Tuesday Treat

Pistachio Roulade with Raspberries and White Chocolate

This is one of those ‘wow’ desserts! It would make a fantastic centre piece on any celebratory table. Naturally it tastes wonderful too, so your guests will be asking for the recipe – we have the talented Mr ‘Ottolenghi’ to thank for this delicious recipe (but put a tag in for ‘Menu Mistress’ too!). Make sure that you follow the instructions to roll the cake when it is still warm as in this way the roulade shouldn’t crack too much!

70g shelled pistachio kernals, plus 15g extra, roughly chopped

4 large eggs, whites and yolks separated

130g caster sugar

2 tablespoons hot water

80g self-raising flour (gluten free if required – I use Doves)

⅛ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon almond extract

20g icing sugar

300g fresh raspberries

For the white chocolate cream:

200g white cooking chocolate roughly chopped into 1cm pieces

75g unsalted butter, soft but not oily

280g cream cheese

270ml double cream

 ⅛ teaspoon almond extract

You will also need: 35 x 30cm shallow baking tray greased and lined with baking paper.

1. Place 70g of the pistachios in a food processor and grind until fine but not oily; don’t worry if there are some medium-sized pieces it will not affect the cake. Set aside until needed.
2. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk for about 4 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the hot water by dribbling it down the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle over the ground pistachios and gently fold through to combine.
3. Sift the flour and salt together and add to the egg yolk mixture. Fold to combine.
4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl to form soft peaks then fold into the yolk mixture along with the almond extract.
5. Pour the mixture into the lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven, 180’c fan, for 15-18 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
6. Sift half the icing sugar over the surface of the cake and cover with a clean tea towel. Place a wire rack on top, then flip the cake over so that the wire rack is now underneath the tea towel and cake. Lift off the tray and carefully peel off the baking paper and lightly dust the cake with the remaining sifted icing sugar.
7. With one of the short ends of the sponge facing towards you, roll up the still-warm cake with the tea towel inside. Allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes in the rolled up tea towel (this ‘trains’ the cake for its final roll). Then unroll the cake and set aside to come to room temperature.
8. Meanwhile prepare the white chocolate cream; Place the chocolate in a bowl set over (but not touching) a pan of simmering water. Stir from time to time until melted then remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
9. Place the butter a bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until smooth then add the cream cheese and beat again until well combined. Now add the white chocolate and continue to beat until smooth. Finally, add the double cream and almond extract and beat until the mixture forms soft waves (you may want to put the mixture in the fridge to thicken up a little).
10. To assemble, use a spatula to spread about two-thirds of the white chocolate cream evenly over the surface of the cake. Leave a border of about 2cm without any cream at the short end of the cake furthest away from you. Place all but twelve of the raspberries over evenly over the top of the cream, then roll up the cake.
11. Carefully transfer the rolled up cake to a serving plate and spread the remaining cream all over the cake – this can be a little messy, you will probably have to wipe around the plate before serving! Finally, place the remaining raspberries along the centre of the cake and sprinkle with the extra pistachio nuts.