WARNING! This one is a sugar bomb. But if you have a very sweet tooth and enjoy indulging once in a while, then this will be pure heaven! Lemon Meringue Pie has always been one of, if not my ultimate indulgence when it comes to desserts. I just love the tangy yellow lemon curd mixed with the sugary sweet meringue. In fact, I’m crazy about meringue and being the Kiwi that I am, I’ve always been passionate about Pavlova. This then, is another alternative to a Lemon Meringue Pie as well as a unique twist to a traditional Pavlova.
It does take a little time and effort in bringing the three components to the dessert together, but it’s more a question of allowing enough time, rather than worrying about any difficult techniques. First up you will need to make the meringue base. I will be posting my tips and recipe for making any Pavlova base in another post. It’s something that chefs like to call difficult, but I’ve never had a Pavlova fail. I really don’t think it’s as difficult as everyone makes it out to be! With this recipe, the trick is making sure it is evenly spread out into a roasting dish or swiss-roll tin.
The lemon curd is quick and easy to make, but make sure you allow time for it to cool and thicken, ideally in the fridge. You may want to double the recipe for the curd so that you can keep some in a jar for other uses. It’s even nice spread out on toast! The last component is the mascarpone cream. You want to ensure you have enough whipped cream added to the mascarpone so that it can be easily spread out over the lemon curd. Leaving the mascarpone out to warm to room temperature will make this task easier. You want more lemon curd than mascarpone cream, otherwise the dessert becomes to rich.
Don’t stress too much about the rolling stage. It’s easier than you may think! The meringue shell will crack, but that’s fine. The firm cream and lemon curd somehow holds the whole thing together. I recommend putting the finished roll into the fridge before serving, as it keeps everything firm so that it’s easy to cut into nice slices.
Lemon & Mascarpone Meringue Roll
Serves 8
Ingredients
- for the meringue …
- 6 egg whites
- 2 cups castor sugar (fijne kristalsuiker)
- 1 tspn cornflour (maizebloom)
- 1 tspn vanilla
- 1 tspn white vinegar (azijn)
- for the lemon curd …
- 200g butter
- 1 cup caster sugar (fijne kristalsuiker)
- grated rind & juice of 3 lemons
- 4 eggs
- for the mascarpone cream …
- 1 cup of mascarpone
- 1 cup of cream (slagroom)
- 1 1/2 tspns vanilla
- 1/2 cup icing sugar (poedersuiker)
- coconut for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees celcius.
- In a free-standing mixer, start beating the egg whites. Carefully and slowly begin to add the castor sugar until it is all incorporated and the mixture is thick and glossy white (please take your time!!).
- Once the meringue mixture is ready, add the cornflour, vanilla, and vinegar and continue beating slowly until combined.
- Heap the mixture into a lined swiss-roll tin or roasting dish and smooth out until it fills the tin evenly.
- Sprinkle with a good layer of coconut and bake for 25 minutes.
- Once cooked, leave to cool for a few minutes before turning the meringue out onto a lined baking tray that is ideally bigger than your swiss-roll tin / roasting dish – the best way is to lie the baking tray paper down onto the swiss-roll tin, and gently but quickly flip it over. Then peel off the baking paper that is now on top of the meringue (the toasted coconut will now be on the bottom).
- To make the lemon curd, melt the butter in a small pot. Once melted, whisk in the sugar, lemon rind and eggs and continue whisking over medium heat until the lemon curd starts to boil. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- To make the mascarpone cream, whip the cream before mixing into the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla essence. Make sure the mascarpone cream isn’t too thick, otherwise it will be difficult to spread.
- Once the meringue and the lemon curd have cooled properly, spread the lemon curd evenly over the meringue, followed by a thinner layer of the mascarpone cream.
- Using the baking paper underneath the meringue to help you, begin to slowly roll the meringue. The tighter the roll the better.
- Cut off the messy ends before placing on a platter to serve. I recommend putting it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm everything up which will make it a lot easier to cut into slices.
- Eet Smakelijk!!
- Monique xx