Chocolate & raspberry roulade

We ate this first in April 2013, when we hosted the fabulous Muijser family over Easter at Garde. (The recipe, by master patissier Eric Lanlard, had been published in the Times the previous month.) Fast forward seven years to Lockdown 1 and Louis’ self-improvement regime: alongside learning the guitar and French, he mastered a range of culinary skills, treating us to this terrific pudding on Easter Sunday. Meanwhile, the middle-aged parents were recovering from Covid and the girls were pre-occupied by online shopping, Geoguesser and hair dye.

• 

• 

Serves 10

Ingredients

50g caster sugar
50ml water
25ml crème de framboise
300ml double cream
50g icing sugar
500g fresh raspberries, plus extra to decorate

For the sponge

Butter, for greasing
175g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
175g caster sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Lightly grease a 38x28cm baking tray and line with baking paper. To make the sponge, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks using an electric hand whisk until pale and creamy. Add the vanilla paste and cooled chocolate and stir until smooth. In a large, clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir a large spoonful into the chocolate mixture, mixing gently, then fold in the remaining whites. Fold in the cocoa powder.

3 Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and gently level the top using a palette knife. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Place a sheet of non-stick baking paper on top of the sponge, then put a clean, damp tea towel on top of the paper. Leave to cool completely.

4 Meanwhile, make a syrup. Put the caster sugar and water into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Boil for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave to cool completely before stirring in the framboise.

5 To assemble the roulade, whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Dust a large piece of nonstick baking paper with some of the icing sugar, then turn out the roulade onto it and peel off the lining paper. Brush the framboise syrup over the cooled sponge, then spread over the whipped cream and cover with the raspberries, pushing them into the cream slightly. Starting from a long edge, roll up the sponge like a Swiss roll. Roll tightly to start with and use the paper to help you roll it up. The roulade may crack when you do this, but that’s part of its charm. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

6 To serve, trim the ends of the roulade and place on a serving plate. Dust generously with the remaining icing sugar and serve with extra raspberries. Serve with a raspberry coulis: whizz up 150g raspberries with a tablespoon of icing sugar, then sieve to remove the pips, or follow the slightly more detailed recipe here.