Perfect for those hot summer days I have heard we are not going to be getting this year, however it will be strawberry season very soon and this makes the perfect summer dessert especially after a BBQ. The sponge is fatless and can be adapted in many ways so a good recipe to keep . It is perfect for unexpected guests as can be whipped up in minutes and filled with jam alone.
Beat the eggs and caster sugar in a mixer or with an electric whisk for at least 10 minutes. The mixture will triple in volume and be thick and very pale in colour.
Divide the flour into three parts and fold in the sifted flour very gently a part at a time.
Fold in the warm water.
Pour the mixture into the swiss roll tin and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Place a piece of greaseproof paper on to your work surface and sprinkle with sugar, turn out the swiss roll onto the sugared paper and remove the greaseproof paper from the back of the cooked sponge.
Cover the swiss roll with a damp tea towel and allow the swiss roll to cool.
In the meantime heat the jam in the microwave for a few seconds at a time to get a softer consistency. If necessary add a few drops of water to the jam.
Whip the double cream, it can’t be too soft or it will flop out of the swiss roll but you don’t want it too thick either.
Uncover the cooled swiss roll and spread the jam over the surface.
Cover the jam with the whipped cream leaving a small gap around the edges.
Sprinkle the chopped strawberries onto the cream.
Using the greaseproof paper to help you get a tight roll start rolling from the short sides and keep pushing the roll over until the join ends up underneath.
Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.
Notes
This is a fatless sponge which is very versatile, using only jam it becomes a dairy free recipe, it can be filled with lemon curd, chocolate spread etc etc..
If filling with jam or similar this can be done more or less straight away once the swiss roll is cool enough to handle. You then have a lovely warm jam filled swiss roll!
We don’t tend to have crisps or savoury snacks in the house very often, I am not an advocate of bags of crisps in packed lunches, but I do believe in ‘everything in moderation’. All too often I have seen children deprived of something then go completely over the top when faced with a biscuit or a chocolate snack so I am always on the look out for different snacks for treats and was very happy to try out Walker’s Hoops and Crosses; baked corn snacks in the shape of noughts and crosses.
Each pack contains 85 kcal, 3.8g of fat, of which 0.3g saturates. The salt content per bag is 0.27g, protein 1.3 g and fibre 1.1g. The snacks are a source of wholegrain and do not contain any artificial preservatives or colourings. They are suitable for vegetarians and come in three flavours; Roast Beef, Prawn Cocktail and Salt and Vinegar.
We were sent a bag of Roast Beef flavour Hoops and Crosses, not a flavour I would usually buy and I didn’t think I would like them, and I certainly didn’t think the children would. M had a few friends round for tea last week so I thought I would test them out on these little people ages ranging from 5- 10 years of age…plus me. Verdict: Overall they loved them, four out of the five children couldn’t get enough of them although I thought there was actually a generous amount to go around five children in just one packet and I too was very pleasantly surprised, I really liked them. One child didn’t like them but then he is really fussy about crisps in general anyway (my child I hasten to add)
These snacks are definitely something I would buy for picnics and occasional treats, and I will even be buying this flavour again as it was such a hit with the children. I am happy with the calorie and salt content and would recommend Walkers Baked Hoops and Crosses for the occasional treat.
Disclosure : I have been remunerated for this review but it has not changed or affected my opinions.
Someone pointed out the other day that we must have a birthday here nearly every month, in actual fact it is only five months of the year, each child having their own special birthday month but it does however amount to a lot of birthday cake. My poor second boy who has coeliac disease has been having trouble with dairy products too so this was the first year that I have had to make a gluten and dairy free cake. It’s very simple recipe though with no special expensive ingredients or flash techniques so I thought I would share in case anyone else would like to use the recipe. Of course if you don’t want to make this gluten or dairy free use normal self raising flour and butter or margarine.
5.0 from 1 reviews
Celebration Cake- Gluten & Dairy Free (if you want)
4 duck eggs , you can use hens eggs but duck eggs are good for gluten free baking
1 tsp gluten free baking baking
1 tsp vanilla extract
120 ml dairy free milk, I use almond milk
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/ Gas mark 4 / 160º Fan oven
Grease and line two traybake tins (or do one half at a time) 30″X 23″ tin in size
I use an all in one method, so put all the ingredients into a food processor or mixer and beat for at least two minutes making sure you scrape down the bowl at least once to ensure everything gets mixed in.
Divide the mixture into two and pour into each traybake tin.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes until the cakes are cooked, when you insert a skewer in the middle it should come out clean.
Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. This cake is very moist and soft so care must be taken when doing this.
Once cold the cakes can be sandwiched together with dairy free buttercream; make with dairy free margarine, icing sugar, vanilla extract and a few drops of water, and add a layer of jam before sandwiching them together.
Decorate with ready to roll sugarpaste icing. You will need about 1kg to cover a cake this size.
Use any offcuts to decorate the cake to your heart’s content.
Notes
Gluten and dairy free cake which can be halved if you want something smaller and the ingredients can be changed to make this with gluten and dairy containing ingredients
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