Friday 6 January 2017

Lemon Meringue Roulade

I actually did this after a chat in the office about gluten-free baking. It's not something I normally do, as it's a hassle, and also I'm pretty sure most people are not actually gluten-intolerant!

...however, I had a thought that fatless sponges were not really dependent on the gluten for their structure, and when I got home I saw we had a lot of spare eggs. I have a small supply of gluten-free flour, so decided to kill a few birds with one stone.
  • See if fatless sponge with gluten-free flour works
  • Get some of the baking basics documented (lemon curd, fatless sponge, swiss meringue)
  • Use up eggs
  • Have a cake!
Lemon curd is one of my favourites, and it goes amazingly with meringue (while also meaning you don't waste any of the egg).

Really happy with how this turned out...it's nice and light, looks good, and tastes delicious! I was also able to get loads of photos done, and I've already written up the 3 "basic" recipes, so all I need to cover here is the sequence and assembly.

Lemon Meringue Roulade - Recipe

Lemon Curd Filling

Make one batch of the basic lemon curd recipe, and allow it to cool. This will make more than you need, you should have about 1/3rd left over.
 

Swiss Meringue Filling/Coating

Make one batch of the basic swiss meringue recipe, and place it in a piping bag with a large star nozzle. You'll probably use most/all of this, depending on how generous you are!

Fatless Sponge

I used the basic fatless sponge recipe, substituting the flour for gluten-free flour and 1tsp of baking powder. Assembly instructions begin as this comes out of the oven...

 

 

Assembly


1) Once the sponge sheet is out of the tin, and the baking parchment is peeled off, score a line about 1 inch from the edge of one of the short ends of the sheet. You want to do this (and the next step) quickly, while the sponge is still hot and flexible.

2) Using the score to start you off, carefully roll the sponge up into a roll, with the sheet of baking parchment underneath. You want a tight roll, but don't squeeze it.

3) Place on a wire rack to cool

4) Once cool, carefully unroll and remove the baking parchment

5) Spread a generous layer of lemon curd over the inside of the curled sponge sheet

6) Pipe meringue over the lemon curd (this should be about half of the meringue)

7) Re-roll the sponge, with the fillings inside. Be careful not to squeeze them out.

8) Place the cake on the serving plate

9) Pipe small rosettes of meringue over the top and sides of the cake, using the rest of the meringue

10) Using a cooks blowtorch, gently toast the rosettes, and any meringue peaking out the ends of the roulade.