michelle picker cooks

This cake, baked with my sister Eve, made an impressive and festive Christmas dessert. From SWEET  by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, the light and fluffy lemon sponge and berry buttercream are assembled into a sort of swiss roll on it’s side.

Preheat your oven to 205ºC (400ºF) and line a shallow 30 x 40cm (12 x 15″) rimmed baking sheet with baking paper. For the cake separate 8 large eggs and place the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer along with 180g (5½ oz) of sugar and 3 teaspoons of lemon juice. With the whisk attachment beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes until pale and thick. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and add ⅛ of a teaspoon of salt. Sift in 135g (4¾ oz) of all-purpose flour in two batches, folding through with a rubber spatula after each addition. Sprinkle ¾ of a teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest on top and set aside. Now place the 8 egg whites in the clean, dry bowl of an electric mixer and whisk on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add in 4½ teaspoons of sugar and continue to whisk until your have firm peaks. Fold one third of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until incorporated then fold in the rest until combined. Transfer to the baking sheet and even out the surface with a spatula. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before dusting the top lightly with powdered sugar. Place a clean kitchen towel on top of the cake and flip it over so that it is now lying on top of the kitchen towel. Carefully peel away the paper and straighten the very edges of the sponge. Starting at the shorter edge of the cake, carefully roll it up (along with the kitchen towel). This will train the cake to roll when assembling later. When cooled, unroll the cake and cut into 3 equal strips lengthwise (we opted for 2 to make a narrower, taller cake). Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside. For the purée place 300g (10½ oz) of mixed berries and 80g (2.8 oz) of sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm through for 4-5 minutes until the berries are soft and the sugar dissolved. Transfer to a food processor to purée and then strain into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve. For the buttercream add ¼ of a cup of light corn syrup (I used glucose), 135g (4¾ oz) of sugar and the seeds scraped from ½ a vanilla bean into a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and stir until all the sugar dissolves. While the syrup is cooking place 4 egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place and beat on medium-high speed until thick and pale yellow in colour. Now stir the sugar syrup again and increase the heat to medium until bubbles begin to appear. Swirl the pan gently and continue to simmer until there are large bubbles all over the surface of the syrup. Remove the pan from the heat and with the mixer on low carefully pour the hot syrup in a slow, steady stream into the beating yolks. When all the syrup has been added increase the mixer speed to high and continue to beat for about 10 minutes until cool. Gradually add 255g (9 oz) of softened unsalted butter, one spoonful at a time, allowing it to be incorporated into the mixture before adding the next. When all the butter has been added scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another minute until very smooth and light. Add a scant ½ cup of the berry purée and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated. To assemble the cake spread each of the strips of sponge with about 85g (3 oz) of the buttercream. This should leave enough for the top and sides of the cake. Take one strip of sponge and roll it up. Position the exposed end at the beginning of the next strip and keep rolling. Add the last strip at the end of the second and roll again until you have a whole cake. Transfer to your serving plate standing the cake on a flat end. Smooth the remaining buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake with a spatula. Drizzle the remaining berry purée over the top of the cake and decorate with fresh berries (we chose blueberries). Set aside for 1 hour at room temperature (or in the fridge on a warm day) before serving.