La Gitana – The Gypsy

Strawberry and Rose Roulade

Photos by Amanda Malm

Strawberry season is upon us! This time of the year makes me almost as excited as fig season. Every country I have ever lived in (Sweden, Norway, Australia and now Spain) consider their strawberries the best. And I agree, I have agreed in all of those countries. Currently residing in Spain I must say there are some exceptional strawberries grown here. The first ones of the season comes from the mainland but the Mallorcan ones are not far behind. This cake is inspired by Ottolenghi I love his way of combining beautiful and sometimes unexpected ingredients.

I used to make this cake a couple of times a week for one of the restaurants in Port de Soller when I lived there. We named it La Gitana, a play with words from another dessert called Brazo de Gitano (Gypsy arm) in Spanish. This one is a lady, a bohemian hippie/gypsy lady and her name suits her, covered in flowers, sweet and light with a flavoursome inside.

I love serving this dessert to my clients as a private chef here in Mallorca. The roulade is not overly sweet but light, fluffy, and full of textures and flavour. Everyone loves it. Including me (and believe it or not I don’t really have a sweet tooth). 

I change the filling with the season, inventing new ones as the fruits around me mature. Currently said strawberries I match the with rose and pistachio. Although raspberries is also a great combo with the rose flavour!

Here’s what you need and the method:

Put the oven on 160C (140 fan)

Merengue:

• 4 egg whites (use the yolks for something else; aioli or brushing cinnamon buns maybe?)
• 300ml sugar (250g)
• 2 tsp maizena
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 tsp white wine vingar or apple cider vinegar

Bake for approx 40min, do not take out of the oven till you’re sure it’s ready. It should feel hard and a bit fragile. 

Put another paper on top, use a tea towel folded lengthwise to hold it in place and to be able to grab the sides of the tray, flip over. Flip towards yourself. It might feel scary first time, but most things are a bit scary the first time. You got this though, just be determined.

Allow to cool and remove the paper that used to be in the bottom of the pan. Leave the other one, it should now be under the merengue and you’ll use it later for rolling the roulade.

Filling:

• 125g Mascarpone
• 2-3 tbs rose water (depending on taste and quality of rose water)
• 400ml whipping cream (don’t use that long life crap use the real stuff)
• Icing sugar to taste
• 1liter of strawberries
• A small handfull of pistachios
• Dried rose petals or fresh edible flowers if the season allows

• Start with mixing the rosewater and the mascarpone.
• Then add the cream. Beat till nice and fluffy and holding together, but not too hard.
• Reserve a few table spoons of rose cream in a piping bag.
• Spread the rest on the cooled off merengue (if it’s still warm the cream will melt)
• Clean and chop your strawberries in to 1cm bites. Reserve 7-9 berries whole for decoration. Spread the chopped berries evenly on top of the cream.
• Now, use the baking paper under the merengue to roll it. If rolling from the short side you’ll get a higher cake and about 7 pieces, from the long side you’ll get more pieces (approx 9).
• Transfere to your serving platter
• Chop the pistachios finely.
• Make a thick line with the reserved cream on top of the cake, space out the whole berries and sprinkle with pistachios and dried rose petals.

Enjoy!