Easy Choco Swiss Roll / Roulade
Swiss roll always seemed to be the hardest type of cake to make . Many complained of cracking and breaking apart at the time of rolling out , while some complains about it’s drying out too soon . But I tell you this is not hard at all , if you just follow some simple technique . đ Many of you email me or personally inbox me saying that , you are afraid of trying many recipes as a beginner , just because you don’t want to waste .I’d love to take the opportunity to say that my priority while cooking has always been the budget and affordability of the ingredients . I am always concerned about the mass , the ingredients should be affordable to every one . So I never use cake flour or ready made cake mix to make any cake , not even the self rising flour or even if I make something with the ingredients that may not be found every where , I do mention the substitutes . đ
Many of you don’t want to try Swiss roll as many recipe requires 6/8 / 10 eggs lest it should be wasted . I understand as a beginner it’s better to try with small quantity . This recipe only requires 3 eggs and you will get 7-8 large pieces after cutting it into pieces . đ
Ingredients:
3 eggs ( room temperature)
1/4 th cup of all purpose flour + 1 tbl spoon, heaped
2 tbl spoon good quality Cocoa powder ( heaped)
1/3 rd cup caster sugar ( powdered sugar)
1 tea spoon of vanilla essence
For the cream:
4 tbl spoon Butter
4 tbl spoon Cream cheese
12 tbl spoon of Icing/ powdered sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
Other ingredients:
Any jam of your choice , Strawberry , apricot , raspberry .
Procedure:
1. Pre heat the oven to 375 FH or 190 Centigrade for 20 minutes .
2.Grease a thin pan , usually called jelly roll pan and line with parchment or butter or wax paper . Use rectangular or square pans . The edges of the pan should not be high .
3.Beat the eggs with electric hand beater until triples in volume and becomes very stiff . Don’t add the sugar while beating the egg . Beat the eggs first . Beating the eggs is very important for Swiss roll . For the perfect texture , many separates the egg yolk and egg white . But you can achieve the same result beating the whole egg well . It took me almost 8/9 minutes to get the right consistency . The eggs should be of room temperature ,otherwise it won’t get the volume that much . So beat the eggs until they triples in volume , are foamy and stiff . When you will see , the mixture doesn’t falls off from the beater , it means you have the right texture .
It should look like this ; the egg is so stiff , it’s not even falling off from the beater;
4. Now beat with sugar , until it dissolves . add the vanilla essence .
5. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder together . Now fold in with the egg-sugar mixture with a spatula in three batches . Always fold in clock wise motion, that will ensure even mixing . Pour in the pan and immediately transfer it to the pre-heated oven and bake for only 10-12 minutes . Don’t over bake .
Always remember while pouring them in the pan , don’t make it a heavy , thick cake . Thick cake will break apart while rolling out . So it should always be a thin layer of batter . đ
6. While the cake is baking, sprinkle some powdered sugar over a butter paper larger than your cake pan and get one damp kitchen towel ready . The damp towel will help to retain the moisture and the butter paper dusted with powdered sugar will do the same after rolling it out .
7.Once the cake is baked, immediately turn it over on the tea towel. Peel off the parchment/ butter paper and immediately roll cake into the tea towel while it is still warm . Do it quickly . If you hesitate to roll out or take time , it may break apart . If you don’t roll it now , if the cakes cool down the cake will tend to break apart while trying it to roll .
Now place it on the powdered sugar dusted butter paper, sprinkle some powdered sugar over the cake and roll again . Let it cool compeletly and then keep it in the fridger for 20- 30 minutes , before you spread the jam and cream.
8. Now spread the jam and the cream . The jam should be beaten . And always use jam, not jelly .Roll out , the cream will tend to come out , don’t worry , it’s pretty normal . đ
9. Don’t cut the Swiss roll immediately . Keep it in the refrigerator and when set , cut it into pieces . đ
Notes:
1. Whipping or beating the eggs is very important . Keep beating the eggs with electric hand beater or mixer at high speed until triples in volume and stiff . The mixture should not be runny , so when you takes your beater off the mixture , it should be stiff; should not be runny . Whipping of egg is important , because it produces a more flexible sponge cake that doesn’t crack when rolled. For this reason , to ensure more , some whip the egg whites and egg yolk separately . But if you beat the whole eggs well , that’s good enough.
2. Always use room temperature eggs to get the more volume .
3. Don’t beat the eggs and sugar together . Add sugar after your eggs are beaten thick , when it has reached triple in volume and becomes stiff . If you add the sugar , from the very beginning , the egg won’t rise that much and won’t get that stiff the way we want .
4. I don’t use baking powder or any other leavening agent in Swiss cake , though some people does . But it always seems risky to me , because if the cake rises too much it may crack or break apart while folding it .
5. Pan size really matters . Use a pan , that doesn’t have the higher edges . If the cake is too thick , the cake will break apart while folding . So lay a thin layer of batter on the pan , but not too thin . You have to remember the cake won’t rise that much . So keep it in mind pour your batter on to the pan.
6. Don’t over bake and sponge cakes are usually baked on high temperature than the usual ones . I prefer 375FH or 190 centigrade . Just bake for 10-12 minutes . Check after 10 minutes , if the toothpick inserted come clean , it’s ready .
7 . Prepare a damp towel and a butter paper dusted with powdered sugar , a little larger than the pan to fold the cake . Damp towel and powdered sugar would help to retain the moisture .
8. Roll immediately while it is still hot . Do it quickly .
9. After spreading jam and cream and folding , don’t try to cut the cake immediately . Try to set it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour .