Strawberry Roulade

Ingredients:

3 large eggs
115g/4 oz caster sugar
115g/4 oz all purpose flour
1 tbspn hot water

Filling:

175g/6 oz mascarpone cheese
1 tsp almond extract
225g/8 oz small strawberries

to decorate:(optional)

1 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
1 tsp confectioner's sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F. Line a 14" x 10" swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.

Put the eggs and caster sugar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Using a hand-held electric whisk, beat together until thick and pale- the mixture should leave a trail when the whisk is lifted.

Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Sift in the flour and fold into the egg mixture with the hot water. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until golden and set.

Turn out the cake onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. Peel off the lining paper and roll up the sponge cake tightly, encasing the greaseproof paper. Wrap in a clean tea towel and leave to cool.

Mix the mascarpone and almond extract together. Reserving a few strawberries for decoration, wash, hull and slice the remainder. Chill with the mascarpone mixture in the refridgerator until needed.

Unroll the cake, spread with the mascarpone mixture and sprinkle with the sliced strawberries. Roll the cake up again and transfer to a serving plate. Sprinkle with the almonds and dust with the confectioner's sugar. Decorate with the reserved strawberries!

(from the Home Baking Cookbook)