by
Jul 12. 2024
Pimm's Cocktail & Eton Mess
- Recipes: Summer drink and dessert
Pimm's Cup Cocktail
Serves 3~4
Preparation time 10 mins
Cooking time 5 mins
Ingredients 200ml Pimm's No.1/ 600ml lemonade or ginger ale/ ice cubes/ half a cucumber/ a handful of strawberries/ half an orange/ half an apple/ a handful of mint
1 Slice the cucumber, orange and apple into similar sized slices, and cut the strawberries into bite-sized pieces.
2 Fill a bowl with the Pimm's, lemonade and all the fruit. Give it a good stir with a stirrer.
3 Arrange drinks, ice and fruit neatly in a glass and decorate with mint.
refer to: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pimmsA Pimm’s cocktail should include a variety of fruit and a vegetable or two. The red coloured liqueur in the cocktail is pleasing to the eyes. Also, the recipe is very simple so I can make it easily. In Korea, winter is the strawberry season but summer is the season for strawberries in the UK.
When I made a Pimm’s cocktail in Korea, I skipped the strawberries because they were expensive in the summer. I like to add all kinds of berries into the Pimm’s cocktail here in the UK. When I rub the mint against the glass, it smells nice as well as the smell from the squashed cucumber. If you like a sweet cocktail then you can add some syrup but I don’t recommend it. In Korea you can buy Pimm's No.1 from an international supermarket, maybe from somewhere in Itaewon - I did in the past but I’m not sure if you still can.
Pimm’s No.1 is a gin based liqueur that has a deep red colour and smells of caramel and herbs. It is like a fruit punch. It is 25 percent alcohol by volume so it is not too strong but not too weak either.
When making a cocktail, If you want a stronger drink then use more gin, rum, vodka or champagne. On the other hand if you want something weaker, use more sprite, ginger ale or lemonade.
A Pimm’s cocktail is a British classical summer drink that is popular for garden parties and other occasions. It is the season now because of Wimbledon. Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam tournaments. The tournament traditionally takes place over two weeks in late June and early July. Pimm’s cocktail is a signature drink alongside the traditional food of strawberries and cream. If you want to know about Wimbledon’s signature food, you can refer to : https://www.christinascucina.com/pimms-cup-and-strawberries-and-cream/
Eton Mess
Serves 6
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour and 15 minutes
Ingredients 2 large egg whites/ 120g caster sugar/ 500g strawberries/ a few mixed berries/ your favourite sauce (raspberry, strawberry, chocolate sauce...)
1 Preheat the oven to 120°C/ 100°C fan/ gas 1 and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
2 Whisk the egg whites in a bowl using an electric whisk or tabletop mixer until they reach stiff peaks (see below link), then add the sugar in three lots, re-whisking to stiff peaks every time.
Spoon dollops of the mixture onto the baking parchment, cook on the bottom shelf of the oven for 1 hr – 1 hr 15 minutes until the meringues are completely hard and come off the paper easily. Leave to cool.
(whisking tip refer here)
(stiff peak explanation refer here)
3 Roughly crush the meringues and tip them in with the cut strawberries and mixed berries.
drizzle the favourite sauce over the top.
refer to: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recipes/0/mark-hix-eton-mess-with-summer-berries-recipe/If you had strawberries and cream while watching Wimbledon, I recommend Eton Mess for dessert after dinner. Eaton Mess is a very simple British summer dessert made with berry-like fruits such as strawberries, cream and meringue.
As you can guess from the name ‘Mess’ it will look strangely mixed up but It is tasty and a fail-safe dessert. It is a crowd-pleaser because it has a magical harmony with the rich cream, sweet strawberries and crunchy meringue. It is very tempting and sweet, so you don’t need to eat too much, and just one bowl is enough after a meal. What is also interesting about this dessert is that it can be flavoured with a little port wine or ginger cordial; it is also good if you add other soft fruit such as raspberries, bananas, pineapple and raisins . I like to add ice cream instead of cream and drizzle chocolate syrup on my Eton Mess. If you have a party planned, I recommend an Eton Mess for a highly satisfying dessert. I usually buy some meringue and skip the recipe steps 1 and 2.
refer to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/etonmess_81082