When I think of a strawberry roulade, I’m mainly thinking about the strawberry jam and cream rolls I used to eat when younger, or the little rolletes that come in the packets at the supermarket. This is unlike any of those bought rolls, with the beautiful cream contributing so much more to the flavour and experience than expected.

When I saw this very grown-up berry roulade recipe in the Marie Clare Magazine, I tore the page out and waited for an opportunity to make it. I decided to use only strawberries, as they looked lovely and fresh at the time I made it. The addition of a sweet lemon cream was fantastic and I know I could have just eaten the whole bowl of cream by itself.

Roulade with Fresh Berries and Lemon Cream
Recipe from a Marie Clare Magazine recipe

Serves: 6-8

2-3 punnets of berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries
1-2 tablespoons kirsch (fruit brandy – optional, I didn’t use this)
Melted butter for greasing
4 eggs
¾ cup caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2/3 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
50g ground almonds
Sugared almonds to serve (optional, I didn’t use this)

Lemon Cream
300 ml thickened cream
½ cup caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste

Place berries, ¼ cup of caster sugar and kirsch in a bowl and toss well. Set aside for at least 30 minutes (or while you prepare the rest of the roulade).

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 20 x 30cm swill roll tin (I used a 25 x 37cm tray) and line with baking paper (cut a piece too large for the tin so paper hangs over edges). Beat eggs, ½ cup caster sugar and vanilla until thick, pale and creamy. Sift together flour and baking powder and, using a metal spoon, gently stir into egg mixture along with ground almonds. Pour batter into tin, making sure it fills the corners. Bake to 10-15 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch.

Remove and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Sprinkle a clean tea towel generously with extra caster sugar. Invert cake onto tea towel, then gently peel paper from back of cake. Using the tea towel, carefully roll the still warm cake up from the short end and leave for at least 10 minutes.

Lemon Cream
Whip cream together with caster sugar, lemon zest and juice. Set aside for 10 minutes for flavours to infuse, taste and add more lemon juice if necessary.

Carefully unroll cake, but don’t flatten out too much or it will crack. Spread thickly with lemon cream and top with half or more of the berries, then carefully roll up again. Sprinkle with extra caster sugar and sugared almonds. Slice and serve with remaining berries.

Note: You are able to leave the roulade in the fridge for a few hours before serving, to stop the cream melting.

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