Peeps, the Eton mess came about because of this. I had way too many egg whites on my hands and after making this with about half of the whites, I thought I’d whip up some slightly-crunchy-on-the-outside, marshmallow-y-on-the-inside meringue cookies using my mini pavlova recipe with the other half. However, my timing was way off (the cookies were small and I baked them to death) and I ended up with tasty, but over-the-top crunchy cookies. Nothing was marshmallow-y about these suckers.
I posted the pic of said crunchiness on instagram, and some lovely follower suggested I make Eton mess. Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly sure what that entailed, but back in the throws of my icebox cakes cookbook writing days, I remember an english friend telling me that one of my cakes reminded her of Eton mess. Therefore, I deduced that Eton mess must have something to do with whipped cream and cookies. And, I was right. Eton mess is essentially berries and crumbled meringue cookies folded into whipped cream and it is essentially a perfect dessert: hard to screw up, loved by the masses, and delicious. 
I looked here and here and here for a little guidance on Eton mess proportions and whether it might be considered a make-ahead dessert (kind of my favorite type), as opposed to a post-dinner, make it while your guests are still sitting at the table sort of treat. And here’s what I gathered: the proportions of cream to cookies to berries is kind of sort of whatever floats your boat, tickles your fancy, etc. I’m not going to lie: although mine was unbelievably tasty, I will use less berries next time, as I did not have any of the traditional colorful ribbons of fruit throughout my cream, and instead had a uniformly pink cream, gorgeous though it was.
As for making the dessert ahead, although everything I read recommended doing it at the last minute, I took a chance and made it prior to my guests arriving — like at least three hours before it was to be served — and am oh, so happy to report that the wait did not effect the “mess” one bit. Perhaps the cookies might have been a tad crunchier had it been made at the last moment, but that can be easily rectified by crumbling a few more meringues on top, or folding them in, before serving — or serving a plate of the cookies along side the dessert. All good regardless of whether you crumble, fold or serve.
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