Eton mess — Britain’s luscious mixture of berries, whipped cream and broken meringue cookies — takes its name from the English boarding school, where it is served during cricket matches. All the ingredients are layered in a jar, which gives the dessert an appealing premise.
The problem is, it tends to be one-note sweet and lacking in nuance.
For our version, from our book “COOKish,” which limits recipes to just six ingredients without sacrificing flavor, we included one unusual flavor booster — sherry vinegar. The tartness brings a lovely balance to the sweetness of the meringues and mimics some of the acid found in many berries.
To ease prep, we use store-bought meringue cookies, toast them under the broiler, and layer them with whipped cream studded with cherries and chopped chocolate. Frozen cherries make this dessert a breeze to put together; we chop, then soften the fruit by microwaving the pieces with sugar and the vinegar.
The result is a delicious blend of textures and sweet-and-sour flavors, all put together in elegant layers that make this dessert only seem like it was a lot of work.
