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Brown Sugar Roulade With Burnt Honey Apples
![Brown Sugar Roulade With Burnt Honey Apples](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/12/11/dining/11Ottolenghirex1/11Ottolenghirex1-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling and chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ½cup/150 grams runny honey
- 1vanilla bean (vanilla pod), halved, seeds scraped out and bean reserved
- 5fresh bay leaves
- 1cinnamon stick
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 3½tablespoons orange juice
- 2½pounds/1.1 kilograms Braeburn apples (about 7 to 8), peeled, cored and each cut into 8 wedges (or 10 if the apples are larger)
- 1tablespoon olive oil
- 9ounces/250 grams chilled egg whites (from 6 to 8 large eggs, or an egg white carton)
- 1¼cups/250 grams superfine sugar (caster sugar)
- ½cup/100 grams soft light brown sugar
- 1tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- 2teaspoons white wine vinegar
- 2teaspoons cornstarch (cornflour)
- 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1cup plus 2 tablespoons/250 grams mascarpone, cold
- ⅔cup/160 milliliters cold whipping cream
- 2tablespoons/20 grams confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
- 1tablespoon orange zest, plus 1 teaspoon to garnish
For the Apple Filling
For the Roulade
For the Cream
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven 425 degrees Fahrenheit/220 degrees Celsius.
- Step 2
Make the apple filling: Add the honey, vanilla seeds and bean (pod), bay leaves, cinnamon stick, ground cinnamon and flaky salt to a large, oven-proof sauté pan. Cook over medium heat until the honey is deeply brown and almost burned, stirring often. (Don’t be afraid to take it to the edge; you want it to be very dark.) This process can take anywhere from 6 to 10 minutes, so make sure you keep an eye on it. Off the heat, whisk in the orange juice. Gently pour 5 tablespoons/65 grams of the burnt honey into a heatproof bowl. Pick out the bay leaves and vanilla beans (pods), and add them to the bowl.
- Step 3
To the sauté pan with the remaining burnt honey, stir in the apples and olive oil. Transfer to the oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the apples have softened and caramelized but still retain their shape. Set aside to cool completely. Pick out the cinnamon stick and add it to the reserved burnt honey bowl. Keep the oven on.
- Step 4
Make the roulade: Line an 11-by-15-inch (30-by-40-centimeter) baking sheet (baking tray) with parchment paper.
- Step 5
Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, until soft peaks form. Combine both sugars in a bowl, then gradually add them to the mixer, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking continuously on medium-high for 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture becomes a thick, glossy meringue. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, vinegar, cornstarch (cornflour) and cinnamon, then scrape the sides of the bowl, if needed. Turn the speed to medium and whisk for 1 minute to fully combine.
- Step 6
Spoon the meringue onto the prepared tray and use an offset spatula to spread it out evenly about ¾-inch thick so it measures about 10 by 14 inches (25 by 35 centimeters). Once the apples have cooked, transfer the meringue to the oven and immediately turn the heat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius. Bake for 32 minutes, until the meringue is crusty on top and lightly browned. Set aside to deflate and cool completely, about 45 minutes.
- Step 7
Meanwhile, make the cream: Add the mascarpone, whipping cream and confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar) to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, until soft peaks form. Stir in 1 tablespoon orange zest.
- Step 8
Place a clean tea towel on top of the cooled meringue and quickly invert the whole thing onto a work surface. Lift off the pan (tin) and peel away the parchment paper. Spread three-quarters of the cream evenly all over the meringue. Top evenly with the burnt honey apples. (Reserve any liquid released from the apples for another use.)
- Step 9
Starting with the longest side closest to you and using the tea towel to assist you, roll the meringue up and over, so that the edges come together to form a log, gently pulling away the tea towel as you roll. Slide the meringue onto a long tray or platter, seam-side down. Use a serrated knife to trim off ¾ inch (2 centimeters) from the sides to create neat edges. (You can nibble on these, if you like!) Refrigerate to firm up, at least 30 minutes (and up to 3 hours if you’re getting ahead).
- Step 10
To serve, spoon the remaining cream down the length of the roulade. Top artfully with the bay leaves, vanilla pods and cinnamon stick. Drizzle with the reserved burnt honey syrup and sprinkle with the extra zest.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
What should one do with the 8 egg yolks left over from the recipe?
Make Tiramisu!
Lemon curd or sabayon.
Chilled egg whites will take some time to beat into a meringue. Room temperature or even gently warmed would be better. You can also warm over simmering water, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Then beat to a meringue. The meringue will be more stable (no weeping) and you can use regular granulated sugar instead of superfine.
Some divine hollandaise!
I wish all the times recipes included weights for ingredients like this one does! It’s pretty common, but glaring when they’re not included. Especially annoying for things like butter which is sold by weight anyway, and pretty much impossible to measure by volume. I am planning to make this recipe soon. I will not be garnishing with bay leaves and I recommend others do the same. Bay leaves should not be served in or on food, as they can cause lacerations if swallowed accidentally.
“Runny honey” in the UK is honey that is clear and free of any crystallization. Same as normal honey in the US.
Try thick cashew cream as a substitute for dairy cream. I make it by simmering unroasted (raw), unsalted cashews in water to cover by 1” for about 15 minutes, rinsing them thoroughly, then grinding at high speed (increase the speed gradually to very high) in my Vitamix with fresh water until very smooth. Add more cool water as needed to get the consistency of heavy cream. It will thicken even more after refrigerating; it’s fine to blend in more water if it’s too thick.
Use the egg yolks for egg nog!
Use the eggs for Portuguese egg tarts, aka Pasteis de Nata!
Ice Cream is always a great option when you have extra egg yolks
Make a big Zabaione with egg yolks.
Re: the egg yolk dilemma-- I've made swiss meringue many times quite successfully using aquafaba (chickpea water). I know this recipe is not a swiss meringue, but seeing how stable my aquafaba meringue was, with no weeping even after a week in the fridge, I'd try making this recipe with aquafaba (with some additional research). BTW, the aquafaba recipe I used for swiss meringue is from Gretchen's Vegan Bakery. I'm not vegan; I just get stressed out by leftover ingredients. But vegan's a plus.
Served today for pre-Christmas brunch, it was a show-stopper dish, with rave reviews. I was serving a mostly Asian audience, so cut the sugar by a bit more than 1/3 and was still plenty sweet. Everyone at brunch asked for the recipe. I don't see the need for chilled egg whites; I used room temp and meringue turned out perfectly. Still completely flexible, no cracking when I rolled it around the apple/cream mixture once cooled.
Soft set honey, with a spreadable texture, is quite commonly used in the UK (where Yotam lives) as well as throughout Europe. I suspect it's even found in organic and farmers markets in the US. It's still "real" honey, it's simply mixed for longer to thicken it.
Braeburn apples are hard to find, any suggestions for substitutes?
Ugly (mine, at least) but delicious!
I made this for the second Christmas this year, and it was a hit again! My egg whites from a carton whipped up just fine despite the naysayers, and it saved a lot of leftover yolks. I made all elements the day before and combined on Christmas day-- the meringue might have changed texture slightly, but it was still delicious!
I was tempted to try this non-traditional log for our holiday dinner last year. It was SO delicious that we repeated it this year. The pastry for the log being a meringue,instead of a heavier genoise, and the filling being a mascarpone and whipped cream filling, instead of the traditional heavier buttercream, turned this dessert into a much lighter rendition of traditional Christmas log we usually serve. It was gorgeous and delicious. I highly recommend this recipe
The flavors of Christmas really did come out on this, especially with the burnt honey. It tasted like the smell of burnt cider on a cold evening!
The best Noel de buche for Christmas ever! We couldn't believe how delicious it was, especially the apples. All my family and friends (to whom I sent out the roulades, since we couldn't eat together as in normal years) agreed It was a different level of dessert than any that we've had. This was my first encounter with Mr. Ottolenghi's recipe. I have instantly become an admirer of him and his insightful essays, and bought 3 of his cookbooks. His Butternut Squash Fondue Pie is also outstanding.
Will someone please tell me where to get the "fresh" bay leaves so often specified in NYT recipes? Fresh California bay leaves are available by mail, but they hit you over the head. The Turkish bay leaves are milder, more nuanced and sweeter in flavor. But fresh ones?
I made this after making Samin Nosrat's lasagna, since it was a perfect use of the leftover egg whites. All of the individual components of this were delicious-- the meringue was beautiful, the burnt honey absolutely special, apples soft and spicy-- but I thought the finished product was lacking something. Would try putting some nuts inside or sprinkled on top next time, I think it needed some crunch/texture.
I just watched a chef on TV make pasta putting 8 egg yolks in the center of the well of her flour....a mix of zero zero flour and semolina
I swapped the whipping cream with slightly honey sweetened Greek yogurt as it’s hard to find unsweetened whipping cream in our part of Spain. While the texture may have been a bit different the flavor was still delicious and paired well with the apple honey filling.
Delicious! The marriage of textures and flavors was exquisite. Tasted better the 2nd day-didn’t last after day 2! I made 1/2 a recipe (for 2 people). I used Granny Smith, golden delicious and gala apples. Turned out fine. I didn’t have fresh bay leaves so I used dry. When I picked them out and put them in the extra sauce (which quickly solidified), they became sticky and broke. Impossible to fish the pieces out. Next time, I would just throw them away so they wouldn’t ruin the extra sauce.
This is an interesting recipe. I had lots of egg whites leftover from the big lasagna. The burnt honey is DELICIOUS and the flavors of the meringue and cream are delicious too. The final product looks impressive and the taste is subtle. It's missing something though, which is keeping it from being five stars-- maybe it needs some candied nuts or something on the top? It needs a little crunch/texture.
This dessert was amazing! It was a little time consuming, but it worked out perfectly. Didn't take the honey all the way to the burnt stage. Used a little New Mexico red chile honey to give the sauce a kick, which was great. I was worried about baking the meringues at a high temp, but it all worked. Don't over cook the apples. Just follow the instructions and you'll look like a pastry chef. If you don't have time to make the whole dessert, make the apples, cream and drizzle the sauce over it.
For leftover egg yolks, try the easy and scrumptious Golden Fried Rice on the “The Woks of Life” food blog.
Unique, festive, and delicious dessert. The only thing I'll change next time I make it is to use edible decorations such as meringue mushrooms in place of vanilla pods and cinnamon stick.
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