Classic British Eton Mess, a mixture of whipped cream, strawberries and broken meringue pieces, transformed as a semifreddo!
There are so many variations of this British classic to enjoy, like this Blackberry and Pistachio Ice Cream Eton Mess!
The British love their traditions, like roast dinner on Sunday and strawberries and cream at Wimbledon. Eton Mess sits along side these as it’s traditionally served at the annual Eton and Harrow Colleges cricket game and is a true classic.
It’s also a fun dessert to play around with, making endless variations on the basic recipe. This semifreddo version keeps the basics of the original recipe intact, but turns it into a lovely cold dessert perfect for a hot summer day!
Eton Mess
The dessert is as British as it comes, a true classic. It’s a creamy mixture of whipped cream, strawberries and broken meringue pieces.
The legend is that a dessert made of cream, strawberries and meringue was dropped at a cricket match between Eton and Harrow. Rather than waste a perfectly good dessert, it was scraped up and served anyway. I don’t know if that is true, but it sounds plausible!
Other berries or summer fruit can be used instead, but strawberries are traditional. The mavericks at Lancing College make their own version with bananas!
For a dessert as spectacular and loved as this one, it’s amazingly easy to bring together. All it takes is combining the whipped cream, strawberries and meringue pieces together, and you are there!
What is semifreddo?
Semifreddo is Italian for half-cold and, essentially, has a texture of frozen mousse. At this point you are probably thinking, mousse sounds hard but don’t give up on me yet.
This dessert consists of 4 ingredients and takes 15 minutes to whip together plus time in the freezer. This British dessert is creamy, silky, studded with fresh strawberries and broken meringue.
After sitting in cream overnight the dessert takes on a pleasant marshmallow-y texture. Besides, it’s incredibly refreshing on a hot summer day.
All you have to do is to whip cream with sweetened condensed milk, then fold in chopped strawberries and broken meringue and freeze it!
After a night in the freezer, un-mould it and WOW your friends and family. A stunning dessert that took you no time to make! Just slice it as you would a good ice cream cake and serve with more strawberries!
More chilled desserts:
- Cappuccino Daim Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Frozen Blood Orange Pina Colada (Virgin)
- Layered Blackberry Fool
- Autumn Mississippi Mud Pie
Ingredients
- 500ml/2 cups whipping cream/double cream
- 397g/14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 150g/5 oz fresh strawberries
- 4 meringue nest ready made, broken into small pieces
- Strawberry coulis optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine whipping cream and sweetened condensed milk with good quality vanilla. Whip until soft peaks form, don't over-beat, we are not looking for a whipped cream here. (If you are in the US, whip the heavy cream first, then combine with the sweetened condensed milk.)
- Chop strawberries finely or quickly pulse them in the food processor, drain the juice. Crumble store bought meringue with your hands or use a rolling pin. Gently fold strawberries into the cream mixture, then add broken meringue.
- Line a loaf pan with a cling film or aluminium foil with the ends over-hanging for easy un-moulding and fill it with the cream mixture. Bring the cling film ends over to cover the top of the semifreddo, then wrap the whole pan in double layer of aluminium foil.
- Freeze over night. For easy un-moulding, let your semifreddo sit on your countertop for a few minutes, then put your serving dish on top of the loaf pan and quickly turn it over, peel the cling film off and top with additional strawberries.
- You may drizzle it with some strawberry coulis, jam or sauce for extra drama.
Trish says
I found mixing the whip cream and sweetened condensed milk together it just stayed a liquid. Even after 10 minutes of whipping. Try forming soft peaks with whip cream and vanilla first and then fold in sweetened condensed milk
I had to dump my first batch down the sink as it never thickened trying to mix together.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Trish, no need throwing anything out, you can just mix the two without whipping and it would still turn into ice cream. I assume the issue comes from the fat content of the whipping cream as they are different in the UK and US.
andrea says
In Chile, we have a traditional frosted raspberry meringue cake, which tastes very much like a frozen Eton mess. I like the idea of turning it as a semifreddo.
vikalinka says
I hope you try it, Andrea!
Carol says
I have made this a couple of times now. Yummy!!! Couple of comments:
1. Make sure you keep in freezer overnight. Made it as a birthday cake in the morning to use in evening but was still runny when I served. Guests didn’t care, the devoured it, but glad if was only son and family.
2. Second try and I used a shop brand sweetened condensed milk and it wasn’t quite the same(it was frozen right through this time) but still didn’t last long in our house.
Thank you for a really quick, delicious recipe. Yummy!
vikalinka says
Thank you so much for your feedback, Carol!
Lody says
Hi Vikalinka,
Thanks for you fast reply.
I’ve got an other question.
Ik notice that there are water ice cristals forming when I use strawberry coulis or whole strawberries Is there a way to prevent this or am I doing something wrong?
vikalinka says
I think that’s a pretty normal side effect of freezing. Nothing to do about it, unfortunately.
Lody says
Hoe long can I keep this good in the freezer?
vikalinka says
Hi Lody. It will keep in the freezer for at least one week. It won’t go off after that but it might not taste the best.
Yuliya Smead says
How big are the meringues?
vikalinka says
They are about 3″ in diameter, Yulia.
jayne says
Its in the freezer.
Hoping itll be set enough for tea with friends….8 hours?
vikalinka says
I hope you and your friends enjoyed it!!
Victoriya says
For the recipe its said whipping cream is it the premade frozen whipping cream like (cool whip) or whipping cream that looks like heavy whip and you beat it?
vikalinka says
Whipping cream or double cream is what heavy cream is called in England. It’s not pre-made, you have to whip it yourself as the recipe outlines.
Jen says
This recipe is superb! I’ve made it a few times now and it’s always a hit.
The kids love it with marshmallows added as an extra twist.
vikalinka says
Thank you so much for sharing, Jen! I am so excited to hear your family loves it.
Marina of Let the Baking Begin! says
I’ve never had semifredo before, but yours looks soo so good!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Marina! Semifreddo is just a fancy word for easy ice-cream!
Laura says
So pretty, I love those strawberries!
Crystal says
Yum! This sounds so good for a warm evening! And those strawberries are beautiful!