Sweet Potato Roulade - perfect for brunch or as a special treat with dinner (grain free)

 

Once in awhile you need something special and elegant to accompany your dinner and a roulade is an easy way to accomplish this. They aren't overly difficult to make, yet looked nice and taste great. They can easily be made ahead of time and can also travel well.

This roulade recipe comes from the cookbook The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook by Nicola Graimes. It's slightly sweet from the sweet potato and the allspice berries add a wonderful extra flavor. We enjoyed this so much with dinner last night we practically ate the whole thing. Even my 12 month old daughter and 3 year old son each had two slices.

What You'll Need

Serves 6

1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed*

12 allspice berries, crushed

1 cup cream cheese

5 tbsp. plain yogurt

6-8 scallions**

2 tbsp. Brazil nuts, chopped and roasted***

4 eggs, separated

1/4 cup Edam cheese, finely grated

1 tbsp. sesame seeds

Unrefined sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

   
* As an alternative to steaming or boiling the sweet potato, which is what the original recipe has you do, I choose to bake the sweet potato instead. Pierce the skin of the sweet potato in several places with a fork. Stick into a 350° oven for about 1½ hours or until a fork can easily pierce the flesh. 
 
** I didn't have scallions on hand so I used a small leek and it was excellent.

*** To roast the Brazil nuts, after chopping them, toss them into a small pan with nothing in it. Heat nuts over medium to medium-high heat, stirring to keep them from burning. Toast them until they are a light brown. 

Getting Started

1. Preheat your oven to 400°. Grease and line a 13"x10" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. To help the parchment fit nicely into pan, snip the corners of the paper. I do this by setting my pan on the paper and draw a quick line straight out from each corner of the pan. Cut on the line or cut a square wedge out and then place parchment into pan. It will fit much nicer this way.

2. Steam, boil or bake your sweet potato until soft, then put into a food processor along with the crushed allspice berries. Process until smooth.

Note: You can also mash the sweet potato and allspice berries together with a spoon. Simply make sure the mixture is completely smooth.

3. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, yogurt, scallions and roasted Brazil nuts. Set aside.

4. Stir into the sweet potato mixture 4 egg yolks and Edam cheese. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry peaks are formed. Fold one-third of the egg whites into the sweet potato mixture, then carefully fold in the rest.

5. Pour sweet potato mixture into prepared pan. Spread to corners and smooth top. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.

6. In the meantime, lay a large piece of wax paper out on a clean dish towel. Scatter the sesame seeds on it. Once the roulade is cooked, turn it out onto the wax paper. If necessary, trim the edges so they are straight.

7. Roll up the roulade and allow to cool, then gently unroll. Spread an even coat of the cream cheese mixture over the roulade. Roll it back up, slice and serve.

Enjoy!

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