FFwD-Blueberry-Mascarpone Roulade

Blueberry-Marscapone Roulade

Bonjour, mes amis!  It's been so long.  My one week vacation turned in to a hiatus of sorts, though unintentional.  Between just a busy life and a brutal heat wave where the last thing in the world I wanted to do was turn on an oven, I just could not seem to find the time to post (even this one is a day late).  I did manage to make last week's gingery pickles (yum) but was not able to get a post up.  Oh well, I am back at it now, and just in time for this yummy roulade. 

Blueberries soaking in simple syrup

A simple sheet cake made largely of merigue is baked and cooled after rolling in a towel.  The mascarpone, whipped cream and blueberry filling is then spread over the unrolled cake, rolled up again, chilled and sprinkled with powdered sugar before serving.  As you can see from the photo below, my cake did crack as I was rolling it, so note to self to be cautious next time.

The assembled and plated roulade

Oh, and speaking of next time, this recipe is crying out for lemon zest, lemon juice, something.  Don't get me wrong it was delicious as is and won raves at the work potluck I brought it to, but I think the lemon blueberry combo is a classic and both flavors compliment each other so well that this recipe would be all the better with lemon. 

Anyway, I will leave you with a review of sorts of The French Laundry, Thomas Keller's uber-famous restaurant in Yountville, CA.  I was in Napa recently for the wedding of some dear friends.  The concierge at the soon-to-be-married couple's resort was able to score a reservation for us-which if you know anything about reserving here is a feat unto itself.   The dinner was impressive, but perhaps my palate is not yet refined enough to have appreciated all that was served.  And by all, I mean 11 courses over 5 hours!  I enjoyed the meal very much (the company more), but for such a well-respected restaurant (Anthony Bourdain called it the best restaurant in the world) I was expecting to be overwhelmed by delicious flavors.  The food was very good, the service attentive, and some courses amazing, but overall I could not help but feel a bit disappointed in the experience.  That many courses and the time we were there was just a bit much.  I know that my friend who joined me on the trip agreed with me. 

My husband is very much looking forward to next week's recipe, Salmon with Basil Tapenade.  Until then, hope you all have a wonderful week.