Jelly Roll
3 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 5 tablespoons milk 1 1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking-powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon lemon extract 1/2 pint jelly Beat the yolks of the eggs until light, then add the sugar. Stir well and add the flour and baking-powder sifted together, alternately with the milk. Add flavoring. Grease a long shallow pan of the size usually used in roasting meats. The batter should be one-fourth inch deep, for if it is thicker the cake will not roll easily. Bake six to eight minutes in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.), watching closely, as it bakes quickly. When done, remove from the oven, and when cool enough to handle, turn out on to a cloth. Cut off the side crusts, spread the jelly over the surface, roll up and wrap the cloth about it to keep it in shape. If the cake was spread too thick in the pan and will not roll, cut it into three parts and lay one upon the other with jelly between. This makes a most delicious layer cake. In this case, frost with a boiled frosting, and sprinkle with a layer of coconut.
A thin sponge sheet baked fast and rolled while warm. The whole thing hinges on depth of batter and speed of rolling.
- The panA "long shallow pan of the size usually used in roasting meats" is the closest thing the period kitchen had to a modern sheet pan; a half-sheet (about 13 by 18 inches) is a reasonable stand-in, though the original gives no dimensions. Line it with parchment rather than relying on grease alone; the batter is thin enough to stick.
- Batter depthA quarter inch is the whole point. Spread it with an offset spatula right to the corners, and check the depth in the middle where batter tends to pool.
- OvenThe original gives 350F and six to eight minutes. At that thickness the cake is done when the surface springs back and the edges just begin to pull from the pan; another two minutes will make it too dry to roll without cracking.
- The egg whitesThe method as printed beats only the yolks with the sugar. Beat the whites separately to soft peaks and fold them in at the end, after the flour and milk, or the sheet will bake dense and leathery.
- SaltSift the quarter teaspoon of salt with the flour and baking powder; the instructions never say where it goes.
- Roll it warm"When cool enough to handle" means barely cool. Turn the sheet onto a sugared cloth, trim the crisp edges, spread the jelly thinly and roll at once. A cake left to cool flat will crack along the outside of the curve.
- The jellyHalf a pint is a full cup, which is generous for one sheet. Warm and stir the jelly so it spreads without tearing the crumb, and keep the layer thin or it will squeeze out at the ends.
- Lemon extractA full tablespoon is strong by current standards. One to two teaspoons, or the grated zest of a lemon, gives the same effect.
- YieldOne sheet rolls into a log serving eight to ten. Cut with a serrated knife in a sawing motion.