Exotic Fruit Roulade with Smoked Nuts
Colm O'Gorman
Serves 8-10
| European
| Dessert
Prep Time: 40 mins
| Cooking Time: 120 mins
| Total Time: 140 mins
This is a blow–out Christmas version of the original recipe contributed by Colm O’Gorman for a berry roulade. We loved the idea of smoked nuts in a dessert like his, and thought it would also work brilliantly with a mix of exotic and sticky dried fruit such as dates and apricot. It does!
I adore a good roulade. Crisp on the outside, sweet and creamy on the inside and full of seasonal fruit. A classic 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.
Pre heat oven to 150–160C
Ingredients
5 medium eggs
250g caster sugar
3 passion fruit – pulp only
1 sharon fruit
1 mango
2 tangerine, segmented
60g dried apricot, chopped
40g Medjool date, chopped
80 coconut flakes
1 packet physalis (10–12 fruits)
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. Prepare your fruit.
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 fruit on top. Next, scatter the smoked almonds and pecans 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 secure a line of decorative fruit along the top & scatter with some smoked flaked almonds to finish. Now slice off a nice big serving and tuck in.