Here’s another easy recipe for a cake that doesn’t need much time to prepare and can be on the coffee table in just over an hour. Making a Swiss roll really isn’t complicated at all and you don’t even need a cake tin, just a baking tray. Once you have mastered the ‘art of the roll’, your options are pretty much endless. I prefer the classic fruit/whipped cream combinations; a couple of weeks ago I made a strawberry cream roll for a birthday and this weekend I decided on one with raspberries and a little kick curtsey of Chambord. But you can also use a butter cream filling – chocolate, lemon, toffee, vanilla, coffee or a mascarpone mix with clementines or cherries, or what about a home made jam? And the decoration of your Swiss roll can be as complicated or, as in my case, simple as you want and time or talent permit. Whatever you decide on, your guests will be impressed.

You need:

• 5 eggs (from the fridge)
• 100g white sugar, plus a bit extra for later
• 75g white flour
• 30g cornstarch
• a pinch of baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 300g raspberries
• 400ml whipping cream
• 2 packs or to tablespoons vanilla sugar
• a shot glass of Chambord or any other raspberry liqueur
• white chocolate sprinkles

Preheat oven to 200C, 180C if it’s a fan oven.

Separate the egg yolks from the egg white. Beat the egg whites (it really works much better when they are cold) with a pinch of salt and, just before they are stiff, add ¾ of the sugar. Cream the egg yolk with the rest of the sugar and add flour, cornstarch and baking powder in another bowl. If the cake mix is a little bit too dry, add another egg yolk. Now combine the beaten egg white and the flour mix very carefully.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment and spread the cake mix evenly on it and bake for approx. 10 minutes in the pre-heated oven until golden in colour.

Spread a clean wet dish towel on a table or work surface and sprinkle the towel with regular caster sugar. Lay the cake with the baking parchment on top on the towel and remove the paper very carefully. Then roll the towel with the still hot cake up and leave to cool. This will ensure the cake doesn’t dry out and won’t break up when you fill it.

Whip half of the cream with the vanilla sugar in one bowl and mash up about half of the raspberries in another. Fold the pureed berries into the cream.

When the cake is cold to the touch unroll it and remove the dish towel. Sprinkle the Chambord liqueur all over the cake and spread the raspberry cream over it, but not right up to the edges, leave about 1 – 1 ½ cm. Sprinkle about half of the rest of the whole raspberries over the cream and roll the cake back up again.

Now whip the other half of the whipping cream until it is firm and spread it all over your Swiss roll. If you like it sweet, add a tablespoon of sugar or more vanilla sugar to the cream.

Decorate your cake with the rest of the raspberries and white (or dark) chocolate sprinkles and leave in the fridge until you want to serve it. If refrigerated, it keeps well for a couple of days.

Enjoy!