Mark Hix recipe: Arctic roll

Serves 4-6

Bit of a treat: Mark's Arctic roll (Jason Lowe)

Another one from my school days, the Arctic roll, was almost certainly bought in, but always a bit of a treat when we were served it. You can cheat a little here, if you wish, by using ready-made strawberry or raspberry jam.

750-800g good-quality vanilla ice-cream, softened a little
120g strawberries, leaves removed and blended to a purée in a liquidiser

For the strawberry jam

150g caster sugar
350g strawberries, leaves removed and halved

For the sponge

4 free-range eggs
110g caster sugar, plus extra to dust
110g self-raising flour

Lay a piece of clingfilm lengthways on a table and spoon the softened ice-cream down the centre – it should be about 30cm in length. Roll up the clingfilm to form a rough cylinder, then wrap another piece of clingfilm around it. Hold each end with your hands and twist in opposite directions so it tightens up and forms a cylinder about 7-8cm wide. Place it in the freezer until required.

To make the strawberry jam, put the strawberries and sugar into a heavy-based saucepan and cook on a high heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring every so often, until the strawberries are just starting to soften and there is very little liquid left in the pan. Now remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 5. Line a 23cm x 33cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment. Place the eggs and sugar into a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy and thickened.

Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in carefully with the whisk or a large spoon.

Pour into the lined tin and smooth over with the back of the spoon or spatula until evenly spread out.Bake the sponge for 10-12 minutes, or until just firm to the touch. Place a sheet of baking parchment, that is slightly bigger than the tray, on to the work surface and dust with some caster sugar.

Turn the sponge out on to the parchment paper, then peel off the parchment on the bottom of the sponge. Set aside to cool slightly.

To assemble the roll, spread the strawberry jam over the cooled sponge, leaving a 2cm gap around the edge.

Remove the clingfilm from the ice-cream and place the ice-cream on the sponge; carefully roll it up.

Either serve immediately, cut into 2cm-thick slices with a spoonful of the strawberry purée on the plate, or freeze until required.