Lemon Curd Gypsy Arm

How to make a gypsy arm filled with Lemon Curd or lemon curd.

If something has lemon curd , we fall at his feet.

That “ lemon curd ”, literally translated from English, is something that drives us crazy for its smooth and creamy texture and for that balanced point of acidity with which our taste buds dance with pleasure.

The first time we tried lemon curd was many years ago, back in British lands. We met him at a bed & breakfast, he winked at us from a set of bowls and stood out among the jams , looking provocative.

Something that we had not seen before, our curiosity as food lovers immediately pushed us to try it and it was love at first sight.

Back in Spain a boat came in the suitcase, we wanted to share the discovery with everyone and we succeeded among our family and friends. But the boat emptied and we wanted more, so we started digging through Anglo-Saxon recipe blogs and discovered that we could make our own lemon curd at home.

Since then we have not stopped preparing and eating it, either as a spread on breakfast toast or as a filling for cakes, pastries or this gypsy arm .

Making a gypsy arm is easy. The cake recipe is the basic of the Genoese cake , which could not be easier.

The only complication that the theme has is the coiling, which we forget to do hot when it doesn’t work so well because the cake ends up cracking and leaving a feote. But if we do it on time, we will get, for very little effort, an arm of gypsy lemon curd yummy .

You just have to follow the instructions for this dessert that we give you below, organize the times of the two preparations (sponge cake and lemon curd) before launching to prepare them and the rest is sewing and singing. Let’s go with it.

Preparation of lemon curd

1. We start with the lemon curd so that when the cake is ready, the lemon cream has cooled completely and it is easier to handle.
2. In hot it drains too much and drips so if you can not do it in advance, it is recommended that you let it cool before filling the cake.
3. We wash the lemons well to remove any possible insecticide residue from the skin that we are going to eat. For this we rub with a scouring pad under a stream of tap water. We dry.
4. Grate the skin of the lemons with a fine grater, squeeze their juice and place both in a small saucepan.
5. When pouring the juice we pass it through a strainer so that we do not drop seeds.
6. Add the sugar and butter in pieces. We place the saucepan inside another one of bigger size in which we will have thrown a finger of water.
7. We are going to prepare the lemon curd steamed and it is important that the bottom of the small saucepan does not touch the water of the large saucepan in which it is placed so that it does not reach too high a temperature, which could cause it to cut.
8. Place the pans on medium heat and let the butter melt with the steam, slowly.
9. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the yolk in a bowl and add them when the butter is completely melted.
10. We beat the mixture with some metal rods to homogenize and distribute the heat throughout the mixture. We let the egg curdle in the heat of the steam while stirring gently, but without stopping.
11. After about five minutes, the bubbles that initially form will have disappeared and the mixture will begin to thicken. It is time to remove the saucepan from the steam and leave it to warm up before going to the fridge for complete cooling.

Preparation of the Genoese sponge cake cream from the gypsy arm

1. Once the lemon cream or lemon curd is ready, we prepare the sponge cake plate.
2. We beat the eggs together with the sugar in a deep and wide bowl until the mixture doubles its volume and has turned whitish.
3. We sift the flour with a pinch of salt and add it to the previous mixture, stirring gently, with enveloping movements from bottom to top until well integrated.

Baking the gypsy arm cake

1. We cover a baking tray with parchment paper and spread the sponge cake over the entire surface.
2. We introduce in the oven, previously heated to 180º C with heat up and down, and cook for 10 minutes or when it begins to brown slightly.
3. We remove the cake from the oven and let it temper for a few minutes before rolling it up on itself, by the narrowest part of the rectangle, without removing the sulfurized paper that will have stuck to the base.
4. We wrap the rolled cake in a clean cloth and let it cool down.
5. When it is completely cold we unroll it carefully, removing the sulfurized paper.

Filling the gypsy arm and final presentation

1. Spread the lemon curd with a spatula all over the base, leaving a strip from side to side on top.
2. We roll up again delicately, taking care that the filling does not come out.
3. We cut the ends with a serrated knife to equalize and make it look nice and decorate to taste.
4. We have dusted the arm with icing sugar and placed a few pieces of strawberry on top, but you can use other fruits or anything you can think of.

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for gypsy arm stuffed with lemon curd . Do not miss any detail so that you get a perfect dessert.

Tips for a Yummy Lemon Curd Gypsy Arm

• You have several ideas on the blog to fill your gypsy arm, from the tiramisu gypsy arm , the chocolate filling or the chestnut cream filling .
• If the eggs are at room temperature they will mount better and faster. If we have not remembered to take them out of the fridge in time, we can place the container on a saucepan with a little freshly boiled water.
• The steam will make the eggs heat up quickly and blanch fast.
• It is very important that the lemon curd is very cold when filling the gypsy arm so that it does not come out from the sides.
• We can prepare it the day before and let it rest in the fridge overnight. In this way, in addition to cooling well, it will take on a certain consistency and be more manageable.
• We can put the arm in the freezer a few minutes before trimming the ends, so the cut will be cleaner as it will take on a body and harden a little in the cold.
• At the time of decorating the gypsy arm, yes we have placed it on a serving platter and we do not want it to get dirty. We put two strips of paper on the sides and proceed with the decoration, sprinkling without fear as the remains will fall on them. Once the decoration is finished, we remove the strips and discard.