Easy Pink Lemonade Eton Mess

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream
• 1 Tbsp (8 g) instant skim milk powder (optional)
• 1½ Tbsp (12 g) icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• Pink food colouring
• ½ cup (125 mL) lemon curd (store bought, or recipe follows)
• 2 cups (500 mL) fresh berries (raspberries, sliced strawberries or a mix)
• 6 individual meringue nests (store bought)

Directions

1. Whip the cream and skim milk powder, if using, by hand or with beaters on high speed until it holds a soft peak. Whip in the icing sugar and vanilla as well as a drop or two or pink food colouring and chill until ready to use. The skim milk powder stabilizes the whipped cream so that it holds its shape for hours (whereas regular whipped cream will start to deflate within a few hours).
2. Spoon the Chantilly cream into a large bowl. Dollop the curd onto the cream and sprinkle the berries overtop. Gently fold the curd and berries into the cream a few times, but do not fully combine them.
3. Add the meringue immediately before serving. Crumble the meringue over the lemon cream and fold in gently but quickly. Spoon this mixture into a large serving bowl or divide into individual glasses or dessert coupes and serve immediately.
4. Do not try to keep an assembled Eton mess—within an hour you will have a literal hot mess of soft meringue and weeping berries.