Lemon Cake Roll with Lemon Curd Filling

Happy Mother's Day to those of you celebrating today!  Although I hope you all show your moms how grateful you are to have them in your lives everyday, it's still nice to devote a special day to them.

Happy Mother's Day Mom.  I LOVE YOU!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll be doing Mother's Day at my home.  My mom, sister and in-laws will be coming over for dinner to celebrate with my family.  Since everyone's coming over I like to make a special dinner.  I'll be making a glazed salmon with spinach and grape tomatoes along with some sides and a salad.  In addition, I thought it would be fun to make a Lemon Cake Roll with a Lemon Curd filling.  I love making roulades whether they're for an appetizer, entree or dessert, just because they are so pretty.  They look difficult but are really quite simple.  I also adore lemon curd.  The flavor is so smooth and mellow that I salivate just thinking about it.  So together I know they'll be a hit.

However, just to play it safe I'm going to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.  For those who desperately need some chocolate to finish they're meal.

Whether you're making Mother's Day dinner at your home or going out I hope you have a wonderful day.

My Mother's Day gift to you is to share this wonderful recipe.  It takes no time to prepare and if you're still contemplating what to make for dessert, you still have time to whip this up and have it ready in time for dinner.

Here's the recipe.......


Lemon Cake Roll with Lemon Curd Filling
serves 10

Ingredients for Sponge Cake:

6 eggs
1 cup sugar
Grated rind of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Ingredients for Lemon Curd Filling:

2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.

Butter an 8x12 inch baking sheet, then line with buttered parchment paper, and set it aside.

To make the sponge cake, place the eggs, sugar, lemon rind, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at high speed until the mixture is light and has tripled in volume.  Mix the flour with the baking powder.  Using a rubber spatula, fold this in, being careful not to deflate the egg mixture too much. 

Pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet with a 1-inch rim. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the sponge cake is very lightly browned.  Let cool for 5 minutes. 

Then invert the cake onto a damp kitchen towel sprinkled with the confectioners' sugar.  Gently peel off the parchment paper. Carefully roll the cake lengthwise in the towel.  Wrap in foil and let cool at room temperature.  

To make the filling, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon rind and juice in a tempered glass bowl, then add the butter and place over a pot of simmering water.  Cook over low heat whisking constantly until the lemon curd starts to thicken.  This could take 20-30 minutes.  Let cool at least an hour. 

Unroll the cake.  Cover with the lemon curd, then carefully roll the cake again, this time without the towel.  Transfer to a serving platter.  Dust with confectioners' sugar.  Chill 1 hour or longer.

Slice and serve with fresh berries and whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Madeleine's

Meyer Lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange.  This unique fruit blends the traditional flavor of a lemon and the sweetness of an orange creating a refreshingly exceptional taste experience.  It's rich, dark and aromatic juice is much sweeter than a conventional lemon.

So when I had 4 of them sitting in my refrigerator I decided I'd better use them for something luscious before they went bad.  I decided that I'd make some Meyer Lemon Madeleines, a light cake-like cookie.   With the addition of the Meyer Lemons, it would give them that extra WOW flavor!  Since I knew I'd still have some unused lemons I also decided to make some Meyer Lemon Curd as well, a favorite of mine.....
 

My first thought was that I'd create a sandwich cookie, using 2 Madeleine's with the Meyer Lemon Curd sandwiched between them.  Unfortunately, that didn't work because of the way the Madeleine's puff up.  I could have sliced the back sides of each cookie so it would be flat, making it easier to make the sandwich, but I didn't want to ruin this wonderful cookie and it's perfect shape.  So instead, I created two separate and devine dishes.  Of course, nothing says I can't dip my Madeleine into the Meyer Lemon Curd.  I mean, afterall, people dip their cookies in milk, why not in lemon curd?

If you've never attempted to make either of these you don't know what you're missing.  The Madeleine's are the perfect cake-like cookie.  You can eat them anytime in my opinion, even for breakfast.  They're not too sweet but just right.  Goldilocks would love them!

Lemon Curd, especially made with Meyer Lemons, is a flavor that is so incredible it's hard to describe. So light, smooth and velvety, it melts in your mouth.   Each taste, excites your palate with it's heavenly lemony/orange flavor making it almost impossible to stop eating.  It's that good!  Eat it plain, spread on toast, in desserts, with berries and pound cake or however you choose to enjoy it.

However, today I'd like to share with you my Meyer Lemon Madeleine recipe.  I'm saving the recipe for the Meyer Lemon Curd since that's something I teach in my culinary classes.  I hope you enjoy these little cake-like cookies.  I don't know anyone that doesn't like them. 

Feel free to substitute oranges or even limes in place of the lemons depending on what you prefer.  They're sure to disappear quickly so you may want to hide a few just for yourself.

Meyer Lemon Madeleine's　
makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used Meyer Lemons)
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Directions:

1. Heat butter in small heavy saucepan over medium heat just until very light golden brown and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool until tepid.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl until tripled in volume. Lower speed to medium and beat in lemon juice and zest. Fold in flour mixture in three additions. Fold in cooled butter. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until slightly firm.

4. Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter two 12-mold madeleine pans. Dust molds with flour.

5. Drop a generous tablespoonful of batter into center of each prepared mold, leaving the batter mounded in the center.

6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and centers spring back when lightly touched.
7. Remove pans from oven and rap each pan sharply against a countertop to release the madeleines. Cool on wire racks.

Plate up and serve. 

Note:  There are two kitchen tools that will make prepping for this recipe a snap.  In fact they are some of the most useful tools in my kitchen.  They are a Microplane for zesting and a juicerfor squeezing the lemons.  You can read my tips for juicing here.

Enjoy!