Swiss Roll

Swiss Roll

Ingredients

• 3 eggs (at room temperature) 
• 75g caster sugar
• 75g plain flour

Filling

• Choose your favourite jam, like strawberry or raspberry, or use some lemon curd for a tangy lemon twist on the classic swiss roll. 
• 200ml double cream, whipped

a 20x30cm swiss roll tin greased and lined with greaseproof paper.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. Put the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until the mixture is very thick and pale. This takes some patience and some strength if you're doing it by hand! You'll need to whisk for at least 5mins. When lifting out the whisk, the mix should leave a distinct, ribbon-like trail as it falls back into the bowl.
3. Sift the flour into a separate bowl, and then sift half of the sifted flour into the egg and sugar mix. You are trying to get lots of air into the mix, hence the double sifting.
4. Use a large, preferably metal spoon to fold the flour into the egg. Again, you're trying to keep all that air in the mix so don't beat it all out!
5. Sieve and fold in the rest of the flour and combine, making sure there are no floury streaks hiding anywhere.
6. Pour the mix onto the lined tray and spread evenly.
7. Bake for 9-10 mins or until golden and springy to touch. 
8. Lay another piece of greaseproof paper on the counter and sprinkle with some caster sugar. 
9. As soon as you take the sponge out of the oven transfer it onto the sugary paper. I find the easiest way is to flip the tray over onto the paper and then lift it off. Remember the tray will be super hot so be careful! This will coat the sponge with sugar adding a slight crunch to your roll.
10. Peel of the paper and then make a shallow cut about 2cms in from one of the shorter ends of the sponge. This little cut will help with the folding but not if you cut all the way through!
11. Gently roll up the sponge from the end you cut and set on a cooling rack to cool completely. Rolling it unfilled when still warm helps the sponge stay neatly rolled without cracking.  
12. Once the sponge is completely cool you can unroll it and fill it with jam and whipped cream. Then gently reroll the sponge and you have a swiss roll! If you are a perfectionist you can trim the ends of the roll to make it slightly neater. 

If your sponge does crack don't panic, rolling sponge is always going to be risky! It will still taste delicious.

Good luck and have fun 

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