Ingredients / Shopping List
3 large eggs100g caster sugar100g plain flourZest of 1 lemon2 tablespoons lemon curd50g Icing sugarLemon juiceLemon slices for decoration
3 large eggs
100g caster sugar
100g plain flour
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon curd
50g Icing sugar
Lemon juice
Lemon slices for decoration
Prep to Cook: Swiss roll tray, non-stick baking parchment, hand-held mixer, mixing bowl, spatula, sieve, tablespoon, knife, sheet non-stick parchment, caster sugar shaker.
Oven: 200ºC or Gas Mark 6
Prep: Line the swiss roll tray with a sheet of non-stick parchment
Break the eggs into the mixing bowl
Add the caster sugar
Whisk with the hand-held mixer on high for about 3 minutes
Check you have about half a bowl of thick frothy eggy mixture
Carefully sift the flour over the eggs
Gently fold in the flour
Pour it into the prepared cooking tray.
Tilt the tray to allow the mixture to spread to the corners of the tin. Do not spread it.
Cook for 12 -14 minutes until risen and golden and bouncy
Immediately tip out onto a sugared piece of non-stick paper
Trim off all the edges.
Spread the cake with lemon curd
Roll from one end to the other and stop when the end is trapped underneath
Move onto the serving plate
Mix icing sugar with boiled water and a drop of lemon juice
Drizzle it over the roll and decorate with fresh lemons
Lemon roll makes a good cake but also a light dessert if you serve a slice with fresh mango and ice-cream or sorbet. Although high in sugar this cake is very low in fat.
Cooks Know How: Lemon swiss roll is made using the ’whisking method.’ It relies on the incorporation of air into the eggs to make it rise. The eggs must be whisked until they are pale, thick and frothy. Sift the flour gently over the top of the froth and fold it in carefully and lightly. The aim is not to reduce the volume by damaging the bubbly foam. Cooking makes the air bubbles expand before the proteins in the eggs set or coagulate. The flour protein, gluten, also helps set the cake. The starch in the flour aids the stabilising of the egg foam as it cooks. Finally the caster sugar caramelises in the oven and turns the cake golden brown. The cake has no added fat ingredient and because of that it does not keep well. It should be eaten on the day it is made.