Strawberry jam and peach roll recipe

I’m taking part in the msavers challenge, where I’m going to make a reasonably-priced home made recipe using ingredients from the relaunched Morrisons M Savers range. The idea is to combine the best value food ingredients with low cost recipes, and cook up something really, really tasty.

My original plan was to make jam roly poly, but this is traditionally suet based and I don’t eat suet. It’s also traditionally steamed in a large pan for up to two hours, and I figured most modern households probably wouldn’t have a big enough pan plus the assorted steaming cloths and other related paraphernalia required. The steaming time is on top of the other prep time and time is at a premium in most households, plus there’s the gas/electricity bill to think of. The final kicker was the waste equation: will kids seriously eat this stuff? If not, however cheap the ingredients, it’s not a good use of funds.

In the end I decided to adapt a budget friendly recipe that was still roll-y and also easier on the fuel costs, suet-free, more acceptable to a wider range of palates, and could be made without fancy equipment. Before I got started, I did a taste test of the M Savers ingredients that Morrisons sent over. I tried:

• Strawberry jam, 35p: this was a standard fruit jam made with 35g of fruit per 100g. It’s smooth, which makes it good for cake fillings, and the natural taste of the strawberries comes through strongly. Would I buy it again? Probably not, as it’s made with glucose-fructose syrup.
• UHT skimmed milk, 49p: this did not have the usual horrible strong UHT taste, and I was very impressed indeed. Would I buy it again? Definitely.
• Tinned custard, 18p: this is the sort of custard that can be made up from custard powder, but with the convenience of being ready made. The flavour seems to have a fair bit of caramel in it, and it made me think of crème brulee. I like crème brulee, so I’d perhaps buy it again.
• Self-raising flour, 52p: This performed as well as any standard SR flour, but at a fraction of the cost. I’d definitely stock up on this product.

On to the recipe, which is a roulade…

 Ingredients

• 3 medium free range eggs
• 85g caster sugar, plus extra spoonful for rolling
• 2 drops vanilla extract (optional)
• 85g self-raising flour, well sifted
• 100g strawberry jam
• 425g canned peaches in juice, well drained & chopped into tiny pieces
• Custard to serve (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, and line a standard sized baking tray with non-stick baking parchment.

2. Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla until very light and fluffy. An electric whisk saves time, but a hand held one is fine too.

3. Fold in the flour thoroughly using a metal spoon so you don’t knock too much of the air out, then pour onto the baking tray, smoothing the mixture evenly into the corners.

4. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until light golden in colour and springy to the touch, then allow to cool slightly for 2 or 3 minutes.

5. Prepare a second piece of baking parchment by laying it flat on a work surface and sprinkling with a little caster sugar (for a more fancy version use a tiny bit of icing sugar instead).

6. Gently remove the cake from the baking tray, and place upside down onto the sugared parchment. Carefully remove the first piece of paper from the underside of the cake and discard it.

7. Roll the warm cake up into a roll (short side to short side) inside the second piece of parchment, making sure the first edge of the roll is tightly curled under when you start rolling. Leave to cool completely.

8. Once cooled, unroll the cake and spread evenly and gently with strawberry jam. Top with small pieces of chopped peach, taking care to leave some space free at the end of the roll so it seals properly.

9. Roll the filled cake back up, placing the end seam underneath it to keep it closed. Warm gently in a low oven and serve with custard. Makes 8 to 10 slices.

This recipe uses about 18p of ingredients per serving, including custard, if you use the msavers products. It’s quite warming and filling so it’s a nice treat during cold weather, and it’s also a sneaky way to get certain people to eat more fruit.

If you’ve made a baked main course, you can warm this dessert using the residual heat of the oven instead of switching it on again. If peaches aren’t popular in your household you can also try thinly sliced fresh banana. In the summer this roulade can also be served cold, with a flavoured yoghurt or a little whipped cream spread over the top of the fruit before the cake is rolled up.

Full disclosure: ingredients and baking tools supplied by Morrisons. No money has changed hands. All opinions, observations and comments are my own. Recipe idea my own.