I was looking to use up some surplus eggs and a few jars of last year’s jam, and came upon this old recipe. It’s from an ancient Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook and produced a surprisingly tender tea cake in very little time.
Unlike most sponges, there’s no need to separate the eggs, although it is important to sift the flour, or it won’t fold smoothly into the beaten egg mix.
The sponge itself has only four ingredients – eggs, sugar, SR flour and hot water. It takes ten minutes to mix, ten minutes (or so) to bake and less than ten minutes to fill and roll. The finished cake texture is soft and springy, and the flavour quite uncomplicated, but charming in its own simple way. It only keeps for a day, so bake it when you have company…
- 3 large (59g) eggs
- 110g (½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 112g (¾ cup) self-raising flour, sifted
- 40ml (8 teaspoons) boiling water
- ½ cup jam
- 2 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar, extra
1. Preheat oven to 190C (375F) or 175C with fan (350F).
2. Line the base and sides of a 25 x 30cm (10 x 12″) Swiss roll pan with parchment, then grease the paper well – I used a canola oil spray. As I didn’t have a Swiss roll pan, I used a 22 x 32cm (8½ x 12½”) baking pan.
3. Using the whisk attachment if you have one, beat the eggs with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes or until thick and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until dissolved between each addition. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the sifted flour and boiling water until the flour is just incorporated.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown all over (I rotated my pan in the oven after 10 minutes and gave it a couple more minutes baking time). Test for doneness by gently pressing the top of the cake – it should spring back when lightly pressed. As the cake is baking, warm the jam gently in a saucepan or in the microwave on low.
5. Spread a sheet of parchment paper with the extra caster sugar. Remove the baked sponge from the oven and turn it immediately onto the paper (be brave!). Remove the lining paper and spread the hot cake with warm jam.
6. While still warm, roll the cake up carefully, using the paper to assist (in much the same way as you might use a sushi mat). Roll from the short side up – so that you end up with a small fat roll rather than a long skinny one.
7. Allow the roll to cool before cutting into thick slices and serving.
I hadn’t made a sponge before, so I was very chuffed with how well this turned out. It’s a perfect recipe for our place, because we now always have fresh eggs, the pantry is chock-full of Pete’s jams, and our friend Kevin the miller recently gave us 15kg of self-raising flour. Best of all, it’s very quick to put together, which makes it ideal for emergency desserts!
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Looks like a very smart fat-free swiss roll to me :) Well done! The person who tried to teach me to roll these up used to use a teatowel for some reason….Mine always creased and tended to unroll a bit, but it was a very long time ago I made them!
My gosh…. how I wish I could pull a cake like this… or maybe I should say “roll a cake’ ;-)
I remember eating this kind of cake in my childhood, but never again – nice trip down memory line reading your post!
thank you!
I’ve never made a cake roll and it is on my top 10….diet and all. I like the fact that its an uncomplicated recipe and takes a short time! Looks good too….
Joanna, I think these can often turn into something more complicated – I’ve read instructions that said to roll it up then unroll it, then fill it, then roll it up again. I didn’t bother with all that, and I’ve tested this recipe three times before posting, and it worked every time. Mind you, I’m not entering the local show, so I don’t mind if the outside cracks.. :)
Sally, I hope you give this a try – I know you’re a little cake wary when it comes to baking, but there aren’t a lot of expensive ingredients involved here, so all you would really be punting would be some flour, sugar and a few eggs. It is a little fiddly to turn out and roll, but that doesn’t matter – whatever you end up with will be edible. And like you, I had nice memories of eating these when I was a little girl – although the ones we had were store-bought…
Oz, it’s not too wicked, diet-wise. No butter, mostly eggs, not too much sugar or flour. And if you could fill it with a very light coating of jam, it probably wouldn’t be too bad!
I see the source book is on sale on amazon for 1p! (plus postage) Also there are loads of books with collections of recipes from Australian Woman’s Weekly listed there – are there any you would particularly recommend, Celia?
Jo, the cakes and slices one is really nice. The BBQ cookbook is also very good and my all time fave is an early edition of the Celebration Cookbook (the one showing at amazon seems to be a new edition – not sure whether that’s a reprint or quite different). Either way the AWW cookbooks of that era were fabulous, but a caveat – most of the recipes were still in cups and spoons back then. Might drive you crazy, Jo! :)
I just used the last of my regular flour on a quiche for dinner. I still do have self-rising though. This looks so delicious and light. We’re in the middle of a crazy heat wave here (over 100 temperatures every day this week) so I’m not craving anything heavy for dessert.
I have sampled this cake and while it may be fat free, it certainly doesn’t taste it. Its lighter than a sponge and heavenly in the mouth. Makes you want to join the CWA.
Oh yum – just looking at it takes me back to my aunts kitchen when I was a kid. She was in the CWA and could bake like a winner – proving that not all the women in my family were disasters in the kitchen like my mother!
Another amazing creation, I have never made one but have seen plenty crack and make a wonky stacky of sponge slices and jam.
I am going to give it a go.
I think a roll with cinnamon sugar with a apple and sultana sticky spread will be a nice winter warmer.
keep up the fantastic work, M {:0)
Moo, a stack of sponge slices would still be delicious though! Apple and cinnamon sounds very appealing… :)
Don’t you just love using the phrase: “Looking to use up some surplus eggs” when you keep chooks!
Your teacake looks beautiful, Celia! I have this book on the shelf and just got it down to flick through…I really should revisit these books more often. AWW recipes are always so straightforward and reliable. :o)
Great reminder Celia, thankyou. My five year old grandson is not generally fond of food! However, he will eat cake unless Grampy lets on there’s egg in it. I’m always trying to think of things I can make for him that will have some semblance of goodness in every mouthful. Since we too have home grown eggs and I have a jar of home grown lemon curd (St Jan’s Lemon Delight) – I can’t wait for him to come and visit. I remember my Mum making jam roll, she also used it for trifle. The apple filling has given me more inspiration moo.
Carrie, it is quite light – and the oven only needs to be on for 15 minutes! :)
Amanda, El, I did feel very CWA making this….
Jan, my Pete told me that this was exactly the sort of thing his nan used to make, especially when she didn’t have a lot of ingredients and all her hungry sons needed “sweets”. It all sounds too familiar.. :)
Christine, love it love it love it. “Oh, would you like eggs with that?” is the other one I’ve been saying..haha
I think this was one of the first cakes I ever made as a youngster, and out of the Australian Womens Weekly cookbook as well. I still remember folding it and thinking…that looks cool! Wouldn’t have made it since then though, with all our jam floating around lately it would be perfect. Don’t have the added deliciousness of our own eggs though!
Brydie, this would be gorgeous with some of those jams you’ve been making recently. The sponge is quite simple, so it really showcases the jam!
It looks most delicious. I remember making one years ago. You have inspired me to try again.
I love simple cakes like this and it reminds me of a time when I was about 10 when my Mum instituted afternoon tea one school holiday period in our house – she made Victoria sponges, scones and the like and at 3pm we’d all have tea and cake – I’d forgotten about that – thanks for the lovely memory jolt.
I’m sitting here with a cup of tea- wanting this roll so very much. Right now!
I have to get some self-raising flour- but thanks for the recipe, Celia, I’m making this today!
( The heat wave is finally moving on and the temps are in the mid-eighties today, so I can contemplate turning on the oven in the garage!)
Simple, but perfectly formed. If you are impatient like me, swiss rolls aren’t in the least bit simple – I’ve not managed a decent looking roll yet! Guess I should learn a little patience and try again.
Debra, Sarah, thank you – and I’m glad you had a happy reminiscence too! Funny how many of us grew up on things like this – although in my case, they were always shop-bought, as my mum didn’t bake. Sarah, that’s such a nice story about afternoon tea at your place – thanks for sharing!
Heidi, glad to hear the heat is easing up on you. It’s slightly less chilly here too, although last night was quite wet and cold…
Choclette, thank you, but I personally think it’s less about patience and more about not worrying about it. All of mine have cracked a little – still tasted good! :)