Lemon Strawberry Cake Roll

For filling:
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter
Juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cup well-chilled heavy cream
1 pint small to medium strawberries

For cake:
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

For lemon syrup:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water

Lemon glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

To make filling:
In a heavy saucepan combine the egg yolks, sugar, butter and the lemon juice. Cook the mixture over medium low heat, stirring until the butter is melted and custard is thick enough to coat a spoon. Do not let the mixture boil. Transfer the custard to a bowl and stir in the lemon rind. Let the custard cool, cover with a buttered circle of waxed paper, and chill. In a chilled bowl whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Cover and chill. Remove the strawberry hulls and either halve or quarter the berries, depending on their size. Cover and chill.

For cake:
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a greased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 1-inch, with foil. Grease the foil and dust with flour knocking out excess.

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat egg yolks, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, zest and vanilla until thick and pale and mixture forms a ribbon when beaters are lifted. In a large bowl with clean beaters beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Beat in the remaining sugar and gradually beat egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten it and fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Sift flour, salt and cornstarch over batter and fold until batter is just combined.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake in middle rack of oven for 6 to 9 minutes or until cake is lightly colored and springs back when pressed lightly. Dust a kitchen towel generously with confectioners' sugar and invert cake onto it. Remove foil carefully from cake. Starting with the long side, roll up cake loosely but gently in the towel and cool 30 minutes.

For lemon syrup:
In a small saucepan combine 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water and bring to a simmer, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved. Keep syrup warm.

To assemble cake:
Stir half of the chilled whipped cream into the chilled lemon curd until mixture loosens up. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Unroll cake and carefully brush with half the warm syrup. Spread cake with lemon curd filling. Arrange halved strawberries over the filling. Re-roll the cake carefully. Transfer cake to a platter seam side down, and brush with remaining syrup. Chill roll covered loosely for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For lemon glaze:
In a small bowl whisk together 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to make a pourable glaze. Transfer glaze into a small re-sealable plastic bag. Snip one corner to make a small hole. Trim ends of cake diagonally and squeeze glaze decoratively over cake.

Yield: one cake roll, 8 to 10 servings