This Black Forest Eton Mess is a quick and easy summer dessert made with fresh cherries, chocolate, almonds, yogurt and crunchy meringues.
This recipe is born from the combination of two of my favourite desserts, the British Eton Mess and German Black Forest Gateau.
Similar to my light Peach Eton Mess, I use plain Greek yogurt instead of cream.
Instead of traditional strawberries I use in season cherries. To this cherry Eton Mess I have added more black forest gateau flavours of chocolate and almond, and then a spice I associate with Germany, cinnamon.
What goes into this Cherry Eton Mess?
- Cherries – fresh in season cherries are best, but if they aren’t in season you can use a jar of pitted morello cherries.
- Meringues – use bought or homemade meringues. This is a great recipe for using up broken meringues! The almond meringue from this gateau would make a lovely addition!
- Cinnamon yogurt – plain greek yogurt is mixed with a pinch of cinnamon, you can leave the cinnamon out, but it is a lovely addition.
- Chocolate almond crunch – melted dark chocolate is mixed with toasted almond slivers then placed in the fridge. Once set, it is broken up and stirred through the Eton mess for a bursts of bitter-sweetness and crunch!
FAQ
No, I wouldn’t recommend freezing this Eton mess.
I recommend eating this Eton Mess as soon as you make it, but if you have to make it ahead then it will keep a couple of hours in the fridge. Keep some meringue pieces to sprinkle on the top for meringue crunch. If you have leftovers, you can still eat them to following day, however the meringue will have totally dissolved into the yogurt.
If making your own meringues, you can make them up to 4 days ahead. You can make the chocolate almond crunch up to 2 days ahead and store in the fridge. The rest of the dessert is best assembled just before you serve it.
More Summer Dessert Recipes:
Here are some of my favourite desserts which make the most of summer fruit – and a couple which don’t contain fruit but are no-cook for those hot days when you want a sweet treat without putting the oven on.
- Cherry Bakewell Cake – enjoy this gluten free cake made with ground almonds/almond meal for dessert or afternoon tea.
- Passionfruit Ice Cream – this 3 ingredient no churn ice cream recipe takes minutes to prepare, then let the freezer do the rest of the work!
- Peach melba Almond Meringue gateau – Peaches, raspberries and yogurt are layered between almond meringue for this simple showstopper dessert.
- Watermelon Ice Lollies – these 2 ingredient ice lollies are 100% fruit and are so refreshing on a hot summers day!
- Maltesers Rocky Road – a no bake slice/dessert made with chocolate, chunks of biscuit and Maltesers, a perfect treat for when you don’t feel like putting the oven on.
- Ginger and Apricot Fridge Slice – another no bake slice, which is a delicious and easy recipe for using up broken biscuits too.
Black Forest Eton Mess
Author: Robyn
Ingredients
- 15 g (2 tbsp) slivered almonds
- 50 g (1.8 oz) dark chocolate roughly broken
- 250 g (8.8oz) cherries Stone/pit in weight
- 235 g (1 c) plain Greek yogurt
- Pinch cinnamon
- 3-4 meringue nests
- Extra dark chocolate for serving optional
Instructions
For the chocolate almond crunch:
- Line a small tin or baking sheet with baking paper.
- Toast the slivered almonds in a dry frying pan for 2-3 minutes until light golden brown. Tip on to a plate and leave to cool.
- When the almonds are cool, melt the chocolate in a ban marie or heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
- Once the chocolate has melted, add the almonds and stir well to coat them completely in chocolate.
- Tip out onto the baking paper and spread to an even layer about ½ cm | .2” thick. Leave at room temperature to set, or if in a hurry or in a hot kitchen, then place in fridge to set.
When ready to serve:
- Half the cherries and take the stones/pits out.
- Roughly crush the meringues into a medium mixing bowl – you want some mouth size pieces as well as smaller pieces.
- Mix the cinnamon into the yogurt, then add this to the meringues.
- Roughly chop the almond chocolate crunch and add this to the meringues, then stir well.
- Add the cherries and briefly stir, then serve straight away.
- Top with grated dark chocolate to serve, optional
Notes
Nutrition
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