Sponge Roll with Lemon Cream

Ingredients

• 90 g sugar
• 60 g flour
• 30 g cornstarch
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch salt
• juice and zest of one lemon
• 200 g Low-fat quark
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 400 g whipping cream
• 3 sheets gelatin
• lemon balm (or mint for garnish)
• 250 g strawberries

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180 °C (top/bottom heat). Separate the eggs; beat the whites with salt until stiff peaks form, gradually adding the sugar. Whisk together the flour and cornstarch. Beat the yolks and fold them into the egg whites, then sift the flour mixture over and gently fold in. Spread the batter onto a parchment‑lined baking sheet and bake for about 10–12 minutes until golden yellow. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a kitchen towel dusted with sugar; lightly mist the parchment with water and carefully peel it off. Roll the sponge tightly using the towel and let cool.

2. 2.

   Soak gelatin sheets in cold water. Mix lemon juice, zest, sugar, and quark together. Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Gently warm the gelatin in a small pot while stirring (do not boil) until dissolved; add to the quark mixture and stir well. Fold in the whipped cream and chill the filling slightly in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, hull, wash, and pat dry the strawberries. Halve them, setting aside some halves for garnish. Carefully unroll the cooled sponge roll, spread half of the lemon cream on the inside, top with strawberry slices, then re‑roll. Place 3–4 tablespoons of the remaining cream in a piping bag fitted with a star tip and refrigerate. Brush the outside of the rolled cake with the rest of the cream, smoothing the surface with a palette dipped in water. Pipe decorative rosettes or serpentines onto the roll and insert strawberry halves. Garnish with lemon balm leaves and slice into 2–3 cm thick rounds (about 16 slices).