strawberry and cream dreaming days

It was like a summer's day today - one of those long, blue, strawberry and cream dreaming days when you want to lie in the grass staring up at the sky - and I did briefly, until I remembered my meringues were in the oven!

This has to be the best summer dessert of all time - Delia's Eton Mess.

Ingredients
Serves 6
6 oz/175 g castor sugar
3 large egg whites
1 lb/450 g fresh strawberries, hulled
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 pint/570 ml double cream

♫ Cook along to: Minnie Riperton Lovin' You

1. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until thoroughly whisked in. Take rounded dessertspoonfuls of the mixture and place in rows on a lined baking tray. Place in the oven at 275°F/140°C for an hour. After that, turn the oven off and leave the meringues in the oven to dry out overnight, or until the oven is completely cold.

2. When you're ready to go, chop half the strawberries and place in a blender with the icing sugar. Whiz to a purée and pass through a sieve to remove the seeds. Chop up the rest of the strawberries and whip up the cream to the floppy stage.

3. Break up the meringues, place in a bowl with the chopped strawberries and fold in the cream and the purée.