Strawberry Swiss Roll

On Friday, Heritage Day here in South Africa, i tried a recipe from a recipe book that my aunt brought for me from her recent travels in Germany (Sommertorten, Dr. Oetker, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 2009).  Any one or more of Dr Oetker's recipe books are a staple in any respectable German home.  My sister and i grew up baking from my grandmother's Dr Oetker's koch bücher!  How perfect that on Heritage Day, i happened to make something from one of the recipe books that are so very much a part of my personal heritage!  This is a lovely light, fresh, fruity dessert. Ideal for a gorgeous Spring day!

Strawberry Sponge Roll

I was attending a house-warming for a friend who is diabetic and one of my other friends is gluten-intolerant.  So, whatever i made had to be both sugar free and wheat free.  The wheat free part has become quite easy these days. There is a heightened awareness about what one eats and therewith an availability of a wider array of health-conscious foods and ingredients.  So, i simply used an already mixed gluten-free baking flour (another blog in itself!)  The sugar free part is not as easy.  One can use products like saccharine etc, but it effects the end product dramatically.  Fortunately, the recipe only calls for 90 g of sugar, so i used fructose for that.  I altered the recipe sufficiently to now call it my own, so here goes...

Sponge Cake
6 large eggs
90 g vanilla sugar
90 g flour
5 ml baking powder

Beat the eggs with hand held beater at highest speed for 1 minute.  Add the sugar and beat for a further 2 minutes.  Sift the four and baking powder over the beaten eggs and sugar mixture and beat gently until just mixed.  Spread the mixture out over a baking tray, lined with baking paper, approximately 30 x 40 cm (mine is 35 x 45 cm).  I use teflon sheets to line my baking trays.  They are especially helpful in this instance.  Bake for 8-10 minutes in an oven pre-heated to 200˚C.


Remove the sponge from the baking tray immediately. Turn it out onto a clean sheet of baking paper or a clean dish towel.  Peel off the baking paper from underneath and leave to cool.


Filling
2 teaspoons gelatine
300 ml unsweetened fruit juice
250 g smooth cottage cheese
250 g fresh cream
200 g fresh berries + 100 g for decoration


Heat 100 ml of the fruit juice in the microwave before adding the gelatine to it. Mix thoroughly and then add the rest of the cool fruit juice to cool it down.  Whisk the cottage cheese while pouring the cooled gelatine fruit juice mix over it.  Leave to set in the refrigerator (approx), mixing occasionally.  Once the mixture starts to set, beat the cream to stiff peaks.  Using a whisk, incorporate the cream into the cottage cheese mixture and leave to set in the refrigerator. 


Once the mixture has set, spread two thirds of it over the sponge cake.  Spread the berries over the mixture.  Using the baking paper or dish cloth, carefully roll the sponge up.  Use the remainder of the cottage cheese mixture and a few more berries to cover the roll.  Leave to set in the refrigerator for a little while before serving. Et voilà!