Pear and whisky chocolate roulade recipe
Lightly-spiced poached pears and a whipped cream filling are encased in a rich chocolate and whisky sponge for this elegant festive roulade. It's the perfect boozy dessert to end an evening get-together.
See method- Serves 8
- 30 mins to prepare and 45 mins to cook
- 615 calories / serving
- Freezable
- Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the pears
- 3 firm pears, peeled
- 2 strips of lemon peel
- 300ml whisky
- 80ml honey
- 2 star anise
For the roulade
- 175g dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp whisky
- 6 medium eggs, separated
- 175g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 300ml double cream
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Shop ingredientsEach serving contains
- Energy
- 2565kJ 615.0kcal
- Fat
- 32g
- Saturates
- 18g
- Salt
- 0.2g
- Sugars
- 52g
of the Reference intake
Carbohydrate 54.3gProtein 7.5gFibre 2.2g
Method
- Place the pears in a small saucepan with the lemon peel, whisky, honey and star anise. Top up with 200-300ml water to entirely cover the pears. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 mins until the pears are tender and cooked through. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Line the base and sides of a 23 x 33cm Swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.
- Break the chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof bowl with the whisky and 1 tbsp water. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until the chocolate is melted. Leave to one side to cool slightly.
- Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff. In another large bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric whisk until thick and creamy, leaving a ribbon trail from the whisks. Stir the whisky chocolate through the egg yolk mix until well combined. Add a large spoonful of whites to the mixture and stir to combine and loosen the mix. Gently fold the rest of the whites through, being careful not to knock too much air out.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing out evenly. Bake for 15-18 mins until a light crust has formed on top. Leave to cool in the tin with a damp tea towel on top.
- To assemble the roulade, thinly slice two of the pears and chop the third into small chunks. Dust the roulade with the icing sugar and put a large sheet of nonstick baking paper over the top. Flip the roulade out and remove the tin. Carefully peel the nonstick baking paper off. Lightly whip the cream to soft peaks and spread all over the roulade leaving a 1-in gap at each short end. Lay the sliced pears over the cream and starting at one of the shorter sides roll the roulade up, using the greaseproof paper to help, leaving the join at the bottom of the roulade.
- Transfer on to a serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped pears.
- See more Dessert recipes
Tip
The finished roulade can be made 24 hours in advance. It also freezes well. To defrost, leave it out at room temperature for at least 4 hours before serving.
Freezing and defrosting guidelines
In order to enjoy optimum flavour and quality, frozen items are best used within 3 months of their freezing date. For more tips on freezing and defrosting food, read our article Love Your Freezer.
