Lemon Curd Swiss Roll

My lemon curd swiss roll with fresh cream is a completely yummy and refreshing pudding. You must make the effort to make your lemon curd from scratch - it's so easy to do and so much nicer than lemon curd from a jar. It's very easy to eat more than one slice of this cake in one sitting...

You can freeze this sponge for up to 3 months. Just wrap it tightly in baking paper, then cling film. Defrost it thoroughly before serving in thick slices.


Ingredients

For the sponge
80g white chocolate
4 large eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp vanilla essence
100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
75g self-raising flour

For the lemon curd
75g caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 eggs
50g unsalted butter

For the filling
80g white chocolate
300ml double or whipping cream

For the decoration
40g white chocolate
lemon zest

Preheat your oven to 180°C or fan oven 160°C. Line a 24cm x 35cm swiss roll tin with baking paper, making sure to leave some overlap at each end so that you can lift it out of the tin afterwards.

First melt the white chocolate in a small bowl then set aside to cool a little. In a large glass bowl, crack in the eggs and add the almond essence and sugar. You will need to whisk it for about 10 minutes until it is thick and pale. It should triple in volume. Using a metal spoon gently fold in the melted white chocolate, then fold in the flour.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, keeping the bowl close to the tin as you pour so as to not lose any air bubbles. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and spongy to touch.

Whilst it is baking, place a large sheet of baking paper onto your work surface and dust generously with caster sugar.

Remove the cooked sponge from the oven and quickly tip it out onto the sugared paper. Carefully peel the paper off the base of the sponge. If the edges are a little brown, hard, or uneven, just slice them off. Loosely roll the sponge up with the sugared paper, then leave it to cool rolled up.

Whilst the sponge is cooling, make the lemon curd. In a bowl, thoroughly whisk the eggs with the lemon juice until no lumps of egg white remain. Pour in the sugar and lemon zest. Cut the butter up into small cubes and add to the bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, stirring occasionally for about 20minutes until thickened.

To make the cream filling, first melt the chocolate. In a large bowl whip the cream with the vanilla until thickened. Fold in the melted chocolate.

Now for the assembly. Unroll the sponge and spread over the cream, then spread over the lemon curd. Now roll up the sponge. You can use the paper to help you to roll it tightly.

Melt the remaining white chocolate and drizzle over the top of the sponge. Decorate with grated lemon zest and maybe a slice of lemon.

Chill in the fridge, serve in thick slices.