Food logger

Wendy Barrie is director of the award-winning Scottih Food Guide.

Roll out the jam and cream

Thank goodness for sunshine and lighter days – we all deserve a break! Talking of which, while many of you are now creating fabulous brioches and advanced sugarcraft, some dishes are best left simple. A whisked sponge is one such recipe. I recall when my children were at primary my son brought home a friend for tea, so I baked a Swiss roll with jam and cream. Our wee visitor’s eyes were like saucers as he said, if I come back tomorrow will it be ready? To which I replied, come back in 10 minutes! A fresh whisked sponge brings joy to the family and satisfaction to the cook in equal measures.

Easter lemon curd roulade

Don’t think for one moment I only bake roulades but for a quick fun fix, what better than chocolate log for Christmas, lemon curd for Easter and strawberries for midsummer? When making this sponge, I highly recommend the ultimate homemade lemon curd from Paul Newman at Errichel, available online.

Serves 8-10. Ingredients: 4 free range eggs, 100g soft brown sugar, 100g plain flour, For filling: 300mls double cream and 3 tbsps Thyme at Errichel Lemon Curd, For decoration: leftover filling and lemon zest.

Method: Pre-heat oven 180°C. Line a large Swiss roll tin with baking parchment. Whisk eggs and sugar in a bowl, until very thick pale and creamy.

Sieve the flour over the foamy mix and gently fold in using a spatula, taking care to retain as much air as possible. Pour into tin and bake for 12 minutes until well risen and set. Invert sponge on to a parchment lined chopping board. Peel off the underside paper and trim sponge edges with a sharp knife. To ease rolling, mark the edge you intend to roll from lightly with the knife.

Place a third sheet of parchment on top of the cake and roll up (empty apart from the paper) into its finished shape. Set aside, allowing the cake to mould into a roll. Whip cream until sufficiently firm to hold its shape then fold in the lemon curd.

When the cake is cold, unroll, removing the paper liners. Spread with filling and re-roll. Set on serving dish with join underneath.Decorate with a dusting of icing sugar, a little reserved lemon cream and lemon zest.

Lemon curd cake.