Brazo de Mercedes meringue swirls

My mother-in-law, Lilanie Young, makes the best Brazo de Mercedes, an airy and sweet meringue roll hailing from the Philippines. I dedicate these Brazo de Mercedes meringue swirls to her. Creamy condensed milk custard (purple thanks to ube extract) tops these billowy meringue swirls.

Credit: Quarry Books / Nicole Soper Photography

• makes

  8

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  4 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

The tang from the calamansi zest counterbalances the sweetness of the meringue and custard. If you don’t have calamansi, simply use the zest from any lemon or lime.

Ingredients

Custard

• 3 tsp (15 g) milk
• ½ tsp cornstarch
• 2 egg yolks (about 40 g or 1½ oz)
• ¼ cup (76 g) sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ tsp miso
• ½ tsp calamansi (or lemon) zest (see note)
• 1 tsp ube extract, see notes
• 3 tsp (14 g) butter

Stiff peaks meringue

• 4 egg whites (about 4 oz, or 120 g), room temperature
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

Meringue fold-ins

• 1 tsp cornstarch, sifted
• ¼ cup (30 g) icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar), sifted
• ½ tsp calamansi or lemon juice

Drying time after baking: 8 hours or overnight.

Instructions

1. Line a large baking sheet with baking (parchment) paper and spray with cooking spray.

2. Preheat the oven to 80°C (175°F or gas mark ¼) and place a rack in the lower third of the oven.

3. Make the custard. In a bowl, mix the milk and cornstarch until combined. In a saucepan over low heat, whisk together the egg yolks, condensed milk, miso, calamansi zest and ube extract. Stir continuously until the mixture thickens. Add the milk and cornstarch mixture and whisk until homogenous. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until the custard thickens and pulls away from the pan when stirred. Scrape the pan to incorporate thicker portions of the custard. Remove from heat, add the butter, and mix until homogeneous. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

4. Make the stiff peaks meringue. Using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, beat the room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-high speed until foamy and opaque, a few minutes. Lower the speed to add the sugar in increments. Turn the speed back to medium-high and whip the meringue and glossy and tripled in volume. When the beater is removed from the mixture, the peak will be tall, sharp and pointing upwards.

5. Add the meringue ingredients. Use a flexible spatula to gently fold in and combine.

6. Scoop out mounds of the meringue onto the prepared baking sheet, making eight equal rounds, each about 7.5 cm (3 in) in diameter.

7. Add drops (or dots) of cooled custard on top of each meringue. Using chopsticks (or a butter knife), dip into the meringue and swirl the custard around, starting with a small O shape in the center and swirling outward. You want to end up with purple swirls covering the surface of the meringue,  and this takes some practice and deft flicks of the wrist.

8. Bake for 4 hours. Turn off the oven. With the door ajar, dry out the meringues in the oven for at least 8 hours or overnight. If the meringue appears too soft or chewy, bake again for 30 minutes at 80°C (175°F or gas mark ¼).

Note

•Calamansi, also known as calamondin, is a small citrus fruit that hails from the Philippines Calamansi is used to make cocktails, juices and sauces as it adds a pop of bright flavour and tang. (Calamansi juice is available from specialist online retailers in Australia, but lemon or lime will also work well in this recipe.)

• Ube, a Filipino purple yam, is sweet and tastes like a nutty vanilla coconut. Ube is versatile and transformative as an ingredient as it turns food beautifully purple. For me bakes to achieve and eye-grabbing vibrant purple, I don’t shy away from using ube extract. (Ube is available from specialist online retailers in Australia.)

Source: Undefined / Quarry Books / Nicole Soper Photography

Image and recipe from Modern Asian Baking at Home by Kat Lieu, photography by Nicole Soper Photography (Quarry Books, RRP $32.99).  

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

The tang from the calamansi zest counterbalances the sweetness of the meringue and custard. If you don’t have calamansi, simply use the zest from any lemon or lime.