Perfect Swiss Roll

 This is a sure fire recipe from the infamous Fanny Cradock that my family have relied on since the 1970s.

Anyone over 40 will remember Fanny in her evening gown and opera gloves knocking up a dinner party for four, while Johnny lurked in the background waiting to be barked at. Wonderful stuff.
If you follow her instruction to the letter, you get a perfect swiss roll every time with no cracks. It can be spread with jam and rolled straight from the oven, or left flat to go cold and spread with butter cream before rolling, and as long as it is set on some lightly floured baking paper it won’t stick to and spoil it’s lovely complexion.

First pre-heat your oven to 205C. And prepare a swiss roll tin 10 x 14 inches by cutting a piece of baking paper to fit the bottom of the tin and oiling it with a flavourless cooking oil.

Ingredients
4oz caster sugar
3 medium eggs
2 1/2 oz self raising flour

Jam, butter cream, fresh cream or any combination for the filling works well.

Method
Place the sugar in a heat proof plate and warm it in the oven for exactly 6 minutes.
While waiting for the sugar to warm, break 3 eggs into a roomy bowl and get an electric whisk ready to go. 
At the strike of 6 minutes, shoot the sugar into the eggs and start whisking. Keep going until the mixture is glossy, the consistency of whipped cream, and there are no large bubbles visible at the edge of the bowl. It takes about 5 minutes.
Sift in the flour and stir through until no lumps remain.
Pour the mixture into the tin and spread it as evenly as you can.
Now bake it for EXACTLY 8 minutes . (Fanny was a stickler and would scold you mercilessly if you get this bit wrong!)
What you should end up with is a lightly golden pliable sponge.
Prepare another piece of baking paper with a scattering of flour to tip out your cake onto. Loosen the edges of the sponge with a knife and then tip it out, narrow end facing you.
Cut round all the edges to get rid of the crispy bits leaving a nice rectangular soft sponge.
Spread with jam and roll immediately, or leave it until cold if you want to ad a filling that would melt.

This one has damson jam and whipped cream.








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