Eton mess as more traditional. A similar dessert is Lancing mess (which uses bananas), served throughout the year at Lancing College in West Sussex, England. The word "mess" may refer to the appearance of the dish, or may be used in the sense of "a quantity of food", particularly "a prepared dish of soft food" or "a mixture of ingredients cooked or eaten together". Eton mess Eton mess is a traditional English dessert consisting of a mixture of strawberries, broken meringue, and whipped double cream. First mentioned in print in 1893, it is commonly believed to originate from Eton College and is
Whipped cream process taking an hour or more. By the end of the 19th century, centrifuge-separated, high-fat cream made it much faster and easier to make whipped cream. The French name "crème fouettée" 'whipped cream' is attested in 1629, and the English name "whipped cream" in 1673. The name "snow cream" continued to be used in the 17th century. Various desserts consisting of whipped cream in pyramidal shapes with coffee, liqueurs, chocolate, fruits, and so on either in the mixture or poured on top were called "crème en mousse" 'cream in a foam', "crème fouettée", "crème mousseuse" 'foamy cream', "mousse" 'foam', and