Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! (I'mma assume you've been here before or else that one will go over your head 🤣). I hope you're well and ready for the weekend! Tomorrow is my sister's birthday and despite all of my planning I don't think I could ever be ready as I keep feeling like I need to do more even tho there's quite a lot going towards it already! 😅 I haven't been this crafty since I was using my bullet journal 😂. Anywho! Today's post is a recipe that is sure to catch ahold of your attention because it sure did mine, frozen raspberry & white chocolate roulade.....😑....sorry I just passed out at the thought of it, it's THAT good! 🤣

I made this roulade two months ago and meant to share it earlier but then time took over and here we are, better late than never! When I first saw it in a Good Housekeeping magazine I was spellbound by it and immediately sought out the ingredients making sure we had them! It took a while before I actually made it but then I did and the rest was history...or a blog post at least 😂. I won't dawdle, you came here for a sweet treat and that's for sure what this roulade is (not my ramblings which are the complete opposite) so let's get to it and do it....on your mark, get set, BAKE!!

What's in it:

For the sponge:

  • Butter or vegetable oil, to grease
  • 125g caster sugar, plus an extra 3tbsp
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 125g plain flour

For the compote:

  • 125g blackcurrants (fresh or frozen)
  • 1tbsp caster sugar

For the filling:

  • 200ml double cream
  • 60g condensed milk
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 75g white chocolate, melted and completely cooled

For the drizzle:

  • 100g blackcurrants (fresh or frozen)
  • 50g white chocolate, chopped
  • Icing sugar, to dust

Okay I know that sounds like a lot but that's because it is 🤣. Once you're actually doing it tho, it's a lot of fun and all comes together very nicely so don't be put off!

How you make the damn thing:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4 and then grease a swiss roll tin (around 23x33cm) with baking paper. I just used a tray that looked to be about the shape of an A4 page and that worked out well for me!

2. Sprinkle extra caster sugar on another piece of parchment twice the size of the tin + set aside! (I was going to leave this bit till the very end before I realized I wouldn't be able to measure it out once the mixture was in the oven so it's best to get it over and done with! 😂

3. Next up, in a big heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, beat the sugar and eggs with a handheld electric whisk until thick and pale leaving a hypnotic silk-like trail on the surface upon being lifted out! I used a glass pyrex measuring jug as my heatproof bowl which was great as I could easily hold onto the handle with a towel so that it didn't touch the bottom of the pot and overcook. We used to have glass bowls but they had a habit of getting put at the front of the plate cabinet and took it in turns to fall out and smash so pyrex jug it is! 🙄.

4. Moving on I removed the bowl from the heat + added the vanilla, whisking for about 5 minutes until it had cooled down. By now I was tired despite pulling over a stool to sit on and I almost regretted getting myself into this arduous mission but I kept on going with it which probably wasn't the best route for someone trying to practice pacing 😅🤣.

5. Slowly sift the flour and a pinch of salt over the egg mixture and fold in with a large metal spoon. This is where I tried to be smart and save on the washing up, I sieved the flour into the pyrex jug and it went EVERYWHERE 😑....it also did this calming, combination collapse as it all came together which kinda made up for that tho 🤣:

But I digress...happily

6. Pour the mixture into the tin you prepared earlier and spread so that it's all level. I found a huge air pocket of flour in the batter and was about ready to give up but I just went for it anyway after a quick remix (you just can't achieve your dreams by folding) 🤣. Bake it for 15 minutes or until the sponge springs back when you touch it! The recipe said to place it in the middle of the oven but I didn't as we're pretty sure one side of ours cooks faster than the other 🤔😂.

7. When the sponge has done it's time flip it over onto the sheet of sugared parchment (that's fun to say). Remove the tin and carefully peel of the layer of baking paper it went in the over attached to (not the newly sugared sheet, don't wanna be making that mistake! 🤣). While it's still warm, gently roll the sponge from one of the short sides either end. I was nervous to do this as it's where it could have all gone wrong but it wasn't that bad actually! All you have to do is take your time and keep the sponge attached to the paper as you roll (this step is way easier than rolling out without the paper I'll admit! 🙌😂). One you've done that, set it aside in it's rolled up form on a wire rack so that it can continue to cool down! 🔥

Neato

8. Whilst that is taking place it's time to make the blackcurrant compote (or in my case, mixed berries!). Heat your fruit of choice with the sugar and 2tbsp of water over a low heat in a small pot. Soon the berries began to burst and my first thought was that they'd make for an amazing paint 🎨 before I followed the rules and simply let it cool down.

9. Then I got started on the filling by beating the cream, condensed milk and vanilla until soft peaks formed. I added the white chocolate and continued to beat it before leaving that to chill for 30 minutes (there was a lot of chilling going on that day ❄😂).

10. Unroll the sponge onto a large piece of clingfilm, remove the parchment in preparation of packing it with goods that will most likely just pour back out. The pressure was well and truly on 😅. Then spread over the filling leaving a 1cm border (give or take but mostly give because again, I didn't want it to just come flooding back out again) and then drizzle it with the compote!

11. Here's the part I was sort of dreading and looking forward to at the same time (it was my challenge for the day I guess!), roll it back up again by bringing the clingfilm forward from the side it was rolled up before like: roll, peel off the clingfilm as you go along, roll, peel off the clingfilm, roll and so on. Is it possible to work slowly and quickly at the same time? Because that's exactly what has to be done here so that the sponge doesn't crack and/or the filling fall out! 😂 I rolled mine from the wrong end without even thinking which meant it wasn't willing to bend as much in the unknown direction and I didn't get the perfect swirl that is so sought after 😧. Time froze for like a minute and then I realized it still looked quite good so I got over it 🤣.

This kind of shows what I mean in that the clingfilm will be on this side (or the opposite) waiting to roll before pulling/peeling back + repeating until you have that roulade shape!

12. Once it's all rolled up, wrap it tightly in the clingfilm + place it on a baking tray seam side down. Freeze it for 4 hours or if you're me, say you'll do it tomorrow and fall down the rabbit hole where TOmorRoW NeVEr cOmES and four days go by before the deed is done and the poor thing sees the light again. I was good for nothing after all that method and just couldn't go by the recipe but I feel like that just got me more excited for seeing how it did turn out!

13. Lastly and unevenly it's time to make the drizzle! Heat the blackcurrants/other fruit and a 1tbsp of water in a small pan until it gently bubbles. Take off of the heat, add the white chocolate and stir so that it melts! Then (this is the last hurdle I swear) pass the mixture through a sieve. Remove the roulade from the freezer (I'm surprised mine wasn't a breezeblock by now), unwrap it, dust it with icing sugar and spoon over that glorious drizzle 😍 SERVE IT UP cause it's about time! 😋

And so it was, a roulade came into creation + it took for-freaking-ever too 🤯🤣. I'll admit it was a bit of a rigmarole to follow all the steps (pun intended) but it was all worth it for the end result!!...I'll also admit that I only got to try a little bit as sugar doesn't agree with me flare-up wise (this was before I decided to cut down on the good stuff) but I can honestly say it was YUMMY! My family finished it off and loved it too so result!! ⭐ I'd wanted to try out this recipe for a while and reading back through all of this I can't believe I held out and actually did it, yay! 🎉

Let me know if you make this roulade or have ever made a roulade before at all, it'd be great to hear how other bakes turn out and what you think of this recipe! ☺ Thank you for reading, hope you have a lovely day and an even better weekend people! 💕💕 See you soon 🌊✨

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