Alastair Hendy's Vanilla Cream and Meringue Roulade

Whiter than white, yet utterly irresistible.

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   1. Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan/310F/gas 2½. Line a 30cm x 20cm swiss-roll tray or shallow-sided baking tray
   with nonstick baking paper. Whisk up the meringue mix according to the recipe, left, spoon it on to the tray and smooth level. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tinged a very
   pale tan-cream colour.
   2. Allow to cool in the tray for 5 minutes. Lay a piece of baking paper on top, and a wire rack on top of this, then flip over. Ease off the baking tray, leaving the original baking paper in place. Set aside the meringue to cool upside down on the rack for 5 minutes, then peel off the original paper.
   3. In a bowl, add the vanilla seeds to the cream, stir in 2 tbsp icing sugar and whip until thick. Spoon the vanilla cream down the centre of the meringue. Using the fresh baking paper the meringue is sitting on, very gently ease up the sides of the meringue, and fold over to make a roll. Keep the roll tightly wrapped in the paper and leave to rest for 15 minutes, seam side down. It will have some cracks, but this adds to the finished character.
   4. To serve: Unwrap the roll, dust with remaining icing sugar and slice thickly