White Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade

This month's We Should Cocoa Challenge was set by Chele of the brilliant Chocolate Teapot blog. Chele challenged us to create a Swiss roll or a roulade, of course containing the obligatory chocolate element. I have previously made one roulade before which was a lemon sponge version and was basically pretty awful. Let's just say if I had dropped it on my foot it would have resulted in a trip to A&E. For this reason I was a bit dubious how this challenge would work out. I also decided to put a little extra pressure on myself by making it for pudding for friends who were coming round for lunch yesterday. Having completely slept in I didn't have much time to get this ready let alone the rest of the lunch!


I found the recipe for this White Chocolate roulade which is meringue based on a magazine website. So I got out my newly bought Swiss roll tin and got going. Yes the roulade cracked when I rolled it but according to Delia that's fine and let's face it what Delia says goes. I love this recipe and was also pleased as it was my first meringue attempt too. I made a raspberry coulis which I drizzled over the roulade when I served it. In hindsight I should have taken the photo after the addition of the coulis as my poor roulade does look a bit anaemic in this picture.  I had actually planned to take a photo of a leftover slice but it all went. I blame the 3 year old who came back for seconds!


The Recipe


4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
5ml each cornflour and lemon juice
100g white chocolate, broken into pieces (I used Lindt)
200ml double cream
5ml vanilla extract
1 punnet raspberries


Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan) mark 3. Line a 33cm x 23cm (13in x 9in) shallow baking tin with parchment paper.
Put the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk until stiff but not dry. Gradually add the caster sugar, whisking all the time, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Beat in the cornflour and lemon juice until well combined.
Spoon the meringue into the prepared tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 25min until a light golden crust forms. Leave to cool in tin for 5min. Lightly dust with icing sugar a rectangle of greaseproof paper a bit larger than the baking tin, then invert the meringue on to the paper. Remove tin, leaving paper on the meringue, and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, then remove from heat and leave to cool. Make the coulis by blending the raspberries and icing sugar until smooth. Sieve into a jug. In a medium bowl, whip the cream and vanilla until the cream just holds its shape, then fold in the cooled white chocolate.
Peel paper from the meringue, then evenly spread over the cream mixture. Sprinkle over hazelnuts and raspberries. Using the paper underneath it to help you, roll up the meringue from the short edge. Don't worry if cracks appear - they'll add to the log effect.
Transfer to a serving plate, drizzle over coulis, dust with icing sugar and serve.