Blackcurrant and rose roulade

A cake table must always have a roulade, it’s practically a Danish law! This is a summer version with blackcurrant jam, but you can use any jam you’ve got in your cupboard. Roulade will last for several days, just keep it chilled.

• serves

  10

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

For the cake

• 3 tsp butter, for the baking tray
• 3 eggs
• 125 g (4½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar, plus 1½ tbsp
• 125 g (4½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50 ml (¼ cup/1¾ oz) whole milk

For the buttercream

• 200 g (7 oz) softened butter
• 200 g (7 oz) icing (powdered) sugar
• 200 g (7 oz) blackcurrant jam (jelly)

To decorate

• 100 ml (generous ⅓ cup/3½ fl oz) whipping cream
• 1½ tbsp rose sugar (optional, see Note)

Makes 1 roulade and 1 x 250 g (9 oz) jar rose sugar.

Chilling time: at least one hour.

Instructions

1. Line a 35 cm x 30cm (14 in x 12in) baking tray with baking parchment and butter it.
2. Whisk the eggs and the 125 g (4½ oz) of sugar until pale yellow. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder; this is very important to get the super-light texture. Fold the flour into the egg mixture, then fold in the milk. Pour into the prepared baking tray and spread it out evenly. Bake for 5–8 minutes, then place on a wire rack in the tin, just until cool enough to handle.
3. Place a piece of baking parchment on a work surface and sprinkle it with the extra caster sugar. Flip the sponge on to the sugar-sprinkled paper, peel the used baking parchment from the sponge and leave to cool completely.
4. Whisk the softened butter until soft and fluffy, add the icing sugar and whisk into a light cream. Blitz the jam in a food processor so it becomes like a paste, then fold into the buttercream.
5. When the sponge is cold, spread the buttercream evenly over it, then roll it up from one of the long sides into a roulade. Wrap tightly in baking parchment and leave to chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or until the next day.
6. To serve, whip the cream, put it in a piping bag, then pipe little dots all along the length of the roulade. Sprinkle with rose sugar and take to the cake table.

Note

If making the rose sugar, you will need 1 large basket of rose petals and 200 g (7 oz) caster (superfine) sugar. Place the petals in a food processor with the sugar and blend to a crumb-like texture. Place it on a large, shallow tray and leave it to try in the sun. When it has dried out to a sugar, store in a sterilised jar.

This is an edited extract of Midnight Sun by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille AU$49.99, NZD$59.99). Photography: Kim Lightbody.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.