I love baking, and if you know me well you know that usually baked goods practically flow out of me. My work used to get plenty of my latest bakes, and so did Stu’s. I even made my own wedding cakes (120 cupcakes, because planning a wedding isn’t hard enough!). Since having Oliver I haven’t been able to bake as often as I would like, but now he’s started napping longer I now have a good amount of time to bake alone without a baby climbing up my leg and crying at me for attention!
With the Great British Bake Off back on TV I have been busy baking, trying out the weekly challenges or just making some of my favourites. Stuart insists every week we have to have some sweet goods to accompany our viewing, as it just makes us hungry! I made the Jaffa Cakes and Viennese Whirls from the challenges, both were equally delicious, and this week I thought I would make a lemon Swiss roll (as last weeks theme was botanicals!). I haven’t made a Swiss roll in about 10 years, I think the last time was in a food tech class at school, I perfected my recipe and then went on to make my family Swiss rolls for several weeks after (I heard no complaints!) and then it was forgotten to the traybakes, cupcakes and the many other things I enjoy to bake. I love a Swiss roll, when I’m feeling lazy I buy myself one from M&S (the coffee is my favourite, I might have to try to make one of them!), but this week I thought no! I will make one myself!
I thought I should share this recipe, as it is SO quick and easy to make and I always think a homemade Swiss Roll looks really impressive to visitors (and it’s fat free!)
The ingredients are:
- 75g caster sugar
- 75g self raising flour
- 3 eggs
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Lemon curd (homemade or shop bought!) I used about 5 tbsp.
1. Preheat oven to 220C, grease and line a rectangular Swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until they become light and fluffy, the mixture should double in size and when removing the whisk you should be able to see the trail it leaves behind.
3. Sieve the flour into the mixture, I add in about 25g at a time and then gently fold it in, being careful not to remove the air. Add in the lemon zest.
4. Pour the mixture into the lined tray, making sure the mixture is evenly spread and right up to the edges and into the corners.
5. Place in the oven for about 6-10 minutes, keep an eye on it, when it becomes a golden brown colour it should be ready to remove.
6. Whilst cooking, cut a piece of greasepoof paper the size of the tin out and sprinkle with caster sugar.
7. When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and immediately flip it onto the sugar coated greaseproof paper. Remove the tin and carefully peel the greaseproof paper that was lining the tin from the back of the cake to let it cool.
8. Slice the edge off of each side with a sharp knife to give it a nice finish and then indent the cake about an inch in, on one of the shorter edges, to make it easier to roll.
9. Once it has cooled, spread the lemon curd over the cake. Roll from the end with the indentation.
And Voila! The cake is complete! Now to the most difficult task, making sure you don’t eat it all in one go….
Yummmy