Passionfruit roulade

Looking for a light, airy, fruity, creamy and impressive dessert, that is just as comfortable on as part of a sunny summer spread, as it is on a Christmas table? Then look no further! Whip up a delicate, gluten-free roulade, fill with a tropical passionfruit curd and whipped cream, then roll, roll, roll. 

Swap out the passionfruit for your favourite fruity filling through the year as you like. 

Ready for more? Why not book our Next level baking class at the Gordon Ramsay Academy in Woking. 

Serves 6-8

Serves 6-8

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Gluten-free

Gluten-free

Ingredients

For the roulade:

  • 225g cream cheese (full fat)
  • 85g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 30g cornflour
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Icing sugar, for dusting

For the passionfruit curd:

  • 4 passionfruit, plus 1 extra for decoration
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 85g caster sugar
  • 30g unsalted butter
  • 1 lime

For the Chantilly cream:

  • 250g double cream
  • 3 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Cooking instructions

To make the roulade:

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6. Line a 33cmx 23cm Swiss roll tin (or shallow baking tin) with baking paper.
  • Beat together the cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl.
  • Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large clean bowl and adding all the yolks to the cream cheese mix. Beat well to combine.
  • Add the cornflour, salt and finely grate in the lemon zest and beat to combine.
  • Whisk the egg whites to a medium peak (an electric hand whisk or freestanding mixer is best for this) – the egg white should hold its shape but not be too stiff. Beat a spoonful of the egg white into the cream cheese mixture. Then gently fold in the rest – trying to keep the mixture light and airy but without any streaks of egg remaining.
  • Scoop the mixture into the lined tin and spread out to the edges. Bake for 15 minutes (in the centre of the oven) or until firm to the touch and just beginning to brown. Allow to cool in the tin.

To make the curd:

  • Cut open four of the passionfruit and scoop out the pulp and seeds into a sieve over a small jug or bowl. Press the pulp through the sieve with the back of a spoon to extract as much juice as possible – you want about 80ml. Discard the seeds left behind in the sieve.
  • Add the juice, egg, sugar and butter to a small saucepan. Use a vegetable peeler to peel strips of the lime zest and reserves these for garnish. Then halve the lime and squeeze the juice to get 2 tablespoons and add to the pan.
  • Place over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened – almost like a custard. To ensure the curd is completely smooth, you can pass it through a sieve into a bowl and leave to cool completely.

To make the Chantilly cream:

  • Whip the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla together until soft peaks form – be careful not to overwhip or the cream will become stiff.

To assemble:

  • Dust a large sheep of baking paper with icing sugar and flip out the cooled roulade on top. Peel off the baking paper (from the tin).
  • Spread over a thick layer of the Chantilly cream, leaving some to decorate the top. Drizzle and swirl the passionfruit curd all over the cream.
  • Starting from one of the shorter sides, roll up the roulade like a Swiss roll, trying to keep the spiral as tight as possible – you can use the dusted baking paper underneath to help you roll. If not serving immediately, transfer to the fridge to chill and firm up.
  • To decorate, scoop the remaining cream into a piping bag and pipe dots or a zigzag across the top (use a roughly 1cm round nozzle or snip a 1cm hole in tip of the piping bag).
  • Scoop out the pulp and seeds from the fifth passionfruit and drizzle over the cream. Finely slice the reserved lime zest into thin strips (julienne) and sprinkle over the top. Give a final dust of icing sugar if you like.

Chef’s tip

Short on time? Buy some lemon curd for the filling and scatter over some raspberries instead.