Eton mess cupcakes
Eton mess cupcakes are a delicious take on the traditional British dessert, all in the form of a cupcake
Eton mess cupcakes take the strawberries, cream and meringues from the classic summer dessert and combine them in a delicious cupcake.
These are the perfect summer cupcake. They’re a light and fluffy cupcake filled with fresh strawberries as well as a delicious whipped cream frosting. All topped with more fresh strawberries and, crushed meringue.
How can kids help to make Eton mess cupcakes?
Cupcakes are a great bake for kids, they’re one of the easiest things you can make with them. And while this recipe has a few more steps in them than a plain vanilla cupcake, none of them are difficult so they’re still a great bake for kids and beginner bakers. For the tiny bit of extra effort, you’ll end up with an even more delicious end result!
The base cupcake in this recipe is an easy one for kids as everything just gets mixed together in one bowl. That means there are fewer steps, less mess and less washing up to do than other recipes! There are also a lot of simple steps kids can get involved whether, whether they want to help with the whole recipe or just bit of it.
As with most bakes, children will get to measure out all the ingredients and mix them together. This recipe has 3 eggs so which means there are three chances to practice their egg cracking skills – a really important skill for any young baker.
The strawberries that go into the cupcakes need to be chopped which is a great job for kids. They’re a great fruit to practice knife skills with as you can use a blunt knife and it really doesn’t matter whether all the pieces of strawberry end up exactly the same size or not.
Your kids can also help fill up the cupcake cases with batter. You might find it easier and less messy if you use an ice-cream scoop or soup spoon to do it.
Finally, your kids might enjoy helping to make the cream frosting helping to decorate the cupcakes. Younger children might need help with the piping bag if you’re using one, but it’s a fun job to try. If a piping bag is too tricky for your kids, or you don’t have one, you can spread the icing on with a spoon or blunt knife. And they can certainly help crushing the meringue before adding that and the strawberries on top.
How long do Eton mess cupcakes keep?
These cupcakes will keep for a day or two in the fridge. Don’t add the strawberries or meringue until you want to serve them as they won’t keep as well.
If you want to make these ahead of time, you can put the undecorated cupcake in the freezer for up to about 3 months. To freeze them, wrap each cupcake in cling film / glad wrap, and pop it in a freezer bag. Make sure you defrost them fully before you decorate them.
How should I store these Eton mess cupcakes?
Once decorated, these cupcakes need to be stored in the fridge due to the cream in the icing.
What can I use instead of self raising flour?
If you don’t have self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and put in an extra 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder.
What is baking spread/baking margarine?
Baking spread, (things like Stork), is just a non dairy margarine that’s perfect for baking. It makes cupcakes and cakes lighter and fluffier than butter, which means it’s a great, cheaper alternative.
I still like the taste of butter in buttercream icing so I wouldn’t swap the butter for baking spread in that but it’s great for the sponge.
What can I do with left over meringues or strawberries?
If you’ve still got some meringue nests to use up, you could enjoy them with some fruit and cream, or why not try our Eton mess ice cream.
We’ve also got lots of bakes that will help to use up any leftover strawberries:
Strawberry cookies
Strawberry cake
Strawberry cupcakes
Berry frozen yoghurt
Strawberry jam
Strawberry muffins
Other cake and cupcake recipes
Why not try some of these other easy cupcake and cake recipes for kids:
Victoria sponge
Lemon cupcakes
Funfetti cupcakes
Vanilla cupcakes
Lemon sponge cake
Orange sponge cake
Raspberry sponge cake
Victoria sponge cupcakes
Lemon drizzle cupcakes
Victoria sponge traybake
Blackberry cupcakes
Apple cupcakes
Blueberry cupcakes
Raspberry and white chocolate cupcakes
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make these Eton mess cupcakes
Digital scales
Mixing bowl
Wooden spoons
Measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Muffin tin
Cupcake cases
Wire rack
Piping bag
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Ingredients
For the cupcakes
4-5 strawberries
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
150g (2/3 cup) butter or baking margarine
150g (¾ cup) caster sugar
150g (1 ¾ cups) self raising flour
½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
3 eggs
For the whipped cream icing
300ml double / whipping cream
1 – 2 tablespoons icing / confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To decorate
1 meringue nest
Strawberries
Strawberry sauce (optional)
* If you don’t have any self raising flour, swap it for an equal amount of plain or all-purpose flour and add an extra teaspoon of baking powder.
How to make Eton Mess cupcakes
Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan / 350F and get your kids to line a muffin tin with cupcake cases.
Macerate the strawberries
Get your kids to remove the stalks and chop the strawberries into small pieces. This is a great job for kids to do as they can use a blunt knife and it doesn’t matter if the strawberry chunks are all exactly the same size or not.
Pop the strawberries in a bowl, and add the sugar and lemon juice. Give it all a stir and set aside for now.
Measure all the cupcake ingredients out
Measure all the cupcake ingredients out and add them to a free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl.
You can add the ingredients in any order as it all just gets mixed together at the same time in one bowl. We generally follow the order the ingredients are listed however so that we don’t miss anything out.
Start by getting your kids to add the butter, (or margarine if you’re using it), the sugar and flour to your mixing bowl.
If you’re using butter it needs to be at room temperature so it’s soft enough for it to mix. If you haven’t taken yours out the fridge long enough in advance, you can chop it into a few pieces and then blast in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it. Make sure you don’t do it long enough for it to melt. If you’re using baking margarine/Stork, you can just add it straight in.
Using a half teaspoon measure out the baking powder and add it to your bowl. Make sure your kids level the teaspoon with their finger before adding it in so that you add just the right amount.
Add the vanilla extract. Older children who can hold the teaspoon level and steady should be able to do this themselves but younger children might need your help to hold the teaspoon still.
Finally, get your kids to crack the eggs into a small bowl before adding them to your mixing bowl. We tend not to crack eggs straight into the mixing bowl just in case any shell goes in (and it generally does). If shell does go in, we fish it out with a larger piece of shell or a teaspoon as we find it sticks to that much better than it does our finger and it saves getting messy hands. We also find it a good idea to have a spare bowl or food bin nearby to put the egg shells in as it saves a lot of mess.
Mix the cupcake batter together
Using a hand held mixer, the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer or even wooden spoons, beat everything together until the batter is nice and smooth. Beat it together for a minute or so until there are no visible lumps of flour or butter showing. But be sure not to over mix it.
If you need to, get your kids to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure no unmixed ingredients are left at the bottom of your bowl.
Add the strawberries
Add the macerated strawberries into your batter, then gently stir them in with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Bake the Victoria sponge cupcakes
Using a soup/dessert spoon or an ice cream scoop get your kids to divide the cupcake batter among the cupcake cases. Try to make sure your kids add roughly the same amount to each case so they bake evenly or, once you’ve added a spoon to each case, even it up with whatever remains in your mixing bowl. Each case should be about ¾ full.
Bake the cupcakes for 20 – 25 minutes. They’re ready when they have risen and turned a nice golden brown colour. You can check they are baked by pressing down gently on the top and if they are ready they should spring back up. Alternatively, insert a skewer, cocktail stick or sharp knife into the middle of the cupcake. If they’re ready the cocktail stick should come out clean. If it’s not, pop the cupcakes back in the oven for another minute or two.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave them to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before taking them out and putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the icing
Get your kids to measure out the cream, or if like us your carton has the right amount, just pour it straight into a mixing bowl or your free-standing mixer.
Add the icing / confectioners sugar and vanilla extract
Using the whisk attachment of your mixer or a hand held whisk, whip the cream until it has formed soft peaks. Make sure you stop whisking while the mixture is still very soft. If you over whisk it, you can ‘rescue’ the icing by mixing in a little more unwhipped cream or milk, just enough to soften it back up.
Add the icing to a piping bag fitted with a large star or circular shaped nozzle. If you have one, add a food clip at the top of the piping bag so you’re not worrying about it coming out the top when you squeeze.
Decorate the Eton mess cupcakes
Help your kids to swirl the icing on top of the cupcakes. Older children might manage this themselves but younger children might need a little help to squeeze and guide the bag.
We find the easiest way to pipe the icing is to hold the piping bag at the top with our right hand to squeeze the icing out and use our left hand to guide the bag round. Start at the outside and go round in circles until you get to the middle. If you have icing leftover once you’ve iced all the cupcakes, add another swirl on top.
Finally, just before you serve them add some crushed meringue and a half strawberry on top. If you want you can also add a drizzle of strawberry sauce.
Serve and enjoy!
Eton mess cupcakes
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C / 160C Fan / 350F and get your kids to line a muffin tin with cupcake cases.
- Remove the stalks and chop the strawberries into small pieces. Pop the strawberries in a bowl, and add the sugar and lemon juice. Give it all a stir and set aside for now.
- Measure all the cupcake ingredients out and add them to a free-standing mixer or a large mixing bowl.
- Using a hand held mixer, the k-paddle of your free-standing mixer or even wooden spoons, beat everything together until the batter is nice and smooth. Beat it together for a minute or so until there are no visible lumps of flour or butter showing. But be sure not to over mix it.
- Add the macerated strawberries into your batter, then gently stir them in with a spatula or wooden spoon.
- Using a soup/dessert spoon or an ice cream scoop get divide the cupcake batter among the cupcake cases. Each case should be about ¾ full.
- Bake the cupcakes for 20 – 25 minutes. They're ready when they have risen and turned a nice golden brown colour. You can check they are baked by inserting a skewer, cocktail stick or sharp knife into the middle of the cupcake. If they're ready the cocktail stick should come out clean. If it's not, pop the cupcakes back in the oven for another minute or two.
- Remove the cupcakes from the oven and leave them to cool in the muffin tin for a few minutes before taking them out and putting them on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Measure out the cream, or if like us your carton has the right amount, just pour it straight into a mixing bowl or your free-standing mixer.Add the icing / confectioners sugar and vanilla extract.
- Using the whisk attachment of your mixer or a hand held whisk, whip the cream until it has formed soft peaks.
- Add the icing to a piping bag fitted with a large star or circular shaped nozzle. If you have one, add a food clip at the top of the piping bag so you're not worrying about it coming out the top when you squeeze.
- Swirl the icing on top of the cupcakes.Finally, just before you serve them add some crushed meringue and a half strawberry on top.
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