Swiss roll bliss
With the success of this humble yet untried (by me) recipe, I get to mark yet another food-to-try off my list!
The humble sponge roulade - otherwise known as a swiss or jam roll. It seems simple enough, nay, in it’s barest of forms it almost seems a bit plain-jane or boring! Nonetheless, I had put it down in my diary as another one of those recipes to try.
The reason I wanted to try making one of these is that I have only eaten them once in my life - just once, when my mother tried making it when I was a little kid. I was only about 8 years old and the fact that ma had rolled this cake up seemed absolutely magical to me. As soon as the jam inside had set, she cut me a slice from the still warm cake, and I still remember staring at the swirl of ruby-red jam encased in the soft, fluffy cake.
And then, for reasons unbeknownst to both my mother and myself, I proceeded to smush it into a mountain of sticky, jammy cake before devouring every crumb.
Kids do the darndest things!
At any rate, whether it was the memory of my destruction of her masterpiece that meant she would never make this again I’ll never know, the only thing I can say for sure is that the memory of that pillow-like cake was stored lovingly in my brain, hopeful that one day I’d get to taste it once again.
As the years passed, my hopes of my dear mother making this slowly vanished, as the baking duties had fallen onto my shoulders (I made my first cake all by myself at the age of 10!), it looked unlikely that my mother would ever recreate this swirly dessert of goodness again.
Many times before on this blog, I have trumpeted on about the marvels that is ‘The Cook’s Book‘ - and guess what! I’m about to do it again! When I purchased it and did the cursory flick-through, I was delighted to see a recipe for a jam roulade, but felt hesitation about giving it a try. Would it live up to the memory, which had been polished so much by the passing of time that it now glowed like a beacon in the darkness? Would it crush that fond recollection, like the time I rewatched an episode from the original Chronicles of Narnia tv series as an adult (Lucy, I hate you.)
This year, I decided that it was about time to find out! So, I pulled out my book, all the requisite ingredients and set myself a-stirring! The result was beautiful, a light-as-air sponge only just cooked and beautifully soft to the touch, and combined with the sweet strawberry jam and freshly whipped cream, a deliciously simple dessert which made me pretty happy. BUT - the question remains…did it live up to my expectations? Well, the answer would be no, but that’s hardly a surprise considering the fact that the memory was built around an experience I had as an 8yo little girl trying something for the very first time! Don’t let this put you off, it’s still a delightful cake to have on a sunny Satuday afternoon, especially with that freshly whipped cream 
Strawberry Sponge Roulade (adapted from The Cook’s Book)
Ingredients
50g all-purpose flour
55g potato starch, sifted
100g egg yolks (approx. from 5 medium-sized eggs)
115g egg whites (approx. from 4 medium-sized eggs)
2 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
Grated zest from 1/2 lemon
75g caster sugar
Icing sugar, for dusting
150g raspberry jam, strained and warmed
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and line a 40cm x 28cm baking tray with baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk together the egg yolks, vanilla paste and 2 tsp caster sugar till the mixture is light, pale, creamy and falls in ribbons. Stir in the lemon zest and set aside.
3. In a clean, dry bowl whisk together the egg whites, 75g caster sugar, 30g of potato starch and a pinch of salt till the mixture is white and creamy and forms soft peaks, and is at least doubled in volume.
4. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in 1/3 of the egg egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture and gently mix together to lighten. Then, fold this mixture into the remaining egg whites - be sure to do this carefully to not lose any air. Once this is folded together, fold in remaining 25g potato starch and all-purpose flour, being gentle as to not knock out any air.
5. Empty the mixture onto the lined baking tray and spread lightly to within 2cm of the edges of the tin. Bake for approx. 10-15 minutes, till lightly golden and springy to the touch.
6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the surface with caster sugar, cover with a clean sheet of baking paper and turn the roulade out onto a clean tea towel. Gently peel away the baking paper it was baked on, then spread the warmed jam on to within 2cm of all edges. Support the roulade with the paper underneath and begin to roll with slight pressure.
7. Lay the roulade with the seam down, and use a ruler or knife to fold over the parchment and tuck just under the seam, holding it in place. Leave it for a few minutes to set, then remove the paper and refrigerate for 1-2 hrs.
8. Once the cake is cooled and the jam completely set, remove from the fridge, trim the untidy ends (lop off about 3cm at each end) and serve with freshly whipped cream. 
I found that I really quite enjoyed eating then by cutting myself a 1cm thick slice from the end, and lathering it with the cream before biting into it’s fluffy heavenliness 
Note, pictures don’t do the recipe justice as I didn’t have a baking tray big enough, so the sponge ended up being a bit too thick - but it was still delicious!
Technorati Tags: roulade, souffle, sponge, cake, baking, recipe, dessert
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Comments
sue I haven’t had that cake for so long. Looks sweet! I hated the fact that as I was growing my mom also stopped making me cookies or sweet pancakes. I still remember the taste though.
Mandi It looks good, Ellie. I hate when that happens and stuff you loved as a kid just isn’t as good when you try it again - is it that it’s not as good or that is just doesn’t live up to the memory. My Nan’s chocolate cake was the epitome of perfection as a kid, as an adult it’s not really that good and not something I’d make for company (I fear I will be struck by lightening for that comment !)
PS I hated Lucy too!
Tanna It looks magically beautiful Ellie. Those childhood memories are so difficult to match!
gattina Ellie, Your first swiss-roll?! You’re super! It’s really not an easy cake.
My mom doesn’t bake, but she bought (now still) those big fat swiss rolls filled with fatty buttercream from asian bakeries. That cake layer’s as thick as a book, don’t know how the bakers can manage!
Brilynn Looks great! Despite the fact that I know I’ll fail, I try to recreate childhood memories anyways, but it just can’t be done.
Patricia Scarpin Ellie,
This roulade looks awesome!
My husband doesn’t like cakes but he LOVES jelly rolls - how weird is that?
I think I’ll make one for him next weekend and your recipe would be great to be used.
by the way, try filling this roulade with dulce de leche sometime, you’ll love it!
Lisa I’ve never had this kind of rolled cake before. Yours looks lovely - the perfect light dessert for a warm summer evening. I’m glad you tried it - you’ve introduced me to something new.
Ellie Rachel - When I first started rolling this it cracked all over the place, but by the time it got to the last 1/3 of the sheet it was fat enough that there were no cracks to worry about
Sue - Aren’t those childhood food memories great?
Mandi - Ahhh, I guess any memory that old is hard to live up to And how annoying was Lucy? Argh! Hope you didn’t get struck by lightning 
Tanna - Aww thanks hon
Gattina - Ohhh, I’ll try filling them with cream as well next time
Brilynn - Ah well, you never know, one day we might be able to recreate that magic
Kat - cheers doll
Ari - LOL, tell me about it I just don’t want to think about all the calories I’m consuming
Patricia - Hehehe, we all have our own quirky likes and dislikes! I’ve heard of this dulce de leche but have never come across it before here in Australia!
DrReb - Cheers
Lisa - Hehehe, my pleasure hon!
Paz - Thanks hon
Patricia Scarpin Dear Ellie,
If you ever want to give dulce de leche a try - and I think you should - David shows you how to make it at home:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/11/dulce_de_lechec.html
I hope you like it!
gilly I love it! I’ve been wanting to try a swiss roll/roulade for some time now, but for some reason I just never seem to get around to it. Time to re-arrange my priorities, missy!
Ellie Patricia - Ooo, I’ll have to give that a try Thanks for the link!
Gilly - I know how you feel, and as many new recipes as I try, it seems like the list does nothing but continue to get longer!
Janelle - I definitely wouldn’t recommend that you use rye flour in this recipe as rye flour is much heavier than regular wheat all-purpose flour, and this is meant to be a very soft and airy sponge. Perhaps a dense fruit loaf or savory bread for your competition?
It looks so pretty! I am always scared to make a roll incase I’d break it!