Rhubarb and Custard Meringue Roulade
Rahul created this dish for Great British Bake Off ™ Season 9. An almond-flecked French meringue rolled around a vanilla crème diplomat and a forced rhubarb compote, finished with a row of small piped pink meringue kisses down its length. This corrected version addresses Paul Hollywood's critiques on bake duration and roll axis: the meringue is stabilized with cornflour and white wine vinegar so it can take a longer bake without losing its rollable interior, and it is rolled widthways across the short edge to produce a true 3–4 coil spiral rather than a single fold. Baker’s Notes The under-bake trap. Rahul’s instinct - bake less so it rolls without cracking - is the first instinct of any anxious meringue cook, and it is the wrong one. A properly baked Pavlova-style meringue (with cornflour and vinegar) is more flexible than an under-baked plain meringue, not less. The stabilisers do the structural work that the protein under-cook was trying to avoid. Why the roll axis matters. A 23Å~3…
- Time: 330 min
Source: Relaxed Recipes
Ingredients
- MAKE THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
- Combine the milk and split vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring just to a simmer;
- In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour to a smooth paste
- Pour the warm milk through a sieve over the yolk mixture in a slow stream, whisk
- Return everything to the pan and cook over medium heat, whisking without pause,
- Off the heat, whisk in the cold butter
- Press cling film directly onto the surface and chill until completely cold — at
- MAKE THE RHUBARB COMPOTE
- Cut the rhubarb into 2 cm pieces
- Combine in a saucepan with the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla seeds
- Cook over medium-low heat, stirring once or twice, for 8–10 minutes until the rh
- Tip into a sieve set over a bowl and let drain for 10 minutes
- Reserve the strained syrup separately - you will brush it on the meringue
- Cool the compote completely before assembly
- PREPARE TO BAKE THE MERINGUE
- Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F
- Line a 23 × 33 cm Swiss roll tin with parchment, leaving 2 cm overhang on every
- Have the cornflour, vinegar, vanilla and flaked almonds weighed and ready before
- WHISK AND BAKE THE MERINGUE
- Whisk the egg whites on medium speed until they hold soft peaks
- With the mixer running, add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time, waiting 1
- Once all the sugar is in, increase to high speed and whisk for 5–7 minutes until
- Sift the cornflour over the meringue, drizzle in the vinegar and vanilla, and fo
- Scrape the meringue onto the parchment-lined tin and spread to a roughly even re
- Sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over the surface
- Bake at 180°C/350°F for 25 minutes, then drop the oven to 160°C/325°F and bake f
- COOL AND PREPARE FOR ROLLING
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes
- Lay a fresh sheet of parchment on the bench, dust generously with icing sugar, a
- Carefully peel away the original baking parchment from what is now the top
- Brush the exposed surface lightly with the reserved rhubarb syrup - not enough t
- FINISH THE CRÈME DIPLOMAT
- Whip the cold double cream to soft peaks
- Whisk the chilled crème pâtissière smooth , then fold the whipped cream through
- FILL
- Spread the crème diplomat in an even layer over the meringue, leaving a 1.5 cm b
- Spoon the drained rhubarb compote in a continuous ribbon down the centre, parall
- ROLL
- Orient the meringue so the long edges are at your left and right and the short e
- Score a shallow line 2 cm in from the short edge nearest you - just deep enough