Eton Mess Balls

One of my friends asked if I could use meringue in a cake pop and that set me thinking so here we have my experiment. It went almost to plan but by the end....not so much. Hence the title of this post.

You can buy the meringue if you do not fancy making it but they are easy to do.

Ingredients:

Meringue:

4 large egg whites
225g caster sugar

Cake Pop Bits:

600g White Chocolate
225g Strawberries chopped into small cubes
600ml Double cream

Equipment:

Lolly pop sticks
Cellophane cake pop sweet bags
Ribbon


Firstly, preheat your oven to gas mark 3. Place your eggs whites into a large bowl and beat them till they go stiff and brilliant white. Feel free to do the egg white test of sticking it over your head. If it falls on your head....well, I think you should know that it was not enough beating.
Next, add the caster sugar one spoonful at a time beating between each one. You will end up with a glossy marshmallow looking thing.

Now spread it on baking paper on a baking sheet and pop in the over for one hour. As soon as you put it in the oven, turn the to gas mark 2.

Once the hour is up and your meringue is done, turn the oven off and leave it in there till it goes cold.

If you are doing the cake pops later make sure you store the meringue in an air tight container or it shall go soggy.
Next, crumble the meringue into a large bowl or if like myself you run out of large bowls, use an empty Celebrations tin. In another bowl pour in your cream and whip till it is really thick. Then mix the cream and strawberries in with the crumbled meringue.

Place baking paper on a baking tray and then roll out the mixture into balls. I used an ice cream scoop to try and get a bit of consistency.

Once done gently cover with cling film and place in the freezer for 4 hours. While waiting I found playing in the snow passed the time.

When your balls are almost ready to come out the freezer melt the chocolate. To do this get water boiling in a pan and place a glass bowl over it. Make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Break up your chocolate, put in the bowl and stir from time to time to help it melt.

Now this is where my problems arose. I am not sure if it was because I did not have them in the freezer long enough, or if it was because of the cream melting rather quickly from the chocolate but, I had the firemans pole situation a lot.

Either way, after being annoyed I simply decided to pour the chocolate over the balls instead and have them as a dessert.

I am pleased to say they tasted great even if they do not look it. Best eaten with a spoon!

Mr P said the cream balanced them out so they were not too sweet. He is not a fan of meringue but actually liked them. Yay!