Roll up, roll up, anyone who has ever been too scared to attempt a roulade. Nat Paull of Beatrix in North Melbourne shares her tips and recipe for making cocoa meringue roulade.

The petite cafe's popular cake is a neat swirl of fudgy chocolate meringue, "lashings" of whipped cream and crushed berries.

"A lot of people are a little bit scared of rolling a roulade," Paull says.

To shape her roulade, Paull uses a large square of clingwrap to lift and tuck the malleable meringue into a tight, compact roll.

Paull describes her roulade as a forgiving recipe. "If you do overcook it, you can put the cream on it and let it soften; if you've under cooked it and it's a little bit soft it's still delicious. It's one of those, I call them beach house recipes, where you can make them with bare ingredients and any kind of oven."

Here's how to make this cracking good cake.

FRUITY FILLINGS

"The great thing about this roulade is that it's like a blank canvas to whatever fruit you've got in season. Any of those beautiful fruits that go with chocolate, are perfect for it," Paull says. Crushed figs are a particular favourite, and she's planning a saffron-poached pear variation in the cooler months. A splash of vincotto "adds a little extra sparkle to berries and cherries and red fruits", or fold through orange zest for a Jaffa-inspired roll.

Note: to make a plain pavlova roulade, omit the cocoa and salt from the meringue recipe.

MIXING THE MERINGUE

The cocoa meringue doesn't have to be "super stiff" so if you don't have a stand mixer, you can use electric beaters, rotary beaters or whisk the mixture by hand.

Paull says the addition of cream of tartar helps to replicate the effect of whisking egg whites in a copper bowl. "You want them to be pillowy and cloud-like. This gives you maximum volume without losing the suppleness."

BAKING THE MERINGUE

When the meringue is ready, it should feel like a "crunchy pillow" and have a little bit of give. "If you overcook it, you'll get a really crunchy meringue, so you want to kind of undercook it a little bit," Paull says.

TROUBLESHOOTING

If it's slightly underdone, the meringue will still be fudgy and delicious. If you've taken it too far the other way, try this:

"If it is a bit too firm and [crunchy] when you roll it, leave it on the bench with the cream on it [for 20 minutes], because the cream will sort of soak into the meringue."

Don't panic if it's overbaked and is rolling into an angular shape. Simply pop the meringue in the fridge to soften up and become pliable. "[The meringue] naturally softens with the moisture from the fridge. You can shape it back as close to a roll as you can," Paull says.

However, if it's really well-done, Paull suggests crushing the meringue up and making an Eton mess.

MINIMISING CRACKS

Trimming the edges of the cooked meringue can help avoid cracks appearing in the roulade. "Take off the drier, more cooked roulade off the sides. The meringue will roll up, and it won't get any cracks through it, if you just take off those drier edge bits," Paull says.

THE ROLLING ACTION

Take charge of the roulade. "You need to be firm with it. You need to be in charge of it," Paull says.

The main challenge to a roulade is achieving a tight, compact roll.

Paull uses a large square of clingwrap to guide and roll the roulade into shape. Watch her in action in the video above.

"It's like you're aiming the plastic at almost a 45 degree angle, and it's kind of like a lift and roll, lift and roll, and then a full roll with the plastic. So you're not actually rolling with your hands down the roulade each time you make it turn over.

"This technique can be transferred to rolling things like [sponge-based] Swiss rolls and strudels, anything that you roll up," Paull says.

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RECIPE

Cocoa meringue roulade

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

180g egg whites (about 6)

pinch cream of tartar

300g castor sugar

50g dutch cocoa, plus extra to dust

5g vanilla essence or paste

pinch salt

For the filling

400g pure cream (45 per cent fat)

5g vanilla essence or paste

1 punnet of your favourite berries, ideally crushed with a little vincotto and sugar (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 150C. Line a 30cm x 40cm tray with canola spray and baking paper.

Using a stand mixer, place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl, attach the whisk and put the stand mixer onto a medium-high speed. Whisk the whites until they reach firm peaks but are not chunky - they should still look creamy (note: you can also use electric beaters or whisk by hand).

Add half a cup of the sugar gradually, a scant tablespoon at a time to start with, then two at a time as the mix gets glossy and firm.

Add the vanilla.

Sift the cocoa, salt and remaining sugar together and add all at once to the meringue (turn the machine off, add the cocoa mix, and wrap a teatowel around the mixer before turning the machine on again as the cocoa can go everywhere).

Scrape the meringue mix out onto the prepared tray and smooth out with an offset spatula leaving a centimetre or so margin, as the meringue will puff and spread when baking. Once spread, the meringue should be approximately one centimetre high.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top feels like a crunchy pillow.

Cool the meringue completely (about 30 minutes). Check for residual warmth before adding the cream and assembling.

Whip cream and vanilla to soft, supple peaks.

Dust a sheet of clingwrap (slightly larger than the meringue) with cocoa powder.

Flip the meringue onto the clingwrap, and carefully peel off the baking powder. Trim the sides of the meringue. The longer side of the meringue should be facing you.

Spread the whipped cream over the meringue, leaving a 2.5 centimetre wide un-creamed strip along the top.

Scatter the berries over the cream, making sure there is a good strip of berries along the bottom, because that will form the centre of the finished roulade.

Use the clingwrap to pull up the start of the roll, and tuck the meringue in along the length of the sheet, to get it started. Holding the clingwrap, roll it up using your fingers underneath to guide it. Use a repetitive lift and roll motion until you do a final full roll to reach the end of the meringue, with the seam underneath.

To position the roulade onto a plate, roll the wrapped roulade so that the seam is at the top, flip it directly onto the plate, and unwrap the clingwrap.

To serve, slice on a diagonal using a hot, serrated knife.

Beatrix, 688 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne, 9090 7301