Almond Meringue Roulade with Chestnut Filling

A few weeks ago I was having a friend over for late lunch. I knew she - just like I - liked meringues so I had no problem with choosing a perfect dessert for her: meringue roulade with – this time – chestnut filling. I got to the kitchen in the morning only to discover I had neither corn nor potato starch that I always used for my meringues. Before setting off to a shop, I decided to look for an alternative recipe. As always BBC Good Food site helped me solve my problem: I found a recipe in which ground almonds were used instead of any type of starch.

This meringue was completely different than the one I always used for my roulades: it was thinner and actually crispy. I was a bit worried it was going to break while I was rolling it but it seems that keeping it under a damp cloth after it was baked did make it pretty elastic. The whole cake tasted really divine and probably better than if I had used my original recipe as the almond-y meringue complimented the chestnut filling really well. And it all happened by chance ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 portions):

4 large or 5 small egg whites,

220g caster sugar,

1 tsp almond extract,

1 tsp white wine vinegar,

50g ground almonds,

2 tbsp flaked almonds,

300ml double cream,

5-6 tbsp sweetened chestnut puree.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 190 Celsius degrees (170 for fan ovens).
2. Line a 25cm x 35cm (or similar) baking tin with baking paper.
3. Whisk the egg whites till stiff; continue whisking and add 1 tbsp of sugar, beat for 10-20 seconds more and add another 1 tbsp of sugar, continue until you have used all the sugar.
4. Gently stir in the almond extract, vinegar and ground almonds.
5. Spread in the prepared tin, sprinkle with the flaked almonds, put to the oven and bake for 30 minutes till golden and firm.
6. Remove from the oven, cover with a sheet of baking paper and a damp tea towel.
7. Whip the cream till stiff; stir in the chestnut puree.
8. Remove the tea towel from the top of the meringue but keep the baking paper. Carefully flip the meringue upside down so the top with the flaked almonds is now on the bottom on the paper.
9. Gently peel off the paper and spread the chestnut filling on top.
10. Roll the roulade carefully, use the paper to help you.

The meringue recipe comes from BBC Good Food site.

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