Still an Eton Mess really but the rosewater, pistachio, raspberry and basil combination is delicious!
Eastern Mess – serves 6
- 600ml double cream
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- the seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
- 2 tbsp rosewater
- 6 ready-made meringue nests, broken into large pieces
- 450g raspberries
- handful of basil leaves, torn
- 75g pistachio nuts, chopped
For the raspberry sauce:
- 225g raspberries
- 1 tbsp icing sugar (or more if your raspberries are very tart)
- 1 tbsp rosewater
- squeeze of lemon juice
Whip the double cream, icing sugar, vanilla seeds and rosewater together in a mixing bowl until you have soft peaks (about 3 minutes but watch it carefully).
To make the sauce, mash the raspberries to a purée with the icing sugar, rose water and lemon juice in a bowl until the mixture is totally smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove the seeds.
Layer the cream, meringues and raspberries on a large serving plate, drizzling the sauce and scattering over the basil and pistachios as you go. Decorate the top with a drizzle of sauce, and a final scatter of basil and pistachios. Serve immediately.
(Original recipe from Persiana by Sabrina Ghayour, Mitchell Beazley, 2014.)
