Even though I bake a bit, although mainly for the office, this was the first time ever I made a Swiss roll. It has always been my mother’s department, I swear she could make a perfect one in her sleep (which is why I’m using her tried and tested recipe).

But after watching the participants in The Great British Bake Off making swiss rolls I cockily thought ‘how hard can it be’. Maybe it helped that I have watched by mother bake it countless times, but it wasn’t difficult. I need to work on the jam distribution but other than that it turned out well.

Swiss roll, serves 10-12

4 eggs

190 g caster sugar

1 1/2 tbsp warm water

115 g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

extra caster sugar

200 ml strawberry jam 

Beat eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric whisk. Add the water. Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and incorporate into the egg mixture. Mix well with a wooden fork.

Preheat the oven to 225C. Cover an oven-sized shallow pan with baking parchment and spread out the batter evenly in the pan. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 7 minutes or until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out dry. 

Take a new sheet of baking parchment, as big as the cake, and scatter with sugar. Remove the cake from the oven and let the steam evaporate for a few minutes, then turn the cake onto the sugared paper. Remove the pan and then the first baking parchment, carefully. Spread the jam onto the cake evenly, but leave a few centimetres each side bare. Roll the cake into a roll from the longer side, using the paper. Once rolled up, cover in parchment paper and leave to cool completely. Cut into slices once cool, remove the ends and serve.