Our Sweet Connection

    Every family share a togetherness promise that is deep rooted in its every member. The love of parents, the camaraderie of siblings is one treasure to always cherish because you cannot find the same notes of understanding in another place. That’s why there is a place called home and home is where you forget all your worries, and only thing you remember is the smiles, the laughter, the happy times, the usual, the playful bickering, the trying-to-put-a-smile-thing, and the esprit de corps of doing everything together, that binds everyone even in some hard hours of life.

  
  
There is a family tradition of enjoying fruit at our place with layered leisure called fruit trifle. It belongs to my dad’s long list of favourite desserts . 

  
Everyone likes to make it, even once my bro put the finishing touches of layering cake, custard,(made by mom),and fruit and topping it with biscuit crumbs and grapes, and I remember it looked scrumptious. 

  
I began doing desserts with trifle, and each time i played among the layers to get varied results of sweet intermingled with tart every time I made it, but every time it tasted the same. I was so fed up sometimes that I started not liking it but contrary to my reasoning everyone used to say you have done something different and something distinctly delicious this time and it was a pleasant surprise.

  
Dunking into it, you have to keep guessing as you open the door and go down, every level has distinct taste story of sweetness indigenous to every fruit that you put into it. 

  
Whatever the fruit combinations and jelly flavour you use , the cake used as a base has to be a simple sponge or a Swiss roll. 

  
It’s easy to make as there are not many ingredients involved. Fresh homemade jam imparts a nice texture and flavour to this cake. 
Here Iam sharing the Swiss roll recipe quickly otherwise pending it will remove it from my random access memory and I’ll have to keep guessing.

Swiss Roll 

• 3 eggs separated
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 cup cornflour
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• A pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup strawberry jam or any jam of your choice
• Caster sugar extra for rolling and dusting

Eggs should be at room temperature. Sieve dry ingredients three times.Separate whites in a bowl and beat with electric beater along with salt pinch till foamy. Add in sugar a teaspoon at a time and continue beating till it dissolves ( check the whites by rubbing between fingers, it shouldn’t be gritty). Drop in the yolks and essence one at a time and beat till combined. Now fold dry ingredients with flat spatula by soft hand. Add in 2 teaspoons of milk too while folding gently. Pour batter in Swiss roll tin or aluminium tray (14 inch by 11 inch size ) lined with paper and greased with oil and dusted with flour, distributing evenly with knife and bake at preheated 180 degree C for 12- 15 minutes till light brown and springy to touch. 

Warm the jam. Lay a damp kitchen napkin on counter , put a grease proof or simple paper over it and sprinkle generous helpings of caster sugar. Invert the hot cake sponge over it,carefully peel the paper on which it was baked. Spread with warm jam and roll it from the short side carefully avoiding the paper as you roll. Put it seam side down once rolled in its paper and napkin and let it cool. Afterwards remove it from napkin and paper and dust with icing sugar and serve as such with tea or coffee or use as base for your custard trifle.