Akwasi Brenya-Mensa’s vegan recipe for Kingston mess | The new vegan

There is an amazing short film, music video and song called T-Shirt Weather In The Manor by Kano that captures the essence of what it is to be proudly Black British in the summer time, and in a way I hadn’t seen expressed before. I imagine this dessert to be what I’d have served after the video’s cookout scenes, because it encapsulates what it is to be raised in Britain while at the same time being from another place. I have combined the principles of the quintessentially English Eton mess with rum-soaked pineapple, coconut and passion fruit to provide a playful ending to a summer meal.

Kingston mess

Hibiscus powder is most easily found in healthfood shops; if you can’t get hold of it, take the contents of a hibiscus teabag and grind them finely in a mortar or spice grinder. Alternatively, just leave it out altogether.

Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 30 min
Serves 4-8

For the hibiscus meringue
200ml aquafaba – I use a carton of Oggs
20ml lemon juice, or ½ tsp cream of tartar
200g caster sugar
A few pinches of hibiscus powder, to dust (optional)

For the elderflower cream
140g vegan cream – I like Elmlea
25ml elderflower cordial

For the rum pineapple
250g sugar
150ml dark rum
1 pinch flaked sea salt (2g)
1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
4 passion fruits, halved
25g desiccated coconut (about 1 tbsp), toasted

First make the meringues. Heat the oven to 120C (100C fan)/250F/gas ½ and line two medium oven trays with greaseproof paper.

In a clean, dry mixer, or in a bowl with a whisk, beat the aquafaba for two or so minutes, until it forms medium peaks. Gently fold in the lemon (or cream of tartar), then beat again to stiff peaks. Slowly beat in the sugar bit by bit, until the meringue mixture is stiff and glossy.

Transfer the mix to a piping bag fitted with a medium 1½-2cm nozzle (or put it in a freezer bag and cut a 1½-2cm hole in one corner of the bag), then pipe out small meringue rounds on to the lined trays, keeping them spaced well apart. Lightly dust all over with the hibiscus powder, then bake for an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half, until the exterior shell is nice and crisp but the meringues are still soft within. Turn off the oven and leave the meringues in there with the door ajar for another 20 minutes, so they dry out a bit.

While the meringues are baking, make the elderflower cream. Whip the cream to medium peaks, then gently fold in the elderflower cordial and chill until needed.

For the rum pineapple, put the sugar, 200ml water, the rum and a pinch of flaked salt in a small pan, bring to a simmer and leave to bubble for five minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar and salt. Leave to cool a little, then pour the resulting syrup over the pineapple in a bowl, and leave to steep.

Put a meringue in the base of four to eight small glasses or wine glasses, then spoon on some cream. Top this with some rum pineapple, then repeat the layers until the glasses are full (depending on how many you are serving, save any excess meringues in an airtight container, where they will keep for up to five days); if you prefer, go rogue and have fun with how you fill the glasses instead. Top each portion with the scooped-out flesh and seeds of half a passion fruit and a scattering of toasted coconut, then enjoy.