Swiss Roll

Home baking a swiss roll always makes me think of The Great British Bake Off - contestants trying to get a tight roll and avoid cracking the sponge. I was nervous to tackle this iconic bake.

No butter in this bake - but more eggs than usual.

Usually sponges require some beating of butter and sugar, but as a swiss roll has no butter, we start by whisking the eggs and sugar over boiling water instead. I wasn't sure how this would turn out (esp a plastic bowl balancing on a saucepan) but after 15minutes of continuous mixing, the eggy mixture turned deliciously creamy and thick.

Folding in the sieved flour, salt and baking powder was basic enough, before pouring into my hacked 'swiss roll tin.' I don't own a swiss roll tin, but I figured a silicone tray with a lip would be useful as a rolling implement straight out the oven. Problem was that it was too wide. Some rolled up foil served as my new lip.

Because the cake is so thin and flat, it only needs 10minutes in the oven, and I even think that was too long for my bake. It rose unevenly with ugly bubbles everywhere which was annoying. And the edges were very crispy despite turning the bake halfway.

We had an abundance of lemon curd in the fridge, so I opted to use that instead of buying jam. It didn't require heating to spread either. But the downside was that I was not very fast in my spreading of the curd.

I should have chopped off the crusty edges and rolled immediately - then unrolled and added jam. By phfaffing about I ended up with a cracked cake.

Worst still - I made the swiss roll right before having to pop out for a bit. Because it was all still warm, I left it uncovered to cool, but my trip outside took longer than expected and by the time I got home, the whole cake had been exposed to too much air and had begun to go stale. I couldn't even share it with anyone the following day as the thin cake was stale and crunchy throughout. Boo!!

Swiss Roll

butter or oil for greasing

3 eggs

75g caster sugar

75g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

approx 60ml/4 tbsp jam for filling (I used lemon curd)

caster sugar for dusting

Line and grease a 30 x 20cm Swiss roll tin (I used a silicone tray with rolled up foil to create an edge.) Set the coven at 220C/gas 7.

Combine the eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water, taking care that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Whisk for 10-15minutes until thick and creamy, then remove the pan. Continue whisking until the mixture is cold.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, then lightly fold into the egg mixture. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 10minutes. Meanwhile warm the jam (if using) in a small saucepan.

When the cake is cooked, turn it onto a large sheet of greaseproof paper dusted with caster sugar. Peel off the lining, trim off any crisp edges. Spread the cake with the warmed jam (or lemon curd) and roll up tightly from one long edge. Dredge with caster sugar and place on a wire rack with the join underneath to cool.