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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Coffee Swiss Roll

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The swiss roll, I believe, is one cake that will never cease to intimidate me. At one point, I used to bake this everyday, just so that I could get enough practice to get it right. There are 3 components to the process of baking a Swiss Roll- getting the sponge base to behave; preparing the filling and rolling the cake to achieve a neat pinwheel roll.

I have struggled many times with the sponge base. As basic as it may be, the sponge is possibly the least attempted cake genre in my baking repertoire. Butter cake, pound cake and even chiffon had often claimed preference over the humble sponge. In particular, I am absolutely terrified of the Genoise sponge - often the very first lesson in any baking course. I recall a basic genoise sponge baking class where we were required to hand whisk the eggs (no kitchenaid!) to ribbon stage. My cake turned out dry, coarse and crumbly. Subsquent attempts on the Genoise did not yield any spectacular results... dryness and coarseness are the usual issues. Subsequently, I avoided the Genoise totally and worked only with the souffle sponge (where egg yolks and whites are whisked separately).

So why have I returned to the genoise for this recipe? Laziness, plain old laziness. The genoise sponge uses a simpler process which does not require the eggs to be beaten separately. I felt this time, my eggs were whisked almost just right. The air cells of the cake, as expected is not as fine as the souffle sponge but at least this time, the texture remained soft and tender. It did not dry out on me even without the use of syrup - which is important- for a dried out sponge will be impossible to roll up.
When paired with the coffee flavoured Swiss Meringue buttercream, this cake was not shabby at all.
What I would do to improve this next time? Whisk the eggs at a lower speed to minimise the air cells in the cake.... and then, maybe I can claim victory over the Genoise sponge and move on to Lesson 2 in baking class... :)

Coffee Roll4(250)
Coffee Swiss Roll
Recipe : (Adapted from Kuru kuru Roll Cake)
Sponge
3               Whole eggs
1                Egg yolk
80g            Castor sugar
80g            All purpose flour

20g            Butter melted
30ml          Milk
1tbsp         Instant coffee powder

Butter Cream

75g            Egg white
70g            Castor sugar
Pinch         Salt

225g          Unsalted butter
1tsp            Vanilla Extract
2tsp            Instant Expresso powder

Method :
Sponge:
1. Line a 30cmx30cm cake pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Place eggs and egg yolk in a bowl with sugar and whisk over a water bath until sugar is completely dissolved and eggs become foamy. Remove from heat. (Take care not to rest the bowl on the boiling water)
3. Continue whisking the egg yolks using a stand mixer at medium speed until ribbon stage is reached. (at this point, when a figure 8 is drawn with the egg foam, it should clearly retain its mark and not disappear into the batter)
4. Sieve flour over the egg batter and fold with a spatula to incorporate.
5. Mix butter, milk and coffee powder together and add to (4). (warming the liquid mixture will make it easier to incorporate with the batter)
6. Fold carefully from bottom up to incorporate liquid with batter.
7. Pour batter into lined baking tray. Spread out batter evenly with a scraper.
8. Gently tap the baking tray a few times to release trapped big bubbles.
9. Bake at 200C for 12mins.
10. Remove tray from oven and lift cake from baking tray onto a wire rack. Place the whole cake on the rack into a big plastic bag to cool. (This will help to prevent cake from drying out)

Swiss Meringue Butter Cream
1. Place egg whites, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk egg whites over a water bath until sugar and salt completely dissolves.
2. Remove from heat and continue whisking the egg whites using a stand mixer.
3. Whisk at low speed and gradually increase speed. Whisk the egg whites until glossy and firm peaks are formed. (The meringue should cool down by then)
4. Lower mixing speed and add butter in spoonfuls until smooth and fluffy.
5. Mix coffee powder with vanilla extract and add to (4).
6. Change balloon whisk to paddle and continue mixing for another 10mins at low speed to deaerate the cream.

Assembly :
1. Remove liner paper on sponge cake.
2. Place sponge sheet on a sheet of parchment paper with the baked face facing upwards. Spread/pipe butter cream over sponge sheet and roll the cake up like a sushi roll, tucking in the ends with a ruler.
With the cake still wrapped in parchment paper, chill until cake form is firmed up.
3. Slice and serve. 

34 comments:

CaThY said...

nicely rolled! pretty :)

Rebecca said...

Lovely. I've always wanted to make one of these roll-y cakes but I'm afraid.

Von said...

I've yet to make a successful genoise sponge- I think I've attempted it about 3 times, and each time, it turned out dry and coarse just like you described! I was taught to make sponges separating the egg yolks and whites so I thought the genoise sponge would be easier- how wrong I was!! haha...Your swiss roll looks really beautiful and yummy- I need to practice my swiss roll skills now!

daphne said...

You have so much patience and persistence.. But u reminded me how baking is all about prac prac and more prac! What gorgeous swiss rolls are they. And perfectly cut to sizes. You can open your own bakery!!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Actually Daphne, I am not as patient as you think. I am very careless about details so I don't think I will be very successful as a chef of any kind...:)

Jeannie said...

I think you are very meticulous in your baking, all your bakes turned looking very professional. This one is no exception.

Ribbon and Circus said...

Pretty Swiss rolls.. I have no luck in making ones.. always ended up with a dense rolls.. ugh..

will give swiss roll another chance with your tested recipe.. hee

Mel said...

I really loves to eat swiss roll; any flavour. My first attempt to bake a swiss roll years back was a failure and till now I have not try to start baking one. Yours really look so soft and yummy.

Passionate About Baking said...

Very pretty swiss rolls. Love your simple decoration.

Anonymous said...

Really really so much to learn from you~ :) Beautiful pictures.

Unknown said...

shirley, i'm loving your coffee roll! the genoise looks nice and spongy and the filling seems to be just the right amount. makes me hungry!

Food For Tots said...

I haven't even started my lesson 1 in baking swiss roll yet. Congrats on your success!! Your rolls look marvellous!!

pickyin @ LifeIsGreat said...

Vijay saw this and asked me "Her coffee Swiss roll looks good oh?" I guess I know what to bake for him next.

Cosy Bake said...

Pretty!!!!This is indeed yummy!!! I bake this roll cake most often..... ( as i have the same book too)!!!!

Jo said...

Very pretty swiss roll and perfectly done as well.

tigerfish said...

I seriously don't think you are careless about details. That coffee bean that marks each roll/slice shows how dedicated you are. Your swiss rolls look so perfect !

Maameemoomoo said...

Your rolling skill is perfect! Makes me wanna jump into my screen and grab a few slices. Heee!

I always find rolling Swiss roll intimidating. Rolled a couple before but never as perfect looking as yours.

At Home with Rebecka said...

I'm thrilled to have found your site! Your cooking technique is spot on and your styling and photography impeccable! I'm curious what type of camera you use?

Barbara | Creative Culinary said...

This is gorgeous and the word lazy should not be associated with it in any way!

mycookinghut said...

Very pretty swissroll!

Deb said...

An exceptional cake with outstanding photos! I have to attempt a Swiss roll cake and am in awe of your tempting dessert.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I still am quite intimidated by Swiss rolls-the first one I made when I was young cracked and I always fear it happening again. Yours looks really perfect! :D

Widi Dede said...

very simple and looks tasty yummy yummy......

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christina said...

i SO would love to make these! Yum! i would love to know where you go the cups from? beautiful!
xo

Unknown said...

i know exactly what you mean when you mention fearing the dreaded genoise :/ i have had many attempts, with dry dense results. However, one genoise sponge recipe which has not failed me yet is the one cookingwithdog uses for their japanese christmas cake http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmLkPBut8nI&list=UUpprBWvibvmOlI8yJOEAAjA&index=22&feature=plcp

it comes out spongy and moist, and works quite well as a swiss roll, as the batter is quite stable. The lady takes many precautions, such as gently whisking eggs at different speeds, and over a bain marie to achieve a fluffy texture. One alteration i make is to use a whisk to gently fold the flour in, and then a spatula to incorporate milk and melted butter at the end. i hope this helps you :)

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@Christina- Please do try to make these. I got the cups from Chinatown at Siah Huat.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@Christina- Please do try to make these. I got the cups from Chinatown at Siah Huat.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow what an awesome swiss roll. Very perfectly cut and very professional!!! I am way too tempted.

Love your pictures a lot :)

Pavithra
www.dishesfrommykitchen.com

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Such an awesome looking swiss roll with my fav flavor in it. Looks very professional and I am way too tempted. I am in love with your pictures.

Pavithra
www.dishesfrommykitchen.com

michele @ i-heart-baking said...

this looks delicious! i always get coffee swiss roll when i'm at any chinese bakery. will have to try making this sometime, thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

hi,

wld like to ask that when whisking the egg whites over the water bath for the buttercream, does it means putting the bowl in the water or on top of it (bowl not touching the water)?

Thanks!:)

Wen

rheaspeaks said...

does anyone know the metric conversions for this recipe?

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@rheaspeaks - the above recipe is already in metric. If you are looking for conversion into cups... I find this site useful... http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@rheaspeaks - the above recipe is already in metric. If you are looking for conversion into cups... I find this site useful... http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm

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