Wimbledon and Eton Mess Swiss Roll
I have been completely glued to Wimbledon over the past couple of weeks, it has been a really good year - I can’t think about Wimbledon without thinking about strawberries and cream. So this weeks inspiration comes in the form of Swiss Roll, partly to honour the glorious strawberry, but also I am backing Roger Federer in the final…and he is Swiss!
A Swiss Roll has no fats in, by this I mean no butter or oil. It gets it’s lovely even rise and bouncy texture from whipped eggs and sugar and as it is so light it can handle a packed rich filling; in this case, strawberries, double cream, jam and meringue.
Eton Mess Swiss Roll
125 g plain flour, sifted
4 eggs
125 g caster sugar, plus 3 tbsp for sprinkling (or use icing sugar for dusting
2 tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 tbsp of jam (flavour of your choice) I opted for raspberry.
400ml double cream, whipped
half a punnet of fresh strawberries, diced
1 tbsp icing sugar for dusting
Preheat over to 180ºC and grease and line a 25cm x 38cm baking tin with greaseproof paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and caster sugar for 10 minutes (unless you have very strong arms, you will need an electric mixer for this job!)
Pour in the warm water and vanilla extract whilst it’s whisking and beat for a further minute.
Place a third of the flour into the egg mixture and fold gently through using a large metal spoon, go gently as you want to keep as much air in as possible to keep the sponge light. Follow this step again twice more, placing a third of the flour in at a time.
Gently pour the mixture into the prepared tin and tilt the tin to allow the mixture to edge itself in to the corners.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Meanwhile, cut a piece of greaseproof paper slightly larger than the baking tin and sprinkle with caster sugar. Once the sponge is baked, gently turn it out onto the sugared paper and cover with a tea towel to leave it to cool.
Once cooled, use a serrated knife to cut an indent vertically down an inch from the end (see image with jam spread), don’t cut through the sponge, it is just to make a crease that will allow the sponge to roll easier.
Spread the entire surface with jam and then the double cream, then scatter over the crushed meringue and finally the diced strawberries
Starting at the end you made the indentation, fold the edge of the sponge over on itself and then using the greaseproof paper underneath, lift it up to keep the sponge rolling (you are rolling from short end to short end) until you finally reach the end and roll the sponge so that it sits over the final seam.
As it is fresh cream, it will need to be kept in the fridge and eaten within a couple of days - but I am sure that won’t be a problem once you get started!
So all that’s left to say is ‘Good luck Roger Federer’ for the final and I hope you all enjoy making this summery classic.
