Lemon Curd Jelly Roll

My parents have been watching the British Bake Off show and were very impressed by the lovely jelly roll style cakes that were on one of the episodes.  They suggested that I should try making one myself.  But it took me a while before I got around to doing that and mine wasn't quite so spectacular, though I was pleased by the result.

Eleven years ago, when I was in college, it was a tradition with me and my roommates to make "special" cakes for each other for our birthdays.  In our language, "special" meant "unusual in some way".  For example, a blue cake with cupcakes on top to make it look kind of like a domino.  And once a strawberry jelly roll which did not roll up very well.  I visited one of these old friends and because of the British Bake Off and in memory of special cakes, we decided to re-visit the jelly roll cake and see if we could do it better.  And we definitely succeeded!

Thanks to a well greased and floured pan, the cake popped right off when we took it out of the oven.  We rolled it up immediately in a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Then, we let the cake cool completely while rolled up in the towel.

Once it was cool, we unrolled it, spread our filling on top, and rolled it back up.

And there you have it: a lovely jelly roll!

It was great on its own, but how could I turn down strawberries (when they're not available in East Africa...)? 

Of course I had to make it again for my parents since they were the ones to suggest it in the first place and we enjoyed it just as well that second time!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

4 egg yolks

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. sugar

4 egg whites

1/2 c. sugar

Grease and flour a jelly roll pan.  Combine flour and baking powder.

Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.  Then, slowly add the 1/2 c. sugar and keep beating until it forms stiff peaks.  Then, separately, beat the egg yolks with the vanilla until thick.  Add the 1/3 c. sugar and beat until almost dissolved.  Then, fold the egg yolk mixture into the beaten whites.  Sprinkle flour/baking powder mixture over it and fold it gently together until combined.

Spread batter in pan and bake at 375F for 12-15 minutes, until it springs back when lightly touched.  Immediately turn cake out onto a towel sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Roll it up and let it cool on a cooling rack.

Unroll cake, spread 1/2 - 1 c. jelly/jam/filling to within 1 inch of edges and re-roll.

Lemon Curd Filling:

1/3 c. sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. lemon peel/zest

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/4 c. butter

2 beaten eggs

Combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and juice in a saucepan.  Add the butter.  Cook until thickened and bubbly.  Stir half of the mixture into the beaten eggs and then pour it back into the saucepan.  Cook and stir a couple more minutes.  Let it cool about 45 min.