Easy Banana Roll
This banana roll is one of the most spectacular recipes I've tried lately. It's flavoured, soft, simple and, yet, eye-catching, but I think the pictures already speak for themselves. If you are looking for an easy to cook roll recipe, I strongly recommend trying this one, you will be amazed by the results. You have to handle with care, though, and pay attention to all the steps, the banana roulade is easy to make, but if you make one little mistake, it might not turn out as beautiful as you want.
For a month I've been playing with this roulade recipe. I've tried a different filling but, in the end, I stuck to the vanilla pudding cream, as it gets along very well with the bananas and, somehow, they 'swap' the flavours between them. Then I realised I wasn't doing it right, I was only pulling the edges up but, in fact, it really had to be rolled - turned upside down, so that the bottom comes at the top. You will see better what I'm talking about when you read the steps and watch the video.
I eventually figured that there was no need for reinventing anything. I would only suggest less milk in the pudding cream, so that it gets a bit thicker. Usually, on the pack they say 500 ml of milk, I would say 400 ml. And one last thing - I didn't need to use the whole amount of cream, so, with the same amount, you could use 8 or even 12 lady fingers.
Either way is fine and with minimal effort.
Take the plain lady fingers, just like the ones you would use for Tiramisu. Turn them with the sugared side down.
Cover a cutting board or a flat plate in plastic wrap.
Soak the lady fingers one by one in a bowl of 200ml of cold milk and make 2 uniform rows.
They are supposed to look like this - line them up as close to each other as you can.
Cover everything in plastic wrap and keep in the fridge for 4 hours, so that the lady fingers are completely soaked.
After 4 hours, quickly prepare the pudding, according to the instructions on the pack. Use 50g of sugar and 400ml of milk.
I recommend using less milk (they usually say 500ml on the pack), so that the pudding is a bit more dense. Mix until it starts to boil and gets thicker.
Take the lady fingers out of the fridge and carefully remove the plastic wrap from the top.
Transfer the hot pudding over the lady fingers.
I didn't use it all because I thought it was too much, but you can use 16-20 lady fingers and use the whole amount of pudding.
Carefully smooth over the whole surface.
Place the banana somewhere close to the middle.
Use the plastic wrap to roll the lady fingers in such a way that the middle part comes on top.
It's not enough just to pull up the edges, you will have to actually roll it - turn it upside down.
Cover in the plastic wrap, so that it stays together.
Keep it in the fridge for a few hours or, even better, over the night.
After that, take it out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. You will notice that the roulade is firm and it really stays together.
I prefer to keep it in the fridge for a longer time, because this way the banana flavor will be more intense and so, the roulade will be tastier. But you can also serve it after 2 or 3 hours.
Whisk the sweetened whipped cream. Decorate the roulade with it, see how I did it in the picture.
It looks better if you decorate it but, plain will do it as well, if you are in a hurry :)
Use a small strainer to spread some cocoa powder on top.
Now you can slice and serve the roulade.
The cream stays firm and the roulade is easy to slice. If it's not, then you probably made a mistake when preparing the pudding.
But it's still gonna be tasty.
You can try other fillings as well, but I've tested and I can tell you for sure that the vanilla pudding fits best.
Of course, you can use other fruits instead of bananas but, again, this is the most simple and flavored fruit. I tried several combinations, but this one was the most successful each time.
Enjoy!
