Gill Meller's chestnut, pear and chocolate roulade on a white plate

GILL MELLER’S CHESTNUT, PEAR AND CHOCOLATE ROULADE

There are a few stages to this recipe, but it’s well worth the effort. The meringue only gets cooked for half an hour, so it all comes together in a relatively short space of time. Inside the meringue is a rich chocolate ganache, spiked with crumbled chestnuts which add a lovely fudgy texture. The pears get cooked briefly with vanilla and rolled into the roulade. All in all, it’s a rather magical pudding.

Preparation time 25 minutes | Cook time 40 minutes | Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

3 medium ripe pears

2 tablespoons golden caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

A small knob of butter

500ml double cream

100g dark chocolate

100g cooked peeled chestnuts

For the meringue:

5 Stonegate Estate egg whites

250g unrefined caster sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a nice flat oven tray (34×28cm) with lightly greased baking parchment.

  1. Peel and core the pears, then cut into bite-sized chunks. Melt a knob of butter in a pan over medium-high heat and add the pears, the seeds and pod from the vanilla, and the sugar. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the pears soften and caramelise slightly but still hold their shape. Set aside to cool.
  1. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until stiff. Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking well between each addition, until the meringue is glossy and firm. Sift over the cocoa powder and gently fold it in. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared tin and bake for 8 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C and bake for a further 15 minutes until crisp.
  1. Turn the meringue out onto a sheet of parchment or a clean tea towel and peel away the lining paper. Leave to cool slightly.
  1. Break the chocolate into a bowl. Heat 150ml of the cream until just simmering, then pour over the chocolate. Leave for a few minutes, then stir until smooth. Let it cool to room temperature. Whip the remaining cream to soft peaks and fold it through the cooled chocolate along with the crumbled chestnuts.
  1. Spread the chocolate cream over the meringue, leaving a small border along its far edge. Scatter over the vanilla pears evenly. Using the parchment or cloth to help, carefully roll the meringue from the long side into a roulade. Wrap and chill well in the fridge.
  1. To serve, unwrap the roulade and slice into thick rounds, or bring the whole thing to the table and let everyone dig in.
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