Eton Mess

Who would have thought that a dish with such an interesting name could be so pretty and delicious? Light and refreshing, with English origins, this dessert uses mostly store-bought components and is a cinch to prepare. Spiking the berry sauce and whipped cream adds sophistication to an already impressive blend of flavors. What a happy ending to a beautiful Yom Tov meal!

DAIRY OR PAREVE
SERVES 10

• 1 11.6-oz (328-g) jar raspberry jam (I used Toscanini’s Raspberry Spreadable Fruit)
• ½ cup fruit-flavored vodka, divided
• 1 16-oz (450-ml) container pareve whipping cream (or dairy heavy cream)
• 1 3.5-oz (100-g) pkg instant vanilla pudding mix
• sliced fresh fruit of your choice, such as strawberries, cherries, passion fruit, kumquats, blueberries, or pomegranate arils
• 5 lemon cookies (such as Ostreicher’s), crushed
• ½ gallon Mehadrin Premium Ice cream (can be pareve or dairy)
• 50 store-bought meringues
• ¼ cup roasted, salted pistachios, chopped
• mint leaves, for garnish

1. Place the raspberry jam in a medium saucepan over low heat with ¼ cup vodka and simmer until fully melted and combined. Set aside to cool.
2. Combine the pareve whipping cream, vanilla pudding mix, and remaining ¼ cup vodka in your mixer bowl. Beat on high speed until sti­ff peaks form. Place into a piping bag fitted with the star tip and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours. (You can do this before Yom Tov.)
3. To assemble the dessert, pipe 5 large rosettes down the center of a large dinner plate. Pipe several small rosettes on alternating sides, in between the larger ones. Add some crushed lemon cookie crumbs in several spots. Add fresh sliced fruit of your choice to the plate, placing them in between the rosettes. Top with 4–5 meringues and sprinkle with crushed pistachios. Drizzle spiked raspberry sauce over the fruit or create a dotted pattern on the plate.
4. Place two identical oval-shaped spoons into a container of warm water. Create a quenelle-shaped scoop of vanilla ice cream by dragging a spoon through the ice cream toward the near edge of the container so it curls over itself. Transfer the scoop to the second spoon and continue passing the ice cream repeatedly between the spoons, turning and smoothing each side, until a neat quenelle is formed.
5. Place the quenelle onto the plate next to the sauce. Sprinkle with additional cookie crumbs and garnish with mint leaves.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 692)