Meringue Roulade

This Meringue Roulade with Lemon is made with a creamy and tart lemon filling rolled in a light, fluffy, and marshmallowy meringue.

The meringue is way easier to make than it may seem, and it can also be made with whipped cream and berries for a simple summery dessert.

This dessert looks fancy but with a few simple tricks, it can be done quickly without too much fuss. The components can also be made ahead and then assembled on the day of, limiting any time or effort on the day you plan to serve it.

One of the big upsides to making this Meringue Roulade with lemon is that you can use both the egg whites (for the meringue) and the egg yolks (for the lemon filling) for less waste. This is the same idea behind a classic lemon meringue pie or Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies.

🍋 What is a Meringue Roulade?

A Meringue Roulade is similar to a Buche de Noel, Yule Log, or Swiss Roll, but rather than being made with a cake that is rolled over a filling, it is made with a merinuge that is spread out on a baking sheet, baked until marshmallowy in consistency and rolled over a creamy filling like whipped cream and berries or lemon.

🍓 Variations

• Lemon Filling: The recipe below includes details as to how to make a sweet and tart lemon filling to fill the rolled meringue.
• Whipped Cream and Berries: For an even lighter and less sweet dessert, make fresh whipped cream and berries and line the meringue with the berries and cream, or just whipped cream, and then top it after it's rolled with berries. To make the whipped cream, use 2 cups heavy whipping cream with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar or maple syrup, or plain without sugar, and whip until you get stiff peaks (that way it holds up better when rolled).
  • Or for an extra fancy touch, add mascarpone cream to the whipped cream. See this recipe for Maple Mascarpone Whipped Cream.
• Other Variations: You could also spread the meringue with Nutella, cookie butter (also great in these Biscoff Blondies), jam, fresh fruit, passion fruit, vanilla custard, or chocolate cream. Top with confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder, ice cream, flaked almonds, or chopped pistachios.

🥚Tempering Eggs

Tempering eggs is a finicky process, so if you haven’t done it before, it's worth slowing down to get the steps right. Tempering the eggs cooks the eggs, but keeps the creamy consistency that you’d expect in a lemon filling (rather than the eggs scrambling).

To temper eggs, add the hot lemon mixture to the egg yolks and whisk constantly. Then return the mixture to the pan and continue to whisk for about 1 minute until it has thickened. Tempering eggs is also used to make lemon curd, like in these Lemon Curd Cookies, which is more tart and less sweet than lemon filling.

🛒 Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make the Meringue Roulade including the Lemon Filling.

Meringue

• Egg Whites: Separate the large egg whites from the egg yolks and reserve the leftover egg yolks to make the lemon filling. Use room temperature eggs, if possible.
• Sugar: There’s quite a bit of sugar in the meringue, which helps give it structure.
• Salt: Just a pinch to balance flavor.

Lemon Filling

• Egg Yolks: Reserved from the whites in the meringue.
• Cornstarch: Acts as a thickener.
• Granulated Sugar: Balances the tartness of the lemon.
• Salt: To bring out flavor.
• Lemons: Use both the zest, which is sweet and not acidic, and the juice, which is tart.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

📝 How to Make Meringue Roulade with Lemon Filling

Below are the step-by-step directions on how to make both the Meringue and the Lemon Filling and how to roll the meringue over the filling to create the meringue roulade.

Prep: Preheat the oven temperature to 300°F.

Step 1. Beat Egg Whites and Add Sugar: Add the egg whites to a large mixing bowl and beat, starting on low speed and increasing to medium for 4 minutes until the egg whites start to form soft peaks. This can be done with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add about ¼ of the sugar to the large bowl while the beater is running. Gradually add the rest of the sugar, a little at a time.

Step 2. Continue to Beat Egg Whites: Beat for an additional 3-4 minutes until the mixture becomes glossy and white and has more structure.

Step 3. Spread the Meringue: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Thoroughly butter the parchment paper and the edges of the baking sheet. Spread the meringue mixture over the parchment paper, leaving roughly an inch of space around the edge of the meringue.

Step 4. Bake the Meringue: Place the meringue in the oven and bake at 300°F for 30 minutes.

Step 5. Make the Lemon Filling: While the meringue is in the oven, make the lemon filling. Add the egg yolks to a small bowl and whisk. Add the cornstarch, granulated sugar, salt, water, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a small saucepan. Bring to a low simmer.

Slowly add half of the hot lemon mixture to the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Pour the combined mixture back into the saucepan, continuing to whisk for 1 minute. Then remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a bowl to prevent the bottom from scalding in the still-hot saucepan.

Place the bowl in the fridge to cool down.

Step 6. Invert the Meringue: Take a second large piece of parchment paper and place it over the meringue. It should have cooled slightly, but it does not need to have fully cooled.

Take a second baking sheet and gently hold it over the meringue without letting it squish the meringue. Flip the first baking sheet over on top of the second baking sheet to invert the meringue.

Remove the top baking sheet and gently remove the parchment paper (which was originally on the bottom).

Step 7. Roll the Meringue Roulade: Spread the lemon filling in an even layer over the meringue, leaving an inch of space on each of the short ends. Starting from the short end (not the long edge), gently roll the meringue over the lemon filling. You can use the parchment paper as shown in the photo above to help you get started with rolling the meringue over the filling. Continue to roll until the seam side is down.

You can use two wide flat spatulas to gently lift the Meringue Roll and move it to a serving plate or prepared tray.

Dust with powdered sugar and cut crosswise into slices to serve.

🍴 How to Make Ahead, Serve, and Store:

• To Make Ahead: The meringue and the filling (store in an airtight container) can both be made the day before serving, but for best results, the assembly should be done the day of.
• To Serve: Serve on its own (it's plenty sweet) cut into slices crosswise, or use heavy cream to make unsweetened whipped cream and top with fresh berries.
• To Store: This Meringue Roulade is best eaten on the same day, however, leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 24 hours (or longer, but the meringue may soften).

💖 For More Dessert Recipes, You May Love These:

If you make these Meringue Roulade or any other recipe on my site, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!