Basil-infused berry, fig and clotted cream Eton mess

Last night Lu and I cooked a meal for my Dad and had such a lovely evening with him, eating, drinking,  listening to music and to him telling us brilliant stories from his days as a journalist, and generally putting the world to rights until the wee small hours!  I invented this very quick and easy dessert for pud - a twist on a classic Eton mess by swapping whipped cream for clotted cream, adding some fresh figs to the strawberries and raspberries, and infusing the fruit with fresh basil while it macerated in the fridge.

Ingredients

1 punnet strawberries

3 ripe, fresh figs

1 punnet raspberries

Handful of fresh basil

2 tbsp caster sugar

3 large meringue nests

1 pot clotted cream

Method

1. Slice the strawberries and figs and place in a bowl with the raspberries. 
2. Roughly tear or chop the basil and sprinkle over the fruit with the sugar. Stir gently to combine.
3. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for an hour or until ready to serve. 
4. Just before serving, remove the fruit from the fridge and place a dessertspoonful into the bottom of each serving glass (either tall tumblers or sundae glasses). 
5. In a separate bowl, crush the meringue with your hands to make a mixture of large chunks and fine crumble.
6. Layer the glasses with a dollop of clotted cream, a spoonful of the crushed meringue and more fruit, repeating until the glasses are filled.
7. Add a sprig of small basil leaves on top for decoration, and serve.