Meghan Markle officially launched her lifestyle brand, As Ever, on April 2. Her first collection of products sold out within an hour. Just before the product launch, Meghan took to social media to share a recipe with her followers. The recipe, called “Chantilly Lili,” was inspired by and named after Meghan’s daughter, Princess Lilibet.
In a video, Meghan finished decorating the dessert.
The Duchess of Sussex decorated cups of pudding with fruit and mint leaves. After Meghan showed off the end result, her mother, Doria Ragland, tasted the dessert. “Once you get to the bottom taste all the banana,” Meghan said to her mom. In the video, Doria didn’t tell her what she thought of the dessert. Instead, she said, “I’ll tell you when I am done.”
In the caption, Meghan wrote, “Whipped up a special dessert with @nytcooking as we celebrate the launch of @aseverofficial today! Goodness is moments away ⏰ In the meantime, enjoy the recipe for our ‘Chantilly Lili’ — a delicious dessert named after our darling daughter.”
Meghan added that the dessert is “so so so good” and “as special and sweet as [Lilibet] is.”
The dessert was inspired by a family recipe.
Per the New York Times, Meghan’s Chantilly Lili dessert “is based on a banana pudding recipe of Meghan’s grandmother.” Meghan modified the recipe, adding “strawberries macerated with lemon” and passion fruit seeds. Meghan decided to add passion fruit seeds as a garnish because “she happens to have a passion fruit vine in her garden.”
Some people were not impressed.
On Reddit, critics reacted to the recipe, with one person writing, “It’s just a basic pudding and whipped cream recipe.” Some people pointed out that their relatives have made this dessert for years. “This has been around forever,” a second person said.
A few critics also had an issue with Meghan’s name for the dessert. “It’s based on a southern banana pudding recipe, but she’s naming it after the Chantilly cream,” a critic commented. “The cream isn’t even the focal part of the dessert!”
However, others enjoyed the recipe.
At the time of publication, Meghan’s recipe had a four-star rating. Commenting on the New York Times recipe, one reviewer called it “quite lovely and tasty” and said “the fresh passion fruit is a nice touch.” A second person noted that the recipe was “very easy to make” and “tasty.”
Shortly after sharing the recipe, Meghan launched As Ever.
“We’re live!” Meghan announced on Instagram on April 2. “Come shop the As ever collection I’ve poured so much love into. So excited to share this with you.” She noted that there would be “limited quantities for each seasonal drop.”
Less than an hour later, Meghan took to Instagram to announce that the entire collection had sold out. “Our shelves may be empty, but my heart is full!” Meghan wrote. “We sold out in less than one hour and I can’t thank you enough … for celebrating, purchasing, sharing, and believing.”
Check out our Meghan Markle page for all the latest news about Meghan, Prince Harry, and their growing family.
