Arctic Roll Recipe
You all know by now, or at least I hope you do as this means you actually read my crappy ramblings rather than just cutting to the recipes, that I love the 80’s. You should also know, if you have been paying attention, that I have no shame on the food front. I love butterscotch Angel Delight, I love Salad Cream and I don’t care who knows it. I am the least fashionable food lover in town, I just like eating and sharing the recipes I love with you, as a part of me hopes you are as shameless as I am. So, today, I am sharing with you a classic dessert from way back yonder. This Arctic Roll is the stuff of legends, and a dinner party favourite of mine.
My Arctic Roll is a wondrous combination of soft sponge, jam and homemade vanilla ice cream. Or not homemade, if you can’t even be arsed to whisk together cream, vanilla and condensed milk, such is the easy nature of my super Simple Ice Cream recipe. Bought ice cream will be just as delicious I am sure and no ones judging *or are they*. This is then encased in a Swiss roll style sponge, slathered with jam, and frozen for a final time before serving in thick slices. This homemade Arctic Roll it nothing like the slightly naff, little bit synthetic, but nonetheless brilliant, packet original. Serve this with some summer berries and you will be met with oohs and aahs of wonderment from your dinner guests. Followed by delighted sounds of them munching through their first slice in order to get a second in before anyone else does. This Arctic Roll is loved by my children, but frankly, it’s far too good for them and I was livid recently to find they had horsed through one I had hidden from them in the freezer without so much as a backwards glance. I love my boys but this is way too special a) to be eaten in one sitting by two teenagers and b) not appreciated for it’s true 1980’s tribute style amazingness and c) I wanted to serve my Arctic Roll to some guests coming for the weekend and had to make another sodding pudding. My recipe was based on one from the ever helpful BBC Good Food website, thanking you kind people.
I served this Arctic Roll to some unsuspecting American friends of ours recently who had never enjoyed the delights of this frozen retro dish. Those poor, poor loves, little did they know what they had been missing for the last 30 years. Thank God for Lucy Loves for putting them on the right track for the future. They can now eat this to their hearts content and love it, without the slightly naff nature of the shop bought originals hanging over them.
Not many ingredients in this super impressive pudding. If you are going to make your own ice cream, my recipe only adds another three to this list. But do buy ice cream if it’s easier, you will need around 500ml to 750ml, depending on the carton size.
Whichever you use, start by either softening the bought stuff or make your own and get it to the ready to freeze stage. Line a loaf tin, which is the same width of your Swiss roll tin, around 24cm wide, with baking paper or cling film.
Fill the loaf tin with softened or ready to freeze ice cream then put in the freezer to firm up.
When it’s almost set but still pliable, using your hands and some baking paper, fashion it into a rough, round log shape, keeping it the same width. Then re-roll it in baking paper, foil or cling film, and put back in the freezer to firm up.
Now, get a move on with the sponge. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper and pre heat the oven to 170 degrees fan assisted. Take a stand mixer or a large bowl with an electric hand whisk and whisk the eggs and caster sugar together until doubled in volume and become lighter in colour and texture.
Carefully mix in the vanilla extract, then measure out the flour and baking powder and fold into the egg mixture. Do this carefully, you don’t want to knock all the air out of this.
Pour this into the lined tin and pop in the oven until golden and springy to the touch. This should take around 15 minutes.
Once this is cooked, pop on the side to cool for a couple of minutes.
Take a fresh sheet of baking paper and sprinkle with a tablespoon of caster sugar.
Turn out the sponge, upside down, remove the backing paper and roll up, with the new paper inside and leave to cool completely.
Once it’s cooled and the ice cream log is firm, unroll the sponge and remove the ice cream log from the freezer.
Spread the sponge with jam and then place the ice cream log on the short end of the sponge.
Roll up the sponge, around the ice cream and make sure the ends meet. I had to trim a little off so they met evenly.
Tightly wrap the Arctic Roll in cling or foil or more baking paper and put back in the freezer until you are ready to serve.
Serve this total crowd pleaser with some fresh berries and extra cream for utter spoilage.
This is fiddly, but definitely not a 10 on the difficulty stakes. But it bloody looks like you’ve gone to a truck load of trouble, so just don’t tell anyone just how kerfuffle free this Arctic Roll was to pop together. And don’t forget to hide it from uninvited diners unless you want to find half of it gone before your real guests even arrive.
Lucy x
Arctic Roll Recipe
Serves 6-ish, appetite dependent
You will need a loaf tin and a Swiss roll tin size 24cm x 32cm and a hand or stand whisk
500 to 750g good quality ice cream, I used my Simple Ice Cream recipe
3 eggs
100g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 extra tablespoon caster sugar
Approx 6 tablespoons jam, strawberry or raspberry is good
Berries and cream to serve
Take your ice cream out of the freezer, or if you are making your own, make it to the point you are ready to freeze. Line a loaf tin, approximately the same length as the width of your Swiss roll tin, with baking paper and pour in your ice cream, or spoon in your softened ice cream, and level the top. Cover with cling film then refreeze/freeze until firm.
Once almost frozen remove the loaf tin of ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften slightly. Using the paper and your hands, fashion the ice cream into a log shape roughly the same width as your sponge. Re-roll in baking paper or cling film then pop back in the freezer to harden again.
Pre heat your oven to 170 degrees fan assisted and line a 24cm x 32cm swiss roll tin with baking paper. In your stand mixer or in a bowl with an electric hand whisk, whisk the eggs and caster sugar until they have doubled in size and are light in colour and texture. This will take a good 2 to 3 minutes.
Mix in the vanilla extract then fold in the flour and baking powder, carefully, using a metal spoon making sure you don’t knock all the air out of the mixture.
Pour into the lined tray and bake for around 15 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool for 2 minutes. Lay out a piece of baking paper and sprinkle on the additional tablespoon of caster sugar. Turn the cool-ish sponge onto the paper, remove the backing paper then roll up, keeping the new paper inside the roll. Leave, rolled up, to cool completely.
When the sponge is cool, carefully unroll it and spread with the jam. Remove the log of ice cream from the freezer and unwrap. Place it on the end of the sponge nearest you and wrap the ice cream in the roll. Trim off any excess sponge then re-roll in clingfilm and put back in the freezer until needed.
When ready to serve, remove from the freezer and serve in generous slices, with berries and cream. This will keep in the freezer for at least a couple of weeks.
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