sharing desserts.
Grab a spoon!
There’s something joyful about the shared experience of tucking into a supersize dessert along with a crowd of other guests. These four genius recipes from the delicious. food team are guaranteed to finish off a feast in style
RECIPES AND FOOD STYLING POLLYANNA COUPLAND AND EMILY GUSSIN
Banoffee eton mess tower
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This spectacular symphony of favourite treats is a glorious dessert to feed the masses
Banoffee eton mess tower
Serves 8 Prep time 30 min, plus cooling
Cooking time 1 hour 15 min
MAKE AHEAD
The meringues, sauces and crumb can all be made 1-2days ahead – but you’ll need a large airtight container for the meringues. To serve, whip the cream and slice up the bananas, then assemble.
BE A BETTER COOK
Muscovado sugar is unrefined, which means it’s wetter and heavier than caster sugar, but it also means it has a deeper, richer flavour. Using it to make meringues gives them a lovely creamy brown colour and a toasted, caramelised flavour.
For the meringues
• 4 large egg whites
• Squeeze lemon juice
• 225g dark muscovado sugar
• ¼ tsp cocoa powder to dust
• 300ml double cream
• 2 bananas, sliced
For the banana butterscotch
• 75g unsalted butter
• 80g dark muscovado sugar
• 75ml double cream
• 1 small banana
For the banana-choc-hazelnut crumb
• 15g dried banana chips, roughly chopped
• 1 chocolate digestive biscuit, bashed into chunky crumbs
• 1 tbsp chopped roasted hazelnuts
• 5g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), coarsely grated
1 Heat the oven to 140ºC/ 120ºC fan/gas 1 and line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Begin with the meringues. Put the egg whites and lemon juice in a clean mixing bowl and use an electric whisk to whip to stiff peaks (that don’t flop over when you remove the whisk/beaters). Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time, whisking until the mixture comes back to stiff peaks each time, to give a thick, silky meringue. Using a serving spoon and a silicone spatula, space out 8 spoonfuls of meringue on the tray, using it all up. Dust each one with cocoa powder and bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, then turn the oven off but leave the meringues inside to cool.