Family Chilli Night & a Lemon Curd Swiss Roll

We've been enjoying another lovely summer weekend and managed to eat outside again when we had friends around for dinner. We didn't have a typical summer meal and instead opted for a chilli, which had been cooked earlier in the day, allowing me to spend time socialising with our friends instead of being stuck in the kitchen.

On the menu we had :

Beef chilli

Baked Potatoes

Salad

Home-made bread

Home-made Salsa

Sour Cream

Grated Cheese

Chocolate Cheesecake
Toffee Popcorn Ice Cream
Lemon Curd Swiss Roll

and because it was warm evening (and I'm working with Lindeman's over the summer to spread a little sunshine amongst our friends) we enjoyed a few glasses of nicely chilled Lindeman's Bin 85 Pinot Grigio. I can't decide if my favourite is the Pinot or the Rosé at the moment, but I must admit that the Pinot went down very well with this meal.

The kids then spent time splashing around in the pool, followed by a game of football, before tackling dessert.

Everyone over indulged a touch with dessert and were left feeling a little full, so we settled down in the lounge for a game of Scattergories and a cuppa.

I made the lemon curd swiss roll as part of The Great Bloggers Bake Off week 1 challenge. After a bit of research into 'Japanese cake rolls' I thought I would try my hand at putting a design into the swiss roll and decided upon lemons, to match the filling flavour. 

I was was really pleased how it turned out - apart from my 'lemon' decorations that somehow turned orange in the oven and ended up looking more like carrots! Here is the proof that they did start off yellow

Lemon Curd Swiss Roll

for the lemon pattern

1 egg white

30g caster sugar

40g self raising flour

20g butter, softened

lemon & green gel food colouring

for the sponge

3 eggs

75g caster sugar

75g self raising flour

for the filling

100g butter, softened

200g icing sugar

1 tbsp room temperature water

1/3 jar lemon curd

• Beat together the ingredients for the lemon pattern, apart from the gel colouring
• Add approx 2 tbsp of the batter to a second bowl and colour it green
• Colour the larger quantity of batter yellow
• Pipe lemons onto a sheet of greased baking paper, cut to fit your baking sheet (use a template if necessary)
• Place the baking sheet in the freezer for approx 1 hour
• Make the sponge batter by whisking together the eggs and caster sugar until pale and thick
• Sift the flour and fold it into the egg mixture, keeping as much air in as possible
• Spread the batter evenly over the lemon pattern
• Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 7-8 minutes
• Turn out onto a sheet of baking paper and roll up tightly, ensuring that the lemon pattern is on the outside
• Allow to cool whilst making the buttercream
• Beat the butter together with half of the icing sugar until pale and smooth
• Beat in the water and then the remaining icing sugar
• Un-roll the sponge and spread with lemon curd and then the buttercream
• Roll up as tightly as possible and place in the fridge until firmed up

We already have friends queuing up for our next Lindeman's summer get together....