Meringue Roulade with Homemade Lemon Curd & Raspberries
A perfect light & delicious dessert to finish any dinner party. This meringue roulade is filled with tangy lemon curd, whipped cream and raspberries. It is possibly the most popular dessert that I made during my many years of outside catering and no wonder. It not only looks fabulous, it's really easy to make. I usually make the components the day before and then assemble it just before the guests arrive.
This will make a great alternative to Christmas Pudding...I quite often fill it with chopped mango & passion fruit and exchange the almonds for a little grated coconut...well here's the recipe.
you will need a 9"x13" ( 23cms x 33cms) Swiss roll tin.... oiled & lined with parchment paper
This dessert will serve 8 people
Ingredients
4 large egg whites
8oz / 250g caster (superfine) sugar
a handful of flaked almonds
for the filling
Homemade Lemon curd around 2/3 tbsps * see recipe below (or a good shop bought one)
½pt double cream whipped until thick but not firm
8oz /250g fresh raspberries ( if using frozen defrost on kitchen paper and only use decorate the roulade at the very last minute)
a few mint leaves
Icing/ Confectioners sugar for dusting
For the Lemon Curd
this is a very quick recipe using the microwave.
zest of 3 lemons
250 ml lemon juice
100g melted unsalted butter
200 g caster sugar
3 eggs
In a microwavable bowl
Whisk the eggs & sugar, add the lemon juice & zest & stir
Add in the melted butter
Cook on a medium heat for 1 minute blasts and give a good stir after each minute
When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon it is ready.
Pour into sterilised jars.
Can be kept in the fridge for up to a month.
For the meringue
Place the egg whites in a bowl and whip them until stiff but not too dry
Add the sugar a spoonful at a time whilst whisking all the time
The mixture should be glossy and thick
Spread the meringue over the Swiss roll tin evenly until level
Sprinkle over a handful of flaked almonds
Preheat your oven to 220c/425f/gas 7
Bake near the top for around 6 mins until the top starts to turn golden
Turn the oven down to 160c/325f/gas 3 and bake on for another 10 minutes
The meringue should feel firm. Remove from oven
Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface
Carefully turn out the meringue (upside down) onto the paper
Carefully remove the paper it was baked on and leave to cool on the bottom sheet of paper
Don't throw the top sheet of paper away you may need it again
You can either fill this immediately it has cooled or place it between the 2 sheets of paper you have used...put this back onto the swiss roll tin and carefully wrap with aluminium foil to fill later
To fill,
make sure you leave the bottom piece of parchment paper to help you roll it up
Spread over with 2 or 3 tablespoons of the lemon curd
Spread this with 2/3rds of the whipped cream (saving the rest to pipe on the top)
Sprinkle over most of the raspberries (saving 8 to decorate the top)
With the long side of the meringue in front of you start to roll up
The parchment paper underneath will help you to lift the roulade as you roll it up
Leave in the fridge for around 30 minutes to set then pipe on a line of cream shells and decorate with the saved raspberries & mint leaves. Dust with icing sugar & serve.
Mini Cottage Pies with Duchesse Potatoes
I'm always looking for ideas to serve for picnics, afternoon teas and canapé parties. These little mini cottage pies certainly fit the bill. I made these the size of mince pies but you can vary the size from one large pie to tiny canapé one bite treats. You can of course turn these into Mini Shepherd's Pies by using lamb instead of beef using exactly the same technique.
I prefer to serve them warm and not straight from the oven ...if you can wait long enough to let them cool slightly.
A one pound of minced beef/lamb mix should make around 24 small ( muffin sized)... 48 mini canapé sized cottage pies....or just 1 large 10" pie.
The pastry-
For the tart case you will need (10" loose bottomed flan tin)
200 gms / 7oz plain flour
60gms/2oz Butter
60gms/2oz Vegetable Shortening (Trex)
pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp ice cold water to bind
Method
The pastry
Place the flour, shortening & butter with a little salt in a mixing bowl
Rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
add 2 tbsp iced water and mix together to bring together into a ball...you may need to add the other tbsp if the dough is too dry.
Flatten the dough out slightly and wrap in cling film
Refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
For the 10" Pie
Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry to fit the greased tin with a little overhang
Line with parchment then baking beans and bake at 190c/375f/gas 5 for around 20 mins.
Remove the parchment and baking beans and put back in the oven until the pastry is golden brown and the base cooked through.
Trim the pastry overhand with a sharp knife
For the small pie you will need a 12 hole muffin tray
Using a 3½"/9cm round cutter, cut out 24 pastry rings
Place these into your greased muffin tin
Scrumple up a large piece of baking parchment and push the paper down into each well of the tray
Fill each well with baking beans
Bake blind as above
For the tiny canapé pies use a 2½" /6.5cm round cutter and cut out 48 pastry rings to fit a small holed canapé tray
Bake blind as above
For the filling:-
1lb/ 500g Lean Minced Beef
2 tsps oil
1 large onion finely diced
2 sticks of celery finely diced
1 large carrot finely diced
1 dessertspoon Worcester Sauce
1 dessertspoon tomato puree
½tsp dried thyme
½ pt beef stock
2/3 teaspoons cornflour slaked in cold water
1 tsp salt...or to taste
Black pepper to taste
Method:-
Heat a frying pan
Add 1tsp the oil and fry the mince until starting to brown, place the meat into a saucepan
Now gently sweat the onion, celery & carrot in the frying pan using the other spoonful of oil to cook them in until tender
Place the vegetables in the pan with the meat adding everything else except the cornflour.
Simmer for around an hour...thicken with the cornflour. the mix should be very thick...add a little more cornflour if it's too runny.
The Duchess Potatoes:-
1½- 2lbs 750gms/1Kg floury potatoes...I used King Edwards
salt
white pepper
2 egg yolks
a little hot milk
Method:-
Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender.
Completely drain them...pop back in the pan. Place the lid back on
Leave for around 5/10minutes
Thoroughly mash them
Add a little hot milk and the egg yolks and beat it all together quickly so that the egg yolk doesn't start to cook.
Season well with salt & white pepper
The mash should be of piping consistency..if it's too stiff add a little more hot milk
You will need to let the potato cool enough to be able to handle it
To Finish:
Fill the pastry cases 2/3rds full with the meat mixture
Then pipe swirls of potato on top as in my photograph
Bake in a hot oven until the potato starts to turn golden brown
This should take around 8-10 minutes
Leave to cool slightly and serve.
My favourite food of choice is cheese...you may notice lots of cheese recipes on my blog and on my Facebook page. I especially like the simplicity of this tart...only 3 main ingredients...yes cheese, potato & lots of onions in a crisp shortcrust pastry case. I like to add a little fresh thyme...it seems to go so well with the mature cheddar in the recipe. You can certainly use your favourite cooking cheese....Cheese & onion pie in my area of the UK is usually made with a tasty Lancashire, it's also amazing made with Wensleydale or Caerphilly or any other crumbly type.
For the tart case you will need (10" loose bottomed flan tin)
200 gms / 7oz plain flour
60gms/2oz Butter
60gms/2oz Vegetable Shortening (Trex)
pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp ice cold water to bind
For the Filling
2 largish potatoes, very thinly sliced and boiled in salted water for 3 minutes then refreshed in cold water
3 large onions peeled & thinly sliced
25gms/1oz butter
250gms/9oz cheddar cheese grated
2 tsps Dijon mustard
plus a little extra finely grated to sprinkle over the potatoes
around 1tbsp fresh Thyme leaves or just 1 tsp if using dried
a little white pepper sprinkled between each layer of filling
you shouldn't need any salt at all
a little melted butter to brush over the potatoes
Method
The pastry
Place the flour, shortening & butter with a little salt in a mixing bowl
Rub together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
add 2 tbsp iced water and mix together to bring together into a ball...you may need to add the other tbsp if the dough is too dry.
Flatten the dough out slightly and wrap in cling film
Refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry to fit the greased tin with a little overhang
Line with parchment then baking beans and bake at 190c/375f/gas 5 for around 20 mins.
Remove the parchment and baking beans and put back in the oven until the pastry is golden brown and the base cooked through.
Trim the pastry overhand with a sharp knife
The filling
While the pastry is baking make the filling
melt the butter in a large pan and add the onions
gently saute them for around 10-15 minutes until soft & tender but not brown
Add 2 tbsps of water and cook on for another minute or so
add the Dijon mustard and stir in well
To assemble the tart
Place a third of the onions in the base of the pastry case and spread out
add a half of the cheese ...spread out
add another third of the onions
add the remaining cheese
add the remaining onions
sprinkle each layer as you go with a little thyme
Now lay the potato slices neatly on the top
Brush with a little melted butter
scatter a little finely grated cheese over
Bake at 180c/350f/gas 4 for around 30 to 35 minutes
The potatoes should golden and crisped.
This tart is so much better served just warm or room temp rather than hot
Scatter over a few thyme leaves before serving with a fresh, crispy garden salad
