Peach melba Eton mess

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m never going to be one of those ‘perfect’ women who always seem so well put together, as if every decision they’ve made about their appearance has been considered endlessly.

Amongst other things, I have about twenty different tan lines on my chest from twenty different tops, while my legs remain pasty white.

I fall asleep in my make up more often than I’d like to admit.

I’ve worn the same pair of leggings for the last week.

And I’d quite happily go a couple of days without washing my hair.

However, I’ve realised that none of this actually matters, because at least I can make a damn good dessert.

If you’ve not heard of it before, Eton mess is the best British dessert ever. It’s usually made with whipped cream, meringue and fresh strawberries, and it tastes like heaven. However this time I decided to make a peach melba version with fresh peaches and raspberry jam sauce. I don’t think I need to explain why it was so good. Just look at it!

Most Eton mess recipes use sweetened whipped cream, but since you’re mixing it with meringue (i.e. sugar) and jam (i.e. sugar), it seems completely mad to me to add even more sweetness. My fiancé actually described this as tasting like ‘tooth cancer’… really, really tasty tooth cancer. If you’re not a fan of super sweet desserts, this may not be the one for you. On the other hand, if you do like sweet desserts, you’ll definitely want to faceplant in this.

(by the way, if you want to make this for a party, or any other situation where you’d like to prep it in advance, you could prepare the peaches, cream and meringue in advance and then just thin out the jam before serving. Or just dollop it on straight from the jar!)