Berry Roulade with Smoked Pecans and Almonds.

Colm O'Gorman

Serves 6-8 | European | Dessert
Prep Time: 40 mins | Cooking Time: 120 mins | Total Time: 140 mins

I adore a good roulade. Crisp on the outside, sweet and creamy on the inside and full of fresh berries. Delicious, and hard to improve on, until you add some smoked pecans and almonds! They elevate this classic dessert and make it something really special. 

I’ve made roulades with hazelnuts before, but as soon as I got my hands on these gorgeous smoked nuts from Frank Hederman, I immediately thought of using them in a roulade. The combination of the smoke and the almost sweet and yet savoury flavour of the nuts just works brilliantly in this recipe.

I am surprised by how many people are daunted at the thoughts of making a roulade. Honestly, it is not as complicated as you might think. Give it a go, I promise you will not regret it.

Ingredients

5 medium eggs



250g caster sugar



250g fresh strawberries



150g fresh raspberries



250ml cream



1/2tsp vanilla bean paste



50g of Hedermans Smoked Flaked Almonds



25g of Hedermans Smoked Pecans, chopped


Methodology
Separate the eggs. Keep the yolks to make a custard maybe? You don’t need them for this recipe. Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff with nice peaks. With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar a little at a time, in about 10 batches, until you have a beautiful, glossy, stiff mixture.

Heat your oven to 150c fan or 160c if using a conventional oven. Line a Swiss roll tin or other shallow baking tray with baking paper. Use a tray that measures around 25cm x 40cm. Spoon in the meringue mix and flatten it out to fill the tray. Bake for 1 hour, then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Now make a Chantilly cream. That sounds very fancy, but it is very simple and very delicious. Add 1/2tsp vanilla paste or essence & 1tsp caster sugar to the cream. Whip until it is thick & creamy. Cut the strawberries into 1–2cm chunks. Wash the raspberries.

Remove the cool meringue from the tin. Lay it upside down on a length of baking paper and remove the paper that the meringue was cooked in from the other side. Spread the cream as evenly as possible over the meringue & scatter the berries on top. Next, chop the pecans into smaller pieces, get them around the same size as the almonds. Now scatter the nuts over the fruit.

Now using the paper underneath, gradually roll the meringue into a roll. Use the paper to hold it together, rolling it gradually. Take your time, don’t worry about the meringue surface cracking as you roll, that’s to be expected. Transfer the roulade to a serving plate.

Spread a little cream along the top of the roulade. Use that to stick a line of strawberry halves along the top & scatter with some smoked flaked almonds to finish. Now slice off a nice big serving and tuck in.