PISTACHIO ROULADE WITH RASPBERRIES AND WHITE CHOCOLATE

This is an excellent dessert to have any time of the year, but it could be a great dessert for Christmas, especially if you are not that keen on the traditional Christmas pudding. It is certainly better if it is consumed on the same day, but we kept it in the fridge for about 4 days and it was still delicious. I would make it the previous day if wanting it for Christmas lunch or dinner. The original recipe only uses raspberries, but unfortunately they were too expensive at the time I made it, and decided to use a combination of blueberries and raspberries. We thought it was lovely and turned into a fabulous dessert.

Ingredients:

70g shelled pistachio kernels, plus an extra 15g, roughly chopped
4 large eggs, whites and yolks separated
130g caster sugar
2 tbsp hot water
80g self-raising flour
⅛ tsp salt
⅛ tsp almond extract
20g icing sugar
100g fresh raspberries

200g fresh blueberries

White chocolate cream:

200g white chocolate buttons, or 200g block of white cooking chocolate, roughly chopped into 1cm pieces
75g unsalted butter, soft but not oily
280g cream cheese
270ml double cream
⅛ tsp almond extract

Method:

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a 35 x 30cm shallow baking tray and line with baking parchment.

2 Place 70g of pistachios in the small bowl of a food processor (or use a spice grinder) and grind until fine but not oily: don’t worry if there are some medium-sized pieces in the mix, these will not affect the cake. Set aside until needed. (*TM - Place pistachios in the bowl and chop 4sec/speed 7.)

3 Place the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Mix for about 4 minutes, until thick and creamy. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the hot water, dribbling it down the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle over the ground pistachios and gently fold to combine: don’t worry if it’s not well mixed at this stage.(*TM - Place sugar in the bowl and mill 10sec/speed 9. Insert the butterfly whisk, and add egg yolks. Whip 4min/speed 3.)

4 Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl, then sift again into the egg yolk and pistachio mixture. Fold to combine.

5 Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Whisk to form soft peaks, then fold into the pistachio mix, a third at a time, along with the almond extract. (*TM - Make sure the bowl is clean. Insert the butterfly whisk. Add egg whites to the bowl and whip 2min/speed 3 without the measuring cup, or until soft peak forms.)

Scrape the batter into the tray and bake for 15–18 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the centre.

Remove the cake from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes.

6 Sift half the icing sugar evenly 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, carefully peel away the paper and lightly dust the top of the cake with the remaining 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, still rolled up in the tea towel (this ‘trains’ the cake for the final roll), then unroll the cake and set aside to come to room temperature. Don’t worry if the ends of the cake curl up a little or if the surface has some cracks in it: this often happens.

8 Make the chocolate cream while the cake is cooling. Place the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl is not touching the water. Stir from time to time until melted, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on a medium-high speed for 30 seconds, until smooth, then add the cream cheese. Beat well to combine, then add the melted chocolate. Continue to beat until smooth before adding the double cream and almond extract. Beat on a medium-high speed until the mixture forms soft waves. (*TM - Place chocolate chips in the bowl and chop 6sec/speed 8. Melt for 3min/50C/speed 1. Add the butter, cream, almond extract and cheese and mix 30sec/speed 6. Scrape down the sides. Insert the butterfly whisk and whip 45sec/speed4.)

9 When ready to assemble, use a small 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 evenly on top of the cream, then roll the cake up as you did before, this time without the tea towel inside.

Using a long spatula or fish slice, transfer the cake to a long platter. Use a small spatula or butter knife to spread the remaining cream all over the cake, smoothing it out as you go.

Place the remaining raspberries along the centre of the cake, and sprinkle with the extra pistachio nuts.

Serves 10

TIPS:

The white chocolate cream can be prepared a day in advance and kept in the fridge; remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to use it, so that it softens up a little.

Once assembled, the cake is best eaten on the same day, although any leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to a day. Allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

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