If you live anywhere near Essex, or are willing to travel a bit to learn gluten free baking from one of the experts, then this one is for you! I have been asked to share details of 2 one-day courses (consecutive days if you want to attend both), with Adriana Rabinovich, being held at the Braxted Park Cookery School in September and am being offered 10% discount for my readers, if you want to attend (just quote the code below when booking).
I have to say that I am really pleased to be able to bring you this offer. When we first discovered my daughter was Coeliac, I knew this would completely change everything I knew about baking. When I looked for a start point, I inevitably sought out a book to guide me and Adriana Rabinovich came to the rescue in the guise of her book ‘The Gluten Free Cook Book for Kids’ (2009). It is still the most used and thumbed gluten free cook book on my shelf!
Like many of us in GF blogging world, Adriana’s motivation towards the art of gluten free cooking started with the diagnosis of her own daughter with Coeliac Disease in 2004. Her accessibility and devotion to the subject has inspired me on many occasion and has also come to the rescue when I have been struggling to get my head around a recipe dilemma and have needed a reference point. She has taught me a lot through her writing and I have wanted an opportunity to attend her courses for a long time.
The Braxted Park courses are running on 23rd September (gluten free bread) and 24th September (gluten free pastry) – see the information below for more detail. I am hoping to book on myself, so maybe I will see you there!
For those of you who have never come across or tried any of Adriana’s recipes, I have made for you a little tester to whet your appetite……
This Zesty Lemon Meringue Roulade is brilliant in its simplicity! I kid you not……. I got up on Saturday morning thinking ‘I need to make Roulade’ and in less than an hour it was baked, filled, rolled, decorated and in the fridge! But don’t think simple deflects from spectacular. One of the great things about this recipe, is that you can prepare everything a day in advance and just leave it to chill in the fridge overnight, making it perfect for serving as a show-stopping dinner party dessert.
I followed Adriana’s recipe to the letter, except for the decoration and adding extra curd to the filling (I like my roulade to be extra zesty and fruity and the cream filling was more than able to take an extra couple of spoonfuls of curd without any effect on consistency). I have already made a second roulade substituting lemon curd for passionfruit curd which was just divine! But you could also use a delicious home-made Citrus Curd, or even a tart Rhubarb Curd which would be equally delicious.
I did tamper slightly with the decoration as the roulade seemed quite plain-looking. To add a bit of colour and different texture, I mixed the final sprinkling of icing sugar with a little freeze-dried raspberry powder (which I buy from Healthy Supplies) and some edible glitter and sparkly sprinkles. I also topped with a few flakes and chunks of chopped white chocolate and some edible flowers. Pretty huh?!
The resulting Roulade is utterly delicious. The overall texture is moussey meringue, encased in a slightly crisp outer coat. Each soft pillowy meringue swirl is decadently inter-layered with fruity, tangy whipped cream. Each heavenly mouthful melts forgivingly on your tastebuds, coating them in luxury and leaving you wanting to dip straight in for the next spoonful. It is light as a feather, yet each slice leaves you feeling satisfyingly pampered…..
We served some of ours with some fresh strawberries and raspberries too, which was a delightful combination.
I would thoroughly recommend you try this one…. It is lush!
I am sharing this Meringue Roulade with the following :
Simply Eggcellent with the lovely Dom over at Belleau Kitchen – this month anything goes, so this is my second entry!
No Waste Food Challenge with Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary, on account of my using up a spare half jar of lemon curd that I found lurking in the fridge.
Lemon Meringue Roulade
Ingredients for meringue:
Ingredients for filling:
Method:
- Preheat oven 190℃. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment (not greaseproof paper as this will stick).
- Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl, until stiff. Gradually add the sugar until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Fold in the vinegar and cornflour.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray and spread out evenly. Bake for 10-12 minutes until just golden and firm.
- Remove from the oven and immediately flip the meringue over on to a clean sheet of baking parchment which has been sprinkled with caster sugar. The top will now face downwards. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
- Gently peel off the lining paper. Don’t worry if there are a few holes – it will still look great when rolled up.
- To prepare the filling, whip the cream until it just forms soft peaks. Add the lemon curd and stir through.
- Carefully spread the filling on to the meringue. Use the parchment paper to help you roll the meringue. Leave the roulade rolled up in the parchment paper and twist the ends like a Christmas cracker.
- Place on a baking sheet and then in the fridge until ready to serve.
- To serve, undo the parchment wrapping and place on a serving platter. Dust with icing sugar.
Oh heavens! Another absolutely stunning creation! You make going gluten free so very tempting! Thank you for sharing with the No Waste Food Challenge! 🙂
Ha ha! Thanks Elizabeth. gluten free should be hold no barriers in my book….. we just have to work out the alternatives one by one!
Gorgeous looking roulade Kate! So pretty and delicate. Bet it tastes delicious too : )
Thank you Lucy. It made a lovely change from cake and heavier desserts and was quite delicious!
This is simply stunning! Fresh and beautiful, such a nice dessert Kate!
Thank you Alida. What a lovely comment x
So beautiful! You definitely spruced it up with the extra decorations. It looks melt in the mouth delicious.
Thanks Kat. It was extremely melt in the mouth! I could happily eat one of these every week!
how wonderful… how beautiful is this? So delicate and so pretty. I love a soft meringue type roulade… my mum makes one that is naturally gluten free and egg based like this but with chocolate. beautiful link to Simply Eggcellent, thank you x
Awww thanks Dom! Meringue roulade does look so beautiful and despite how quick it can be made, always feels very special to eat!
That cake looks lovely – the cake is like my mum's sponge which she often makes and suits our coeliac members of the family but she doesn't make it as a roulade – maybe I should try it and take it to her place!
Thanks Johanna. Roulade made with meringue is a really good safe option for gluten avoiders and looks so special! Always a winner x