Hairy Bikers' luscious lemon Swiss roll recipe
This teatime lovely features a light-as-a-feather lemon sponge, filled with lemon icing and home-made lemon curd. If you fancy a more traditional Swiss roll, flavour the sponge with half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and simply fill with raspberry jam and butter icing instead.
Home made lemon curd recipe
A perfect lemon curd with just the right amount of zing. Spread thickly on freshly buttered bread or use as a delicious filling for cakes and biscuits.
MAKES 1 JAR
100g caster sugar
2 unwaxed lemons, finely grated zest
3 lemons, freshly squeezed juice
2 large whole eggs
2 large egg yolks
75g unsalted butter cut into small cubes
Put the sugar in a heatproof bowl and stir in the lemon zest and juice. Whisk in the whole eggs and egg yolks. Drop the butter into the bowl and set over a saucepan of very gently simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water itself.
Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes until the butter melts. Use a whisk to stir the ingredients and cook for 8-10 minutes more or until the lemon curd is thickened to the consistency of custard and leaves a light trail when the whisk is lifted. It will continue to thicken in the jar, so don’t allow it to overheat or the eggs could scramble.
Pour the hot lemon curd into a warm, very clean jar and leave to cool. Cover the curd with a disc of waxed paper or baking parchment and seal with the lid. Keep the lemon curd in the fridge and use within 2 weeks.
Ingredients
- 1 Knob of butter, for greasing
- 3 Large eggs
- 115 g Caster sugar
- 4 tbsp Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
- 115 g Plain flour
- 200 g Icing sugar
- 125 g Softened butter
- 2 tbsp Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 0.5 Jar of home-made lemon curd
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Dessert
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 15 mins
- Cooking Time: 15 mins
- Serves: 8
Step-by-step
- Grease and line a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll tin with buttered baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Put the eggs, 115g of sugar and lemon zest in a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water. Whisk with an electric whisk until the mixture is pale, creamy and thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted.
- Carefully remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking for a further 5 minutes. Sift over half the flour and, using a large metal spoon, lightly fold it into the egg mixture. Sift over the remaining flour and fold in. It's important to use gentle movements to retain as much air as possible in the batter, but you'll need to watch out for pockets of flour.
- Pour the mixture slowly into the prepared tin and gently spread with a spatula, so the base of the tin is evenly covered. Bake for 10-12 minutes until well risen, pale golden brown and firm to the touch.
- Place a damp tea towel on the work surface and cover with a sheet of baking parchment. Dredge with the 4 tbsp of sugar - this will help stop the outside of the sponge sticking. Working quickly, turn the cake out onto the sugared paper and carefully remove the lining paper. Using a sharp knife, cut off the crusty edges from the 2 long sides. Roll the Swiss roll from one of the short ends, starting with a tight turn to make a good round shape and keeping the sugared paper inside the roll. Set on a wire rack and leave to cool.
- To make the icing, put the icing sugar and butter in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the lemon juice and beat again. When the cake is cold, gently unroll but do not flatten it or it could crack. Spread the cake with lemon butter icing to within 1cm of the edges. Spoon the lemon curd on top - you'll need about half the jar - and spread it evenly over the icing. Slowly roll the cake up again, enclosing the filling, and place on a plate. Sprinkle with extra sugar if you like.
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