Roll on over....

Meringue Roulade

This may look a little bit complicated to tackle, but I promise you it's not that hard and well worth a try.

The most tricky bit is to roll the meringue once you've filled it.

It can be a bit of a 'leap of faith' but you can do it - I know you can.

A lot of my friends seem to shy away from meringue and believe they can't make them, but I have to confess I find them quite straight forward and really do enjoy making them.

Not quite as much as we enjoy eating them though.

I thought this would be a good way to use up some of the

Seville orange curd I told you about a few weeks ago.

You can make the filling as subtle or strong as you prefer.
I tend to use about two thirds of a batch of curd, which gives a moderate orange taste.

You will need :

5 egg whites
150g caster sugar
1 tsp cornflour
icing sugar, for sprinkling
284ml double cream
5-6 tbsp orange curd



1. Preheat the oven to 140c / gas 1 and grease and line a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment. Leave a few cms of overhang at each end to help when lifting the finished meringue out.

2. Whisk the egg whites until doubled in size. They appear foamy rather then smooth.
Add a tablespoon of the sugar and whisk until soft peaks form.

3. Gradually mix in half of the remaining sugar, whisking until stiff and shiny.

4. Fold in the remaining sugar and cornflour and spread the mixture evenly in the Swiss roll tin.



5. Bake for approximately 45 mins or until there is a nice hollow sound when you tap the top.

6. Take a large piece of greaseproof paper, sprinkled liberally with icing sugar. Turn the meringue onto the paper and gently peel away the baking parchment from the meringue base.



7. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in the orange curd. Spread evenly over the meringue base without eating too much of it, if you can.

8. Roll up from the short end to form a Swiss roll. This can be a little tricky and a lot scary - hold up the greaseproof paper so that the end of the meringue rolls, and then continue to pull the paper up, whilst using your other hand to keep the meringue rolling. You will end up with a bit of cream on your hands but that's fine because it's easily licked off.

Dust with some icing sugar and you're done.

Stand back and admire your work - yes, you made that. Ta-dah !

This looks so impressive and is fantastic to serve if you have company coming over, but also great to keep all for yourself.

It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days but in honesty, ours never makes it past day 2.

Let me know how your attempts come out and what ever you make next, enjoy your day

x

The Pie's The Limit

 

Marmalade Meringue Pie

 

 

I found myself with four left over Seville oranges at the weekend,

and not being one to waste food,

 I decided to experiment with them.

Having watched the Comic Relief shows of The Great British Bake Off last week,

 I was inspired to make one of Mr. B's favourites - lemon meringue pie,

but replacing the lemons with the Seville oranges that I had rattling around in the fruit bowl.

I wasn't quite sure what the finished result would be like,

but the bake produced a rather tasty treat, with a slightly tart flavour.

If you closed your eyes, it really did taste like marmalade, in a meringue pie.

You will need :

25cm (10in) loose bottomed fluted flan tin

Grated zest of two Seville oranges and juice of 4

90g cornflour

600ml (1 pint) water

4 egg yolks

175g caster sugar

For the meringue :

 5 egg whites

250g caster sugar

for the pastry:

250g plain flour

30g icing sugar

125g chilled butter, cubed

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp cold water

1. Make the pastry: sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg yolk and enough cold water to make a soft, pliable dough. Alternatively you could make the pastry in the food processor, which is much easier, but not quite as therapeutic. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and use to line your greased flan tin. Chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes.

2. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake blind in a preheated oven at 200c / 180c fan / Gas 6 for 10 minutes.

3. Remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake the pastry case for a further five minutes or until the base has dried out. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150c/ 130c fan / Gas 2.

4. Now for the pie filling - mix the orange zest and juice with the cornflour. This is best done by taking a little of the juice and gradually adding it to the cornflour to avoid ending up with a lumpy mess. Keep adding the juice into the cornflour until all combined. Bring the water to the boil in a pan, then stir into the orange mixture. Return the pan to the heat and bring back to the boil, stirring until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.

5. Leave to cool slightly, then stir in the egg yolks and sugar. Return to a low heat and cook, stirring until just simmering (this will only take a few seconds). Pour into the pastry case.

 



Bet you can't resist dipping your finger into this for a quick taste.

6. Next, whisk the egg whites until just stiff. Whisk in the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, on full speed. Pile it on top of the filling and spread over evenly. This can be a little tricky because if you use too much pressure the meringue mixture will sink into the pie filling. I tend to dollop the mix around the flan and then gently spread the blobs together. Then you can have a lot of fun creating peaks and patterns on the top.

Look at those peaks - great fun to pick at when it's cooked.

7. Bake for 45 minutes or until crisp and pale brown. Serve warm or cold, but I prefer mine cold as it allows the pie filling to 'set' a little. Cutting into the pie when it is still warm can sometimes risk the filling being a little runny and everything seems to escape out onto the serving plate.

Now sit yourself down with a fork, and a nice cuppa, and enjoy the mouth watering tang of marmalade and the crunch of the meringue topping - bliss.

Enjoy your day!

x