passover week 2023 - brown sugar meringue roulade with caramelised apples

passover week 2023 - brown sugar meringue roulade with caramelised apples

• 26 Mar 2023

When I saw this YouTube video of Yotam Ottolenghi making a brown sugar meringue roulade with burnt honey apples, I knew I needed to make a version for Passover. With a few small adjustments, I was able to make the recipe Passover friendly and instead of the burnt honey apple filling, I decided to adapt the caramelised apple filling from this Aran Goyoaga galette recipe.

You never quite know how things are going to work out when you combine 2 different recipes, but the roulade received rave reviews from my neighbours and workmates. Making the roulade is a little bit time consuming but you can prepare the apples and the cream ahead of time. Just remember once rolled, the roulade needs an hour in the fridge to firm up before serving.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 30cm roulade. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Passover brown sugar meringue roulade with caramelised apples - serves 6

Apples

3-4 firm and juicy green apples (750g)
½ cup (110 g) caster sugar 

30g unsalted butter
1½ tbsp lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks 
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways, seeds scraped out and reserved with the pod
2 star anise (I'm unsure if star anise is kosher for Passover so they can be left out)

Roulade
165g egg whites (from about 5 eggs)
65g light soft brown sugar
165g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp lemon juice
1 ½ tsp potato starch

Cream
375ml cold cream
15g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Apples
Preheat the oven to 200°C, conventional. Peel, core and cut the apples into 6 pieces. Heat a large ovenproof pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the sugar evenly around the pan and cook until it turns a deep caramel colour. If the sugar is not melting evenly, stir it with a wooden spoon to incorporate any coarse areas into the melting ones. 

Once the sugar has turned into caramel, carefully stir in the butter, juice, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pod and star anise (if using) with a wooden spoon. The hot sugar may bubble up, so stand away from the pan if necessary. You may need to add a splash of boiling water to help dissolve the caramel. Remove 2 tbs of the apple caramel and set aside for later. Add the apples and reduce the heat to low. Swirl the pan so the apples are evenly distributed and in a single layer. Place the uncovered pan in the oven and cook for 20 minutes stirring the apples every now and then. Cover the pan and cook for another 10-20 minutes more or until the apples are tender but not mushy. Set aside to cool. Fish out the vanilla pod, the cinnamon stick and the star anise and set aside.

Roulade
Preheat the oven to 220°C, conventional. Line a 20 x 30cm baking tray with baking paper.

Put the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place and beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute, until soft peaks form. Combine both sugars in a bowl and gradually add this to the mixer, a tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously on high speed for 5 minutes, until the mixture is a thick glossy meringue. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice and potato starch. Turn the speed to medium and whisk for a minute, to fully combine.

Spoon the meringue on to the prepared tray and use a spatula to spread it out. Transfer to the oven, place on the centre rack and immediately turn the heat down to 200°C conventional. Bake for 30–32 minutes, until the meringue is crusty on top and lightly brown. Set aside to deflate and cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare the cream by putting the whipping cream, sugar and vanilla into the cleaned bowl of the stand mixer with the whisk attachment in place. Beat on medium speed for until soft peaks form. 

Place a clean tea towel on top of the cooled meringue and quickly invert the whole thing on to a work surface. Lift the tin off and peel away the lining. Spread three-quarters of the cream evenly all over the meringue. Top evenly with the apples. Starting with the longest side closest to you and using the tea towel to assist you, roll the meringue up and over, so that the edges come together to form a log. Gently pull away the tea towel as you roll, then slide the meringue on to a long tray or platter, seam side down. Use a serrated knife to trim off 2cm from the sides to create neat edges if you like. Refrigerate to firm up, at least 30 minutes (and up to 3 hours if you’re getting ahead). 

To serve, spoon the remaining cream down the length of the roulade then top with the vanilla pods, the cinnamon sticks and the star anise. Just before serving drizzle over the reserved apple caramel.

This is definitely a showstopper dessert, that's for sure, and a fitting way to end Passover week 2023.

See you all again next week wirh some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian