Lamington Roulade

Australia Day says Lamingtons to me. So this is my twist on the original. A soft, rich flourless chocolate roulade, filled with raspberries and cream and covered in coconut. Don’t be put off by the rolling of the roulade, it’s not hard, and you can conceal any cracks, which will appear, with extra coconut.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 180g best quality dark chocolate
• 6 eggs, separated
• 175g castor sugar
• Icing sugar for dusting
• Desiccated coconut

For the filling

• 200ml thick cream, whipped
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• punnet of raspberries

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Line a 25x35cm swiss roll tin with baking paper.
3. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, for about 4 minutes on Medium Low and allow to cool.
4. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the cooled melted chocolate.
5. In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt, until stiff but not dry.
6. Fold gently into the chocolate mixture. As this mixture is quite dense, beat in the first 2 or 3 tablespoons vigorously to soften the mix, so folding in the rest of the egg white in is a little easier.
7. Gently pour the mixture into the tin taking care not to loose any volume.
8. Bake in lower part of the oven for 17-18 minutes.
9. Remove the cake from the oven, leaving it in the tin.
10. Place a cooling rack over the top of the cake and cover the rack with a clean damp tea towel. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes
11. Take a clean sheet of baking paper and dust it well with sifted icing sugar and plenty of coconut.
12. Turn the roulade out of the tin, onto the baking paper. Carefully peel off the paper and continue to allow the cake to cool.
13. Now trim the edges off the cake as this will make rolling easier.
14. Spread the whipped cream over the cake to within 2cm of the edge. Top with the raspberries.
15. Using the paper as a guide, roll up the cake from the long side, using a ‘lift and roll’ motion, finishing with the ‘seam side’ down.
16. Most recipes will have you roll from the shorter end of the roulade, but I want this to be a ‘skinnier’ roulade.
17. Wrap in baking paper and chill before serving.
18. As this is a flourless mix, it will crack a little when rolled. Sift over additional icing sugar and coconut at serving time and the cracks can be hidden.