My fabulous Gluten Free Mini Rolls

Best Gluten Free Lemon flavour Chocolate Mini Rolls in the world EVERRR!

(Makes 6 mini rolls)

Sponge :

30g plain Gluten free flour

15g melted butter 

Rind and juice of one lemon

3 large eggs – separated

75g caster sugar

Lemon Butter Icing filling:

75g softened butter 

150g icing sugar

Grated lemon rind of half a lemon

I teaspoon lemon juice

Chocolate Coating:

100g dark chocolate broken into small pieces

100g milk chocolate broken into small pieces

A little boiling water to thin it out for pouring over the rolls

Before we get started, let's get prepared... 

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4. Line a Swiss roll tin, 30 cm x 20 cm with greaseproof paper.

Now for the sponge...

1. In a small bowl, sieve the flour and add the melted butter, lemon rind and juice. Mix together and set to one side.
2. In a large bowl, weigh 50g of the caster sugar and add the egg yolks. Whisk together until pale, thick and fluffy and then add to the lemon mixture and mix together thoroughly.
3. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Once stiff, add the remaining 25g caster sugar and whisk until the sugar has dissolved completely. 
4. Beat a third of the egg-white mixture into the lemon mix to loosen and then gently fold in the rest of the whisked egg-whites, taking care to maintain as much air as possible in the mix.
5. Spread the mixture carefully in the tin and then bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the top springs back to the touch.
6. Remove from the oven. Leave in the tin to cool completely. To make sure the sponge stays moist, cover with a clean, slightly damp tea towel until cool.

Now for the Butter Icing...

1. Beat the softened butter in a large bowl until smooth and gradually add the icing sugar continuing to beat until all the sugar is combined and you have a light, fluffy icing. Add the juice and rind and beat again. 

Now the good bit...

1. Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on your worktop.
2. With a butter knife, loosen the sponge away from the sides of the tin and then turn the sponge out onto your greaseproof paper. Peel back the greaseproof paper from the sponge.
3. Turn the sponge so that the short side is nearest to you and then score a line about 3 cm in to aid when you start rolling the  sponge up. Do the same at the other end of the sponge as you will be rolling both ends to meet in the middle.
4. Evenly spread your butter cream over the top of the sponge, using a palette knife.
5. Starting from the front edge, carefully roll up the sponge to the halfway point and then do the same from the other side until the two rolls meet in the middle and then cut down the centre of the sponge between the two rolls, to separate them.
6. Carefully cut each roll into thirds as evenly as possible, so that you have 6 mini rolls.
7. Place the rolls seam-side down on a cooling rack and chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes until they are firm.

Now the messy bit - the chocolate Coating...

1. 
    Melt the plain and milk chocolate together in a medium glass bowl either set over a pan of lightly simmering water (stirring frequently) add a little boiling water to thin the consistency a little.
2. Place the cooling rack over a baking tray (to catch the dripping chocolate) and then carefully pour the chocolate over each mini roll to coat them completely. Leave then to set for about half an hour, or pop them back in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

It's unlikely that you'll have any left over for another day, but if you do - pop them in an airtight container and they'll last a couple of days.

Now for the alternatives...

Alternative sponges

For a chocolate mini roll, substitute the plain flour for cocoa and replace the lemon with a teaspoon of vanilla essence and two tablespoons of boiling water. Fill with either chocolate butter cream, vanilla butter cream or coffee butter cream

For a vanilla sponge, replace the lemon rind and juice with vanilla essence. Then fill with buttercream flavoured with 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and either raspberry, strawberry or apricot jam.

Alternative buttercream fillings

Chocolate butter cream:

75g softened butter

150g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp cocoa powder

a little milk if too stiff

Vanilla butter cream:

75g softened butter

150g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

Coffee butter cream:

75g softened butter

150g icing sugar

1 tsp instant coffee dissolved in a little boiling water

I love to cover all of my variations with the chocolate coating but you can just as easily enjoy them entirely uncovered.