Eton Mess-Style Summer Chocolate Bark Recipe

When the sun is shining and you're enjoying a warm summer day, it's easy to reach into the freezer for a popsicle or an ice cream-based dessert and be done with it. After all, they are synonymous with the summertime. However, if you want to expand your horizons, there are plenty of more-inspiring desserts and sweets to add a bit of variety to your day. One such bright and summery treat is this Eton Mess-style summer chocolate bark recipe, created by Tasting Table recipe developer Jennine Rye.

Inspired by the classic British summertime dessert Eton Mess, this creamy and fruity chocolate bark will evoke a feeling of summertime all year round. The perfect accompaniment to a summer day, or a great way to add a bit of sunshine to the darkness of winter, this Eton-mess chocolate bark is always a winner. Crisp chunks of meringue and freeze-dried strawberries are set into rich and creamy white chocolate and then broken into pieces for a delicious and easily shareable sweet treat. It is a great idea for an edible gift, though you might well find you want to keep it all for yourself once you take a bite. Read on to find out how simple it is to make this Eton mess-style summer chocolate bark recipe at home.

To begin this Eton mess-style summer chocolate bark recipe, first, you will need to gather the ingredients. You will want white chocolate, meringues, and freeze-dried strawberries.

Cover a medium-sized baking sheet with baking paper.

Gently crumble the meringues into little pieces.

Set the crumbled meringues to one side.

Set up a bain-marie over a low heat.

Add the white chocolate to the bain-marie.

Stir until the white chocolate has melted.

Remove the melted chocolate from the heat.

Pour the chocolate onto the prepared baking tray.

Sprinkle with the meringue pieces and strawberries.

Set to one side to harden completely at room temperature, roughly 1 hour.

Break the bark into pieces before serving.

If you are a dessert connoisseur or you enjoy sampling British cuisine, you will likely have come across an Eton Mess in your time. As British as red double-decker busses or Wimbledon tennis, Eton Mess is a classic summertime dessert comprised of a few simple ingredients: meringue, strawberries, and cream. As it contains the exact same ingredients as a pavlova, you might well be wondering what the difference is.

Simply put, it's all about the presentation. While a pavlova is a grand centerpiece of a dessert, with an elegant swirl of baked meringue that is heaped with whipped cream and adorned with fruits, an Eton Mess is just as the name suggests; a (delicious) mess. The meringue is broken up into pieces and folded into whipped cream alongside strawberries. Instead of being served in a thick slice, Eton Mess can be scooped into bowls and eaten with spoons. Both are delicious summertime dessert options, but an Eton Mess makes for an excellent fail-safe option to keep in your back pocket if your pavlova doesn't come out of the oven as planned. If anyone dares to question the presentation, you can simply inform them that this dessert has aristocratic roots. First served at the pre-wedding reception of the future King George V, and claiming its name from the prestigious private school Eton College, there are few desserts with more connections to aristocracy than this one.

Chocolate is wonderful in all its forms, and quality is everything when it comes to making something with chocolate as the main ingredient, such as this summer bark. When choosing your chocolate for the recipe, it is important not to skimp. Whilst you are perusing the chocolate aisle you might well wonderi whether other types of chocolate would work just as well for this recipe. We chose white chocolate due to its sweetness and creaminess, and because it acts as a replacement for the cream in a classic Eton Mess. However, this recipe is equally delicious when made with a particularly creamy milk chocolate. While the richness of dark chocolate makes it less compatible, ruby chocolate also makes an exceptional option due to its wonderful fruity flavor and pink hue.

To incorporate the flavor of strawberry into your chocolate bark in a different way, you can always mix strawberry flavoring and pink coloring into a small portion of the melted white chocolate, and then swirl it through the white chocolate mixture after it has been poured onto the baking sheet for a marbled effect. You could also add other strawberry-flavored cake toppings and sprinkles, although we recommend avoiding fresh strawberries. If you would like further texture in your chocolate bark, or an alternative to the meringue, amaretti cookies add wonderful almondy crunch, as would crushed macarons. Mini marshmallows would add a different finishing touch with their own chewy sweetness.