Budapestrulle ( Meringue Roll Cake )

So this is a Swedish roll... cake... thing. It's all there in the name. Every time I go home to Sweden to visit my gran, We always bake this and now that i'm older and tracking every recipe I make and like, I thought it was about time I made a blog of this!

Of course i've adapted her original recipe a little to my personal tastes as mine are a little more complex than my grans...

*Rings gran*

Me: Hey, i've got some Chantarelles and I need a sauce for them with the steak i'm gonna have tonight. Any ideas?

Right now i'm thinking of some sauce with perhaps garlic and onions. Or maybe a stock base with a splash of wine. Or maybe...

Gran: Well, fry the mushrooms and.... Add cream.

That's it

So you get the idea.

I use to hate pistachios. I don't know what it is about them, they were just disgusting. Then I plucked up the courage to try one again. Then I became obsessed. And ate them all the time.

So then I started incorporating them into my baking. After a little obsessive research, I found out what went well with pistachios: raspberries, rose, cardamom... Well why not put them all together!.

I would give credit to the original recipe but unfortunately it's on a faded piece of newspaper that looks about 20 years old, the letters only just readable.

So let's get on with the recipe.

Budapestrulle

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 egg whites

• 100g xylitol ( or caster/icing sugar )

• 25g pistachios, shelled

• 25g mixed seeds

• 5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed

• 175g double cream

• 1/4tsp rose water

• 250g mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries )

• mixed seeds, goji berries, berries and icing sugar to serve

Method

- Preheat a oven (fan) to 180 degrees celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

- Whip the cream in a clean bowl on high speed then once it begins to thicken reduce to medium and pour in the rose extract. Keep whisking until it's whipped- Careful not too over whip otherwise it goes buttery and becomes too thick to spread. Cover and set aside in the fridge.

- Add the egg whites to a clean bowl and whisk on high until they become thick and form stiff peaks after the whisks are lifted.

- Add in the sugar about 20g at a time. Or if you're not too bothered just shove in a little at a time. Whisk on medium until incorporated the shove in a little more until it's gone!

- Pulse the pistachios and seeds in a blender until its chopped- but not a powder!. Fold the mix into the egg whites, alongside the cardamom seeds.

- Spread the mixture onto the line tray and pop it in the oven for 25 minutes or until crisp and cracks slightly once pressed. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

- Combine the berries in a bowl. Take out the cream and spread it over the cooled meringue cake, leaving a little left to spread on the top at the end. Sprinkle over the berries, leaving a few raspberries or blueberries to top at the end.

- Now here comes a little tricky, awkward bit. Grab the baking paper at the edge and roll it making sure to keep a firm grip on the cake below. So as you roll the paper, you're rolling the cake. Make sure you keep tucking everything under at the other side to emphasise the 'swirl' shape and to stop all the filling from just squishing out at the other end.

- Fridge or freeze until everything has firmed up. Remove and spread cream along the top. Plop on the berries and sprinkle some seeds and goji berries. Give it a good dusting of icing sugar and you're good to go!