Wednesday 2 June 2010

Lemon Curd and Blueberry Swiss Roll


This is my very first swiss roll. I can't say it went perfectly (see massive fissure) or I don't have several things to improve for next time, but I'm a little infatuated with the process. The cake, rolled and wrapped in a tea towel, was warm and almost alive to the touch as it cooled.  I wanted to start again the moment I finished this one.

Unfortunately, time is becoming a bit of a precious commodity. I went down to Summer Eights this weekend and spent far too much of the day thinking of the work I had sitting at home and the blog post I wanted to write (Nutella has a way of talking over my mind like that). It was a different day to last year in many ways - most obviously in that I wasn't rowing and it was dark, gloomy and rainy.


As this term comes into the last few weeks, life is getting a little bit more complicated every day. Not only do we have the impending doom of our portfolio exam that starts on Tuesday, but we're having a lot of meetings and emails about next year. It's all very exciting, but the work is piling up. Even my excitement about cooking and blogging seems to take up more time and energy as every day passes.  It really feels like I'm on a treadmill and the speed is slowly but surely being turned up.

I have so many things I want to do this summer other than work and reading - and that's before I've had some time to just be. To just walk in the sunshine, laze with some unsuitable literature, bake up a storm.



Time seems to slip by so quickly. I turn 21 next Thursday. I can't believe it. Am I really a proper adult?

This term - this year - has gone by in a flash. It feels like I will graduate before I know it - it's less than a year now. The finalists finished last week. Then I will be free to pursue my dreams - a simultaneously terrifying and unbelievably exciting thought.


A few weeks ago I bought myself a swiss roll/roulade tin. I've always wanted one and finally I gave in and bought a beautiful Alan Silverwood one. The first recipe to grace its shiny silver shape came from Delicious. magazine.


To fill the plain swiss roll sponge, I decided to go for lemon curd and a sticky blueberry compote I made from frozen berries. I have a bit of a love affair with fresh homemade lemon curd (my first post was even about a Lemon Curd Layer Cake...) and it seemed like a lovely spring/summer filling. I actually bought some fresh blueberries for this (more on those soon...) but ended up deciding to go for a stickier, darker, frozen berry mixture. It just seemed right. The taste/texture combination worked really well (and looked very pretty). The cake was a little dry and overpowering, despite being sticky - maybe it just needed more filling, or to be a thinner cake.

I'm fairly sure the roll cracked as I unrolled it to fill it because it was so incredibly sticky - it was totally adhered to the greaseproof paper despite plenty of loose caster sugar. Another time I would go a little overboard on the dusting - and I might try a different recipe to see how it goes. The recipe did state that you should simply fill with jam and roll up - not roll up, cool, and then fill. Perhaps this is because it cracks if you try! I didn't want to heat up the curd by putting it in the sponge early on, but perhaps if you left it to cool for a bit it would be fine. I've put the recipe below in the original - i.e. filling as you go.



Lemon Curd and Blueberry Swiss Roll

Edit: I now use this swiss roll recipe (includes how-to videos) and this lemon curd recipe.

6 comments:

  1. You should definitely be able to roll up the swiss roll with nothing in it, leave it to cool and then fill it, without anything more than some minor cracks. Most standard swiss roll recipes for doing thing the same way you did. Maybe try a different recipe next time, I've never had any problem with swiss rolls, but they're something I very rarely make.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy early birthday! I hope you are enjoying your life and study to the most :-) Baking might be the next :-)

    For this swiss roll, I just love it when the filling is blueberry and lemon curd. Simply looks tempting and scrumptious :-)

    Sawadee from Bangkok,
    Kris

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks perfect for summer. Lemon nd blueberry goes so well together. I always make my swiss roll then fill it before rolling, but I do still get cracks! Not sure what is the best way to be honest!
    I hope you don't feel too stressed with everything you want to do. I often feel inundated with things that I want to do but can't find the time for. Good luck with your end of term exam too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh wow i bet the flavour combination in this was just delicious mm!

    ReplyDelete
  5. oh pooo on the roll. They are always so tricky! Those filling flavors look good though!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That looks great - just remember its the imperfections that make it beautiful. I've never attempted a swiss roll but this looks so good you may have just tempted me to have a crack at one ;0)

    ReplyDelete

If you would like to leave a comment or question, please do - I appreciate every one and will reply as soon as possible.

ShareThis