Eton Mess with Rhubarb Rosewater Compote

So, rhubarb is in season and it's so delicious! Get it while you can and experiment doing a variety of delicious desserts and even savoury things which I have yet to try.  Since so much has been coming in my weekly vegetable box I wanted to try something other than a crumble :) This was a lot easier than I thought! I think everyone should try it and enjoy it is a lovely summer dessert or an any time sweet treat. I made it a bit more luxurious and decided to add rosewater which is a very potent ingredient that I’ve wanted to experiment with. It made it so lovely and the flavour of the rhubarb just shined with a tiny bit. I would imagine the compote can be frozen quite easily and heated up at a moments notice. I used store bought meringues in this because I can’t be bothered to whip egg whites and cook them in a slow oven but you are more than welcome to, I’m sure they’re better than store bought. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

500g rhubarb (about 1lb)

4 tbsp. golden caster sugar

1/3 c. water

1 tsp. or less of rosewater (definitely optional)

300ml double cream (yes, indulgent but you can’t skimp! Has to be double cream)

6-8 meringue nests

To start:

Wash the rhubarb stalks and slice into 2cm chunks.

In a pan dissolve the sugar in the water over low heat when boiling add the rhubarb and cook for 5 minutes.

When the rhubarb is soft splash the rosewater in and stir. Set aside.

For the cream:

Whip until just thickened, you can beat it as stiff as you’d like but I prefer it kind of stiff.

To the cream fold a couple table spoons of the cooked rhubarb as well as two meringues.

To finish:

In a martini glass (if you’re feeling fancy), start layering.

First a spoonful of the compote, next a layer of the cream mixture, next crushed meringue… etc.

Note: You can add more or all of the meringue in the cream mixture; I just tend to layer some individually because I like the texture.