Simply Sunday

I love Sundays that have no plans....We went to church last night so that means we had time to lounge around this morning enjoying our coffee before the chores started nagging at us.

My nephew contacted us last night and asked if he and a friend could come over for some skeet shooting. He had read on this post that we were sticking around home and just having hot dogs for dinner so he volunteered to bring the dogs....what a sweetheart...I went down to the basement and pulled out sausages to add to our hot dogs and threw some sauerkraut into the slow cooker so we are all set, but I thought it was very sweet of him to consider that I had not planned on two extra for dinner.

I went out and cleaned the meat chicken coop...my favorite job in the whole world (NOT) and to make it worse one of the chickens had a broken leg and Frank had to put it out of it's misery.  These meat chickens are such pigs that if you allow them to they will eat until they have a heart attack and they grow so fast that often their legs are unable to take the weight and they just break. UGH!!!

After Mom awoke Frank started working on replacing our mailbox and I decided to make a dessert for tonight. I found a recipe in Real Simple Magazine the first year that they were in publication and have been making it ever since.  It is a very simple recipe but it looks very snazzy.  They call it a Strawberry Long Roll Cake.  It is basically just a sponge cake baked in a cookie sheet with sides so that it is thin enough to make into a jelly roll and then instead of filling it with jelly you fill it with strawberries and cream.  In case you haven't noticed...strawberries, cream and cake make lots of appearances at our house during the summer.

Spray a cookie sheet with sides with baking spray and then line it with parchment paper.

Make your spongecake batter and spread it in the lined pan.

Bake for 12-15 minutes

While the cake is baking, dust a clean linen towel with powdered sugar.

When the cake is baked and golden remove from oven.

Flip over onto the sugared towel and remove the parchment paper.

Flip the towel edge over the cake.

Roll the cake up along with the towel

Once the cake is rolled into the towel, let cool completely.

When the cake is cooled, carefully unroll it and spread the strawberries and cream over it evenly.

Using the towel first fold one half of the cake to the center and then fold the other half on top.

Trim the ends so that they are even and place on a serving platter.

Chill until ready to serve.

Eat the scraps!!!

Strawberry Roll

adapted from a recipe in  Real Simple Magazine

3/4 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

4 eggs, separated

1 c. sugar, divided

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 t. almond extract

Powdered Sugar

1 pint heavy cream

1 qt. strawberries, hulled and sliced

Spray a cookie sheet with sides with cooking spray and then line with parchment paper.

Beat egg whites on high speed until frothy.  Gradually add 1/2 c. of the sugar beating until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Beat egg yolks with remaining 1/2 c. of sugar until thick and lemon colored.  Sift flour, baking powder and salt over egg yolk mixture and mix at low speed until just combined.

Gently fold egg yolk mixture into egg whites just until blended.  Spread onto the parchment lined pan.  Bake at 375* for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

While cake is baking, place a clean linen towel on the counter and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  When cake is baked, remove from oven, turn onto the linen towel and remove the parchment paper.

Place the towel over the edge of the cake lengthwise and begin rolling the cake and the towel together until it becomes one long roll.  Let cool completely.

While cake is cooling, beat cream with 1 T. of powdered sugar until light and fluffy and fold in strawberries.  Unroll cake and spread strawberries and cream over the cake evenly.  Using towel, roll half the cake to the middle and then roll the other half over the top.  Trim the edges and place on serving platter.  Chill until ready to serve.  Print Recipe

As mentioned earlier, I have a couple of other strawberry and cream recipes you might like....you can find Strawberry Almond Sponge Cakes here, Strawberry Almond Torte here and Tapioca and Strawberry Parfaits here.

I am sharing this recipe at Inspiration Monday..stop in and see what others are sharing.