Eggless Eton Mess

The first time I saw these meringues being made was at the London Produce Show and I was totally amazed! Meringues without eggs!? How is that even possible, and with chickpea water!? My mind was blown and I ran home and I tried it over and over again. It's true that you really can make meringues from the water in the tins of chickpeas AKA aquafaba ('water-bean'). The starchy water has amazing qualities so if you whip it, it produces a light foam like egg whites do. You can add stabilisers such as sugar or cream of tartar to this foam so it doesn't collapse. This fluffy foam can then be added to a number of dishes as a vegan option. Anyway, I love an Eton mess, it's a real summer pudding for me so here is my version made with some vegan options and a hint of Indian flavour through the rose water but you can just use strawberries and cream if you prefer. To whip the coconut milk, it needs to be really cold - if you don't have time to refrigerate a tin of coconut milk, you can use it as is and whip it a little but it won't get as thick.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet