Toffee and Pecan Meringue Roulade

My Toffee and Pecan Roulade is the perfect mix of squishy meringue, crunchy pecans, caramel sauce and fluffy whipped cream. This dreamy Meringue Roulade is always our Christmas Day dessert – but is equally delicious any time of year. Plus it’s naturally gluten free, so everyone can enjoy it!

If there’s one recipe we go nuts for (geddit!?) in our house every Christmas it’s this gluten free Toffee and Pecan Meringue Roulade.

This show-stopping gluten free dessert recipe is surprisingly easy to make, but looks super impressive.

It’s naturally free from gluten without any swaps or substitutions too, meaning the whole family can enjoy it and nobody will even know it’s coeliac-friendly!

This easy meringue roulade with toffee sauce and pecan nuts can easily be made a day or two in advance. You can even freeze it!

So whether you want an easy Christmas dessert, a Thanksgiving treat or just something delicious and simple to throw together, this is it.

I first published this recipe on the blog back in 2018, and I still use it without fail year-after-year. I hope you love it as much as I do!

And if you need some more dessert inspiration, be sure to check out my Christmas Pavlova Wreath, No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake and easy Eton Mess recipes too.

Ingredients

There’s a printable recipe card for this toffee meringue roulade below. But for the shopping list here are the main ingredients you’ll need.

For the meringue:

• Eggs: You’ll only need the egg whites for this recipe.
• Caster Sugar: Or baker’s sugar in the US
• Apple Cider Vinegar: or white wine vinegar. This helps create a lovely, chewy meringue.
• Corn Flour: Or cornstarch in the US. This helps stabilise the meringue and make it easier to roll it up.
• Pecan Nuts: You’ll need to roughly chop these up.

For the toffee and pecan filling:

• Carnation Caramel: I use tinned caramel, but any dulce de leche or toffee sauce will work, as long as it’s gluten free.
• Double Cream: Use heavy whipping cream in the US.
• Icing Sugar: Or confectioner’s sugar in the US, to sweeten the whipped cream.
• Pecan Nuts: Of course, the more pecans the better!

How to Make Toffee and Pecan Roulade

There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this meringue roulade is to make.

To make the meringue:

Preheat the oven to 190C / Fan 170 / Gas Mark 5. Line a 33cm x 23cm Swiss roll tin with baking paper. You want this to cover the base and the sides.

Separate the eggs, being careful not to get any yolk in with the whites. Add the egg whites to a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until they form stiff peaks.

Add the sugar to the egg white mixture, one dessert spoon at a time, while still whisking at a slightly slower speed. The mixture will thicken and become glossy as you do this.

Add the apple cider vinegar and cornflour and whisk for a further 30 seconds. Sprinkle in the pecan nuts and gently fold in using a metal spoon or spatula, until distributed evenly.

Spoon the meringue mixture into the lined tin, using a palette knife to smooth it into an even layer.

Place in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes until it is well risen and beginning to colour. Turn the oven down to 160C / Fan 140C / Gas Mark 3 and bake for a further five minutes.

The meringue should be beginning to crack and just firm to the touch. You don’t want it to be too cooked or you won’t be able to roll it.

Remove the meringue from the oven. While the meringue is still hot, put a teacloth on the worktop and cover with a sheet of non-stick baking paper.

Sprinkle a little extra sugar on the paper, then gently turn the hot meringue out onto it. Remove the tin and leave the whole thing to cool for around one hour.

To construct the meringue roulade:

Once the meringue is cool, add the double cream and icing sugar to a large bowl and whisk for a couple of minutes until it thickens to soft peaks.

Peel the lining paper from the cool meringue. Spread the caramel carefully in one even layer, then sprinkle over the remaining chopped pecans.

Spread the whipped cream evenly on top of the pecan nuts and caramel. Use a small palette knife to carefully do this without mixing the layers together.

Using the baking paper to assist you, carefully roll the meringue from one of the short sides.

You can also do this from the longer side – I prefer a short fat meringue roulade, but you may want a long, thin one!

Place the meringue carefully on a serving dish (with the edge of the meringue on the bottom so it holds its shape!) and serve in slices.

Storing and Freezing

Any leftovers of this gluten free meringue roulade can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days. After this time they can go a bit soggy!

This means you can also make this ahead of time and keep it in the fridge. I wouldn’t recommend making it more than 24 hours in advance to keep the crunch in the meringue.

You can also freeze this toffee and pecan roulade – just defrost in the fridge overnight!

If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.