I wouldn’t say I’m particularly interested in the Royal Family on any given day. But when the day comes that I get to make fancy snacks for a theme party, I’m all in.

My fellow theme-party-loving-friend Ashley was planning to host a boozy tea party on the Saturday of the Royal Wedding, complete with tea sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, and macarons. She asked if I would re-create this BEAUTIFUL Eton Mess cake that (I imagine) she found going down a rabbit hole of “tea party desserts” on Pinterest.

Eton Mess is a very traditional English dessert, made up of layered strawberries, crushed meringue and whipped cream all served up in a dish. Tieghan from Half Baked Harvest’s version layers the traditional ingredients between super moist coconut cake with a creamy and rich whipped ricotta cream. Not mad about that.

I opted for strawberries, kiwis and candied kumquats to decorate my cake. I stopped by a flower stand at my farmer's market and asked the farmer which flowers I could eat. With a slightly confused look, he kindly pointed me towards the violas. Once I got home and did a quick Google search, I learned that violas are very common flowers used in culinary and fragrance applications. Thanks flower man for teaching me something new!

All in all, this was a great cake to make, bake and take to a party. (No more rhymes! I mean it!) Each component can be made in advance, and you can assemble it on-site. Cake, layer of whipped cream, swirl in smashed fruit, crumble the meringue, drizzle with honey, repeat. The top layer gets decorated with more fruit and flowers and tad da! You have a stunning centerpiece fit for Royals. Or a group of ladies drinking boozy tea and talking in fake English accents. Basically the same thing...

Get the Coconut Eton Mess Cake with Whipped Ricotta Cream recipe from Half Baked Harvest here!