries inspired me to make my own version of the classic Eton mess. Although the ingredients are different, it has the same mix of creamy, sweet and summer freshness of the original recipe.

Girl eating the dessert from a glass dish

Ice cream Eton mess

This Blackberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Eton Mess is a quick and beautiful dessert idea for that special dinner that calls for a dessert but you just have no time to pull it off!

Two pictures of a girl eating the dessert and then showing the empty dish

It’s delicious and impressive but essentially it is a fancy Ice Cream Sunday. I made my own pistachio ice cream but feel free to use a store bought version.

What I absolutely love about Eton Mess is how easy it is to prepare since all the ingredients can be bought. All you have to do is to assemble before serving or better yet present it as a buffet, so everybody can build their own!

Just make sure you don’t make it in advance. If the dessert sits too long the meringue pieces will lose their crunch, so best to assemble right before eating.

Pan with ice cream with two scoops visible

Pistachio ice cream

Pistachio ice cream is one of my families favourite flavours. We discovered it on one of our trips to Italy and now buy it every chance we get.

Sadly it is never quite as amazing outside of Italy. Every other time we tried pistachio ice cream it looked the part but its cloying sweet and artificial taste was only sub par.

Scoop of ice cream showing nuts

It turns out it’s not very easy to extract as much flavour from pistachios as Italians seemed to master, so the only way is to cheat. This ice cream recipe is quite possibly the easiest you can find.

It’s no-churn and only has 5 ingredients-whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, Italian pistachio paste, a pinch of salt and chopped pistachios. I bought my pistachio paste at Marks & Spencer but if you don’t live in the UK you can easily find a similar product on Amazon or in Italian delis. It’s wonderfully versatile ingredient jammed with flavour, perfect for treats such as creamy pistachio frosting!

The Eton mess recipe is for two people, but you will have a lot of the pistachio ice cream left over. Store any extra ice cream in an air tight container in your freezer.

Dish of the Eton mess on a saucer with a spoon

More no-bake desserts

5 from 3 votes

Blackberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Eton Mess

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 1 minute
Total: 20 minutes
Servings: 2
Pistachio Ice cream with blackberries and broken meringue pieces.
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Ingredients 

For the pistachio ice cream

  • 500 ml/ 2 cups double/whipping cream
  • 1 x 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
  • 100 g/1/3 cup pistachio spread, I used Pariani
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp chopped pistachios

For the blackberry and pistachio ice cream Eton Mess

  • 100 g/3/4 cup fresh blackberries plus a few extra for garnish
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 125 ml/1/2 cup creme fraiche or whipping cream
  • 4 scoop pistachio ice cream
  • 1 broken meringue nest
  • 1 tbsp chopped toasted pistachios

Instructions 

For the pistachio ice cream

  • Toast pistachios on a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant and slightly browned. Remove immediately, chop and set aside.
  • In a large bowl whip all the ingredients with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, don’t overbeat, we are not looking for a whipped cream here.
  • Pour in a freezer safe container, sprinkle chopped toasted pistachios and gently swirl them in the mixture. Cover with a cling wrap and aluminium foil and freeze for 5-7 hours.

For the blackberry and pistachio ice cream Eton Mess

  • In a small bowl mash blackberries with a fork, add sugar and mix. Let sit for a couple of minutes for the sugar to dissolve.
  • Reserve 2 tablespoons of the blackberry mixture and set aside. Swirl the remaining mashed blackberries into creme fraiche or whipped cream and divide the mixture between two serving dishes.
  • Top with two scoops of pistachio ice cream each, broken meringue, reserved blackberry mixture and fresh blackberries, sprinkle with chopped pistachios. Serve immediately.

Notes

This recipe is for two servings of Eton mess but the ice cream recipe will create more. Store extra ice cream in the freezer in an air tight container. 

Nutrition

Calories: 294kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 106mg | Potassium: 301mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 571IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 173mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Julia from Vikalinka

About Me

Julia Frey is a London based recipe developer and photographer. Julia founded Vikalinka in 2012 with the main mission to provide her readers with delicious and accessible everyday recipes, which could be enjoyed by everyone.

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Recipe Rating




13 Comments

  1. Joyce Wallace says:

    5 stars
    This was more than a dessert. Eating it was an incredible experience. I followed the directions with the exception of two changes: I made my own pistachio paste, and I froze the ice cream in an ice-cream freezer. Absolutely the most fabulous dessert I’ve ever eaten. My guests gave it a 10!

    1. Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says:

      I am so excited to hear you enjoyed this dessert, Joyce! Thank you for sharing this with me.

  2. Joyce Ruth Wallace says:

    This is amazingly beautiful, and I can’t wait to try it. I have two questions. How to make meringue nests and can you give the American measurements for all the ingredients?

    1. Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says:

      Hi Joyce, I actually purchase the meringue nests but if they are not available where you live, here is the recipe for meringue, which you can use for the nests. This recipe provides the measurements in cups as well as in weights. They are next to each other in the recipe card.

  3. Jennifer says:

    5 stars
    This was truly the best ice cream Iโ€™ve ever had! It was just so dang good!

    1. Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says:

      It’s my husband’s favourite, so I needed to try making it at home! ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Beth says:

    5 stars
    Oh my goodness! This ice cream looks fabulous and so yummy! Such a great flavor and very cooling for summer! My husband is going to LOVE this ice cream, so excited!

  5. Laura | Tutti Dolci says:

    Such a gorgeous dessert and your pistachio ice cream looks dreamy!

    1. vikalinka says:

      Thanks, Laura! I can’t resist creamy pistachio ice cream in the summer, especially when coupled with blackberries!

  6. Diana says:

    Where u get pistachio paste?

    1. vikalinka says:

      I’ve written about it in the post, Diana.

  7. Jennie says:

    This sounds utterly lovely! We’re really busy picking all the blackberries we can this year too. The rain seems to have brought so many to ripeness all at once and the brambles are suddenly heaving with them. I love the idea of using them for an Eton Mess – yum!
    Jennie x

    1. vikalinka says:

      Thanks so much, Jennie! I simply cannot believe the abundance of blackberries this year! So much fun!