orange zest swiss roll

… there’s been a bit of a hoohah in the local village.  This year, as regular as clockwork the Aby Village Show will take place on the 16th August and this year, as regular as clockwork the locals of Aby and Belleau have eagerly awaited the arrival of the little paper pamphlet that gets hand delivered through their doors but this year, not quite like clockwork, an audible gasp of consternation and surprise could be heard from the good folk of these two small villages of the Lincolnshire Wolds… you see as they turned the double-sided, folded to A5 printed sheet to discover which of their favourites they’d be baking they noticed that gone was the Victoria Sponge!… Gone was the fruit pie and GONE… dear reader… gone was the scone… I realise this is an act of unthinkable disaster but it is the sad truth.  In an effort to be more ‘down with the kids,’ the powers that be (Ann from number 6) have shaken things up a bit.  Quite honestly they’ve barely strayed from the path with this one and added the classic Swiss Roll and Bakewell Tart to the category list instead… all though quite frankly how they can take the beloved scone from the proceedings is beyond my… utterly beyond.

orange zest swiss roll
this is an absolute classic with a teeny twist in that i’ve added a dash of orange blossom water and some orange zest to the mix… other than that this is pretty much how it should be.  Some recipes call for a layer of cream or butter cream but the rules are the rules and i’m informed by the pamphlet that this should be a Swiss Roll with jam filling.  End of.  Wether it’s a winner will remain to be seen…

125g golden caster sugar plus extra to dust
3 large free-range eggs
125g plain flour plus extra to dust
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
the zest of one orange
½ jar of strawberry or raspberry jam

pre-heat the oven to 200C. Lightly brush the base of a 33cm x 23cm Swiss Roll tin with vegetable oil. Cut a sheet of greaseproof paper to fit the base of the tin exactly. Brush the paper with a little more oil, then dust with a mixture of caster sugar and flour.

put the sugar and eggs into a large bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk for 10 minutes, until pale and thick.

sift half the flour into the mixture and fold in very carefully until no traces of flour are left. Repeat with the remaining flour. Fold in a few drops of orange blossom water and the orange zest.

gently pour the mixture into the prepared tin and use a spatula to smooth it evenly into the corners.

bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and risen and just firm to the touch then set aside.

lay out a damp tea towel on the work surface and lay a piece of greaseproof paper on top. Dust the greaseproof paper with caster sugar. Run a knife around the edge of the warm sponge and turn it out on to the sugar-dusted paper and then peel the paper off the back of the sponge.

ensure the jam is easy to spread by stirring it vigorously with a spoon and then pour it out onto the sponge and spread out evenly, leaving a little border of clean sponge all around.

make an incision about 1cm in from the short edge near you, being careful not to cut through the cake – this makes it easier to roll up and then start rolling, using the incision to help you make the first turn. Use the paper and tea towel to help you roll tightly.

once rolled wrap it in the paper and tea towel and lay it seam-side down until cold.

trim the ends before serving…

eat and of course, enjoy!