If you’re honoring a special mother this coming Sunday with a homemade meal, try adding this glorious lemon roll garnished with fresh strawberries and mint as dessert. I first made this cake roll back in 2003 and have always loved that it can be prepared a day ahead. It needs only to be garnished at serving time.

For this special confection, a golden tender cake baked in a sheet pan is cooled, unmolded, and then spread with an ethereally light lemon curd cream filling. The cake is then rolled into a log and served with more of the delectable lemon cream plus fresh berries. I chose strawberries, but raspberries or blueberries, or a combo would all work well.

 A single recipe serves 8 generously, making it perfect for family celebrations.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and grandmothers out there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

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Lemon Roulade Filled with a Lemon Curd Cream Filling Served with Strawberries

 Cake
3/4 cup sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt such as fleur de sel
4 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing parchment paper
Confectioner’s sugar

Filling and Garnish
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
4 egg large yolks
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
3 cups fresh strawberries (or raspberries, blueberries, or a combination), halved or quartered depending on size
Fresh mint sprigs for garnish

1.Arrange a rack at center position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 10 by 15-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment trimmed to fit. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan.

2.For cake, sift flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl and set aside. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer on high speed until light and foamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and gradually beat in the sugar. Increase speed to high and beat until mixture is thick, light in color, and almost tripled in volume, 8 to 10 minutes if using a heavy-duty mixer, longer if using a hand mixer. Sift the dry ingredients over the egg mixture and fold them in. Fold in the lemon zest and the vanilla.

3.Melt the butter and place it in a small bowl along with a tablespoon of the cake batter. Mix well and then fold the butter into the cake batter. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake until cake is golden and springs back when touched, 8 to 10 minutes. Watch carefully so that you don’t bake too long and dry the cake out.

4.Spread a kitchen towel on a work surface and sprinkle generously with some confectioners’ sugar. Run a knife around the edges of the cake pan to loosen cake. Invert the cake onto the towel and remove the parchment paper. Starting at a long side of the cake, roll up the cake along with the towel into a log. Place the cake on a baking sheet and refrigerate until cool, 30 to 40 minutes or more.

5.For filling, In a small bowl, use your fingers to rub together the sugar and lemon zest until blended well. Then place the egg yolks, sugar/lemon mixture, and lemon juice in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk constantly until mixture coats the back of a spoon and is very thick, about 5 minutes or more. Transfer to a nonreactive mixing bowl and cool to room temperature. Whip the cream with an electric mixer on high speed until just firm. Remove a few tablespoons of the cream and stir into the lemon filling to lighten it. Fold in the remaining cream.

6.Unroll the cooled cake roll. With a sharp knife, trim and discard the edges (which are usually dry)  of the cake. With a spatula, spread half of the filling evenly over the unrolled cake. Then roll the cake, starting with a long side, into a log and place on a platter. Place remaining cream in a bowl. (The lemon roll and cream can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)

7.To serve, sprinkle the lemon roll with confectioner’s sugar and garnish with berries and mint. Serve  with a bowl of lemon cream and another of berries. Serve each portion with some berries and a generous dollop of cream.

Serves 8

 

Copyright Betty Rosbottom 2025