Friday, July 13, 2012

French Fridays with Dorie: Blueberry-Mascarpone Roulade - And a morning spent blueberry picking


This week`s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Blueberry-Mascarpone Roulade. At first glance, the recipe seems rather long with a lot of different steps but after the second read, it becomes obvious that this is not a complicated recipe at all but a simple, summery recipe for a cake filled with blueberries and a cream.




Since this is a roulade filled with blueberries, the most important ingredient to get is, of course, the blueberries and what better activity for a summer´s day than to pick blueberries with all the kids involved in the action. So we packed up the car and drove to the one and only blueberry farm that I am aware of. It is about a thirty minute drive and we go there once a year to pick three huge baskets full of delicious, wonderful blueberries.




So this year we went blueberry picking a little earlier than in previous years but with that roulade in mind and all the other lovely blueberry dishes that will make an appearance at our house soon, nobody complained. Even the weather was perfect.




Back home, the roulade was quickly made, I usually bake a strawberry roulade and I do not find it particularly difficult or intimidating to bake this jelly roll style of cake. It was easy to follow the directions in Dorie´s recipe and the cake turned out wonderful and light, just the way we like it. While the cake was cooling, the blueberries had to be dropped in hot sugary syrup to soften and sweeten them ever so slightly. After cake and berries were cool enough, I folded the blueberries into the mascarpone and cream, spread the cream onto the cake, rolled the cake up and put it into the frigde to set for a while. All that was left to do before we devoured the cake, was to dust it with confectioner´s sugar. I then plated it and it was gone in about fifteen minutes.




We all adored this cake, it was wonderful with afternoon tea (I loved Earl Grey tea with this cake). It is just a marvelous cake, not too sweet and very pretty. It was fun reading through Dorie´s recipe and all of the “bonnes idées” and preparing the cake and the end result was just delicious. I followed the recipe to the letter and I would not hesitate to make this again, for a special occasion as well as an every day treat and it was well worth the extra effort of picking fresh blueberries!





Voilà! - Enjoy!




14 comments:

  1. Wonderful pictures! It was a very nice and easy recipe indeed!

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    1. Thank you Maria, such a nice summertime cake was just a wonderful treat for all of us!

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  2. I agree all around. This was a wonderful cake and so much easier than I had imagined. We had this last Sunday for Kaffee und Kuchen and everyone loved it.

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    1. Rose, my thoughts exactly, what a perfect cake to serve on a Sunday afternoon for "Kaffee und Kuchen"!

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  3. Thank you so much for saying my photos were pretty - I am always so impressed by yours and this time was no exception. Your roulade looks so great and blueberry picking seems like a very nice way to spend a day. I've never done it myself but I probably should. Have a nice weekend!

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    1. Thanks Maggie - I always enjoy reading your posts and looking at your photos and yes, blueberry picking is fun and we always eat sooo many berries.

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  4. I'm jealous of your fresh picked berries! Your roulade turned out perfect. Nice pictures all round!

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    1. Thank you - I think we all agree that nothing beats freshly picked produce and it is always a fun thing to do with the kids.

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  5. Wasn't this a fun experience with your kids? Produce that's picked off the tree, made into something special and then popped into the mouth, all in one day. Yours looks good and I also enjoyed it because it wasn't sweet, sweet, sweet. I also found this easier than anticipated but, unlike you, I used my roulade for my Bastille Day celebration. Tomorrow, Bastille Day and the Tour de France. What could be better?

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    1. Yes, Mary, it was a lot of fun making Dorie`s blueberry roulade, it does look so pretty once it gets served but, alas, it always disappears so quickly!

      Bastille Day celebrations, the Tour de France and good food was on our menu for today.

      Thanks for all your lovely comments!

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  6. Your roulade looks beautiful!, Andrea!! And sounds like a perfect accompaniment to that cup of Earl Grey…I’ll have to give that a try! Love all your blueberry picking photos…such fun! Building wonderful memories…that’s what it’s all about! Enjoy your weekend!

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    1. You are right Kathy, blueberry picking is fun and I always hope that the children will have nice memories of these outings one day.

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  7. Blueberries aren't ready here yet - they should be ripe in another week or two. I'm looking forward to making this cake when the blueberries at my parents' place are ready!

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  8. I am not sure how I missed this one of yours! Beautiful cake.
    I really enjoyed this one; sadly, our blueberry season is coming to a close. But, I think some other fruits may make a lovely stand in when they are gone.

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