It's Time for Blackforest!

When I was young, I always wondered what a Black Forest Cake is. My impression back then was that Black Forest cakes are a staple in confectionaries and they always seemed to taste good. Now that I am a home baker, I learnt that a Black Forest Cake is basically a cream cake consisting of cherries and chocolate sponge. I have been wanting to make a Black Forest Cake ever since I started making layer cakes. Somehow, it never materialized. With a pack of opened dairy whipping cream lying in my fridge, it was a good excuse to work on this cake.

I don't quite fancy plain whipped cream cakes but this is one that agrees well with my palate, due to the presence of halved dark sweet cherries and thickened cherry syrup stuffed into the whipped cream layers. The cherry syrup, thickened with corn flour, resembles the consistency of canned blueberry pie filling.

I will be submitting this entry for this month's Aspring Bakers #5: Fruity March hosted by Jess of Bakericious.    

Black Forest Cake ( Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe adapted from 超人气香港蛋糕56款, Cream filling adapted from Delicious cakes by Amy Heng)

Serving size: Makes a 9 inch round cake. Serves 10 to 12 slices

Taste and texture: Cake base is soft, moist and fluffy. Whipped cream is cherry-sweet, smooth and creamy.
Equipment and materials:

• 9 x 3 inch round pan
• 10 inch round cake board
• Cake leveller or palette/serrated knife longer than 8 inches
• Balloon/wire whisk
• Rubber spatula
• Handheld beater/Stand beater
• Baking paper
• Wire rack
• Toothpick/wooden skewer
• Flour sieve
• Mixing bowls
• Cake turntable (optional)
• Star Piping tip (Wilton # 22)
• Piping bag
• Coupler for piping

Chocolate Sponge Cake (3 layers):

• 85g egg yolks, room temperature
• 65g caster sugar
• 5 tbs vegetable oil
• 5 tbs water
• 110g cake flour
• 20g cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp + 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 200g egg whites, room temperature
• 65g caster sugar

Making the Chocolate Sponge Cake:

Prepare Oven - Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.

Prepare flour mixture - Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and allow the dry ingredients to be evenly distributed.

Making the egg yolk batter - Place egg yolks, 65g caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add in oil and water. Mix well with a wire whisk. Add in the flour mixture and mix to obtain a smooth and thick chocolate batter.

Beating egg whites - In a clean metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on low speed. Increase speed slowly to medium-high and beat untill egg whites are at soft peaks. Add 65g of sugar gradually and beat untill egg whites are almost stiff and still moist. This is when the beaters are lifted, the egg whites will form peaks that are upright and not drooping slightly. Egg whites will resemble whipped cream.The entire bowl of whites will not drop out when the bowl is overturned. Do not beat until the egg whites are dry and clumpy.

Folding in egg whites - Using a balloon whisk, fold one third of beaten egg whites into egg yolk batter gently to lighten and combine. Fold in the rest of the beaten whites to combine. Final batter should be foamy and uniform in colour with no streaks of egg white present. Folding egg whites gently using a balloon whisk will prevent egg whites from deflating too much.

Baking the sponge cake - Pour batter into a greased and lined 9 x 3 inch round pan and bake at 160 degrees C for 30 -35 minutes. Test doneness using a skewer or toothpick. The highest part of the cake should rise up to 4/5 or nearly the full height of the tin. When the cake is done, the inserted skewer will come out clean. Cake will shrink from edges and in height on cooling. Unmould sponge cake and leave to cool upright on a wire rack.

Whipped Cream Filling and Frosting: 

• 500ml chilled whipping cream (dairy)
• 2 1/2 tbs icing sugar
• 1 can (425g/15oz) dark sweet cherries
• cherry liquid from can
• 1 tbs cornflour
• 1 1/2 tbs sugar

Decorations:

• 12 whole cherries from can, or 12 fresh cherries or 12 maraschinao cherries.
• 100ml chilled whipping cream for piping rosettes, (whipped to soft peaks)
• Enough dark chocolate shavings/choc rice

Preparing whipped cream filling and frosting:

Whipping the cream - Place 500 ml chilled whipping cream in a mixing bowl. Beat the cream on high speed until it reaches mousse state. Add 2 1/2 tbs icing sugar and continue beating the cream on low speed, stopping and checking the consistency every 5 seconds. Beat the cream until it reaches soft peak (80% stiff)

Preparing cherries - Drain the cherries and reserve the cherry liquid. Reserve 12 whole cherries and half the rest. Squeeze halved cherries gently to remove some of the juice. Set aside halved cherries and 12 whole cherries.

Preparing cherry syrup - Place reserved cherry syrup, 1 tbs cornflour and 2 tbs sugar in a saucepan and stir until combined.  Heat the mixture on low heat until it thickens slightly. Allow the cherry syrup to cool completely before use. It will thicken further on cooling.

Assembly:

Slicing sponge cake - Slice sponge cake into 3 even layers using cake leveller or long serrated/palette knife. Slice off the part that has domed.

Preparing the layers - Using the removable base of a round tart tin or a round cake board, slide the tart tin base or cake board under a sponge layer and carefully transport one sponge layer onto a 10 inch round cake board placed on a cake turntable (optional). This method of transferring is to prevent the sponge layer from breaking.

Dab 1/4 of the whipped cream and spread it evenly onto the first sponge layer using a palette knife or spatula. Drizzle half of the cherry syrup randomly over the whipped cream. Scatter half of the halved cherries over the whipped cream layer.

Place a second sponge layer (using the tart tin base or cake board to transport) carefully over the first sponge layer and align it properly with the first layer. Dab 1/4 of the whipped cream and spread it evenly onto the second sponge layer using a palette knife or spatula. Drizzle the remaining half of the cherry syrup randomly over the whipped cream and scatter the remaining halved cherries over the whipped cream layer. 
 

Add the 3rd sponge layer (using the tart tin base or cake board to transport) and align it well with the first two layers. Apply a thin layer of whipped cream on the surface and the sides (perimeter) of the cake to seal the crumbs first (crumb coating). Once the crumb coat is done, add whipped cream to the surface and sides of the cake and smooth the whipped cream using a palette knife.

Decorations:

Piping rosettes and placing cherries - Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #22 star tip (or any other tip you desire). Hold the piping at 45 degrees to the cake surface and gently squeeze out the whipping cream, applying constant pressure and moving your hands in a circular motion to pipe a rosette. Release pressure and pull the tip away to complete the rosette. Pipe 12 rosettes and place each whole cherry between two piped rosettes.

Coating cake with chocolate shavings/rice - Place an over-turned round tin over a large sheet of baking paper. Lift the assembled cake (with the cake board) and rest it on the over-turned round tin (9 or 10 inch would be good). Spoon chocolate shavings/rice onto the sides (perimeter) and the surface (middle) of the assembled cake. Resuse the clean chocolate shavings that fall onto the baking paper if needed.  

Notes:

1. Whipped cream is not stablized and would not hold its shape for too long at warm room temperature
2. Soak cherries in cherry liquer for a fuller cherry experience. 
3. Try practice piping rosettes on a strip of baking paper 1st before piping on the cake surface.
4. Cream whipped to 70-80% stiff is ideal for piping, filling and frosting. If it is too stiffly whipped, the cream will not be smooth when piped or may separate when it is frosted (if cream is too vigourously handled).  
5. Use about 3/4 tsp cream of tartar to stabilize the beaten egg whites if required. It will make folding of egg whites easier.

Notice:

If you wish to post the recipe and instructions online, please give due credit and do re-phrase the instructions. I have taken quite a bit of effort to construct, edit and type them out. Thank you =].

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Practice with Fondant Icing - Fondant Rose

I am comtemplating on a cake project in which I need to work with fondant icing. Fondant icing is one aspect of cake making which I am totally unfamiliar with. Hence, working on a fondant cake project means there is plenty of reading up and careful planning to be carried out, to minimize the chances of any mishaps that might happen.

For the cake project, one of my idea is to make fondant roses. After watching some videos on youtubes, I was tempted to try making my own fondant icing and start on a fondant modelling practice session.

The fondant recipe that I referred to worked quite well but somehow heat from my hands makes the fondant icing sticky. I had to dust the fondant and my hands with corn flour constantly to prevent the fondant from softening and sticking to my hands. After some three or four tries, I finally completed a fondant rose without the aid of any modelling tools! 

Working with fondant sure brings a lot of fun. Think of it as modelling with play dough. You don't have to be a sculptor nor a baker to mould fondant icing. It might even get addictive. However, I wouldn't recommend any to taste these fondant decorations since its totally sugary-sweet.

Now that I have taken my first step into fondant making, I might want to explore around a little before I finalize on my cake project. In any case, the fondant roses would be great for adorning any birthday cakes that I will be making in future.

The following are youtube videos which I referred to for making of fondant rose. No tools are required. Have fun!

Making a fondant rose - part 1

Making a fondant rose - part 2

My First Blog Award and Not-Quite-Mango Mousse Cake

I would like to thank Jean and Esther for passing this award to me. This is the first time I'm receiving an award related to blogging and I find it rather interesting. Usually, awards are given out to recipients to acknowledge their contribution in their respective fields. In this case, I think of this award as an encouragement, friendship and goodwill between two bloggers.  

Now that mangoes are in season, it means time to buy and use them for baking. On my mind, I have been thinking of making either a mango-upside down cake or a mango mousse cake. After reading Allie's post, I decided to use Florence's mango mousse cake recipe for the 2nd time.

In the previous attempt, the mouse turned out horribly bland when I used Malaysian mangoes. This time round, I used Thai honey mangoes (my mangoes were over-riped) and it did turn out better, but still not up to my expectations. The recipe works perfectly well and I am sure the problem (taste-wise) lies with the variety of mangoes that I have used.  

In local supermarts here, the varieties of mangoes available are quite limited. We have:

• Malaysian mangoes (Chanakran mangoes, if I did not recall wrongly),
• Thai honey mangoes
• Thai rainbow mangoes
• Thai ivory mangoes
• Pakistan mangoes (pricey)
• Taiwan mango king (pricey) 

Out of these varieties, I find that malaysian mangoes are both bland in taste and lacking in sweetness while Thai honey mangoes are sweet but lacking in fragrance. I will probably not be using these two varieties of mangoes in any of my bakes again, using them for cake decorations at most. Maybe fellow bakers and readers out there might to want to share your experience with mangoes.

My other regret for this mango mousse cake is the appearance. I had been careful while filling up the perimeter of the cake (in the cake ring) with mango mousse, pushing the mousse down as best as I could but the cake still turns out with big gaps at the sides.

Mango Mousse Cake ( Sponge recipe adapted from 超人气香港蛋糕56款, Mango mousse recipe slightly modified from Do What I Like and Mango gelee layer recipe adapted from All that Matters)

Taste and Texture: Firm mango mousse layers with moist and light sponge, topped with soft mango jelly.
Serving Size: 10 slices
Equipment:
1) 8 inch round pan
2) 8 inch round cake ring
3) 9 inch round cake board
4) Cake leveller or palette/serrated knife longer than 8 inches
5) Balloon whisk
6) Rubber spatula
7) Handheld beater/Stand beater
8) Baking paper
9) Wire rack
10) Toothpick/wooden skewer
11) Flour sieve
12) Mixing bowls

Sponge cake ( Sponge recipe adapted from 超人气香港蛋糕56款)
70g egg yolks, room temperature
40g caster sugar
4tbs vegetable oil
3 tbs water
95g cake flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
140g egg whites, room temperature
40g caster sugar

Making the sponge cake:
Prepare Oven - Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.

Prepare flour mixture - Sift cake flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and distribute the ingredients evenly.

Making the egg yolk batter - Place egg yolks and 40g caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. Briefly whisk the egg yolk mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Add in oil and water and stir well.

Folding flour into egg yolk batter - Add the flour mixture to the yolks + oil + water mixture and mix well. Use a spatula to scoop sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure flour mixture is evenly incorporated.

Beating egg whites - Next, whisk egg whites on low speed. Increase speed slowly to medium and beat until egg whites are foamy. Gradually increase speed to high and add the remaining 40g of sugar gradually. Beat until egg whites are almost stiff but still moist. This is when the beaters are lifted, the egg whites will form peaks that are upright and not drooping slightly. Egg whites will resemble whipped cream.The entire bowl of whites will not drop out when the bowl is overturned.

Folding in egg whites - Using a balloon whisk, fold one third of beaten egg whites into egg yolk batter gently to lighten and combine. Fold in the rest of the beaten whites to combine. Final batter should be foamy and uniform in colour with no streaks of egg white present. Folding egg whites gently using balloon whisk will prevent egg whites from deflating too much.

Baking the sponge cake - Pour batter into a greased and lined 8 inch round pan and bake at 160 degrees C for 25 -30minutes. Test doneness using a skewer or toothpick. Cake will shrink from edges on cooling. Unmould sponge cake and leave to cool on a wire rack upright.

Mango Mousse layers: (recipe slightly modified from Do What I Like)

350g fresh mango puree, at room temperature
350ml whipping cream,
3 tbs icing sugar (vary to your liking and the sweetness of the mangoes)
17g gelatine powder soaked in 4 tbs water
about 180g mango, cubed (not too big)

Making mango mousse:
Whipping the cream - Whip cream until it is at mousse state (roughly 70% stiff). Add in icing sugar and whip on low speed to dissolve the sugar.

Making gelatine solution - Soak gelatine in water and allow it to bloom for 5 minutes. Heat the gelatine mixture over a double boiler untill gelatine dissolves completely. Leave to cool.

Making mango mousse - Combine gelatine mixture and mango puree. Fold in whipped cream to obtain a smooth pale-orange mango mousse.

Cake Assembly:
Slicing sponge cake - Slice sponge cake into 2 even layers using cake leveller or long serrated/palette knife. Slice off the part that has domed.

Preparing the sponge and mousse layers - Place one sponge layer into a 8 inch cake ring supported by a cake board below. There should some allowance surrounding the sponge layer. Spread 100g of cubed mango over the first sponge layer. Pour half of the mango mousse over the first sponge layer. I measured the mousse by weight and divided it evenly into 2 portions. Level the mousse as evenly as possible.

Place the second sponge layer over the mousse layer. Spread remaining 100g cubed mango over the second sponge layer. Pour the remaining mousse mixture over the second sponge layer and level the top as evenly as possible. Place cake ring in the refrigerator and allow a chilling time of 4 hours or until mousse is firm.

Mango Gelee layer (recipe adapted from All that Matters)
100g mango puree
2 tsp gelatin
3 tbs water
100g mango, cubed

Making mango gelee layer:
Making gelatine solution - Soak 2 tsp gelatine in 3tbs water and allow it to bloom for 5 minutes. Heat the gelatine mixture over a double boiler untill gelatine dissolves completely. Leave to cool.

Making the mango gelee - Combine cooled gelatine solution and mango puree. Pour it over the chilled and assembled mango mousse cake. Scatter 100g cubed mango over the mango gelee layer. Allow cake to chill until mango gelee layer is firm.

Unmoulding finished cake:
To unmould, wrap a warm kitchen towel around the ring or use a hairdryer to briefly heat up the exterior of the cake ring. Take care not to apply too much heat using the hairdryer. Remove cake ring slowly and steadily. Bring cake back to the refrigerator to firm up before decorating and cutting.

Notes:
1) There is a risk of the mousse oxidizing when exposed to air for some time.
2) Use good quality mangoes for this cake.
3) Do not omit diced mangoes for mousse layers.
4) I'll probably cut down a little on the gelatine for the mango mousse.
5) The mango mousse tends to 'stain' the sponge layers.

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Saving a dry chocolate cake - Apricot Sacher Cake

Very often, my chocolate cakes turn out to be dense, dry and crumbly as compared to other kinds of cakes. Perhaps it is the nature of cocoa that accounts for the sturdy structure and an absence of moisture, or it could be how well recipes work out. For me, I believe it is a combination of both factors.

To yield tender chocolate cakes, most recipes ask for a whooping amount of sugar. Having baked for some two and a half years, I am habitually cutting down on sugar on most recipes, as the Asian palate is not accustomed to the level of sweetness that the Americans are used to. This works well most of the time, without compensating much on the texture and moistness. However, it is not advisable to do so for chocolate bakes, since sugar helps to balance the bitterness and intensity of cocoa. Cut down on too much sugar and you will find your chocolate cakes or brownies to be on the bitter and dry side.

Sugar is not the sole tenderizer where baking is concerned. Other ingredients like butter, chemical leaveners, sour cream and yoghurt also help contribute to a tender-crumbed cake. On the other hand, flours and eggs are tougheners. Out of the four basic ingredients - flour, sugar, eggs, butter, we have two tenderizers (weakens structure) versus two tougheners (build structure). 

In a basic pound cake recipe using only the four basic ingredients, there is equal parts of flour, sugar, eggs and butter in weight. The total weight of tenderizers (butter and sugar) is equal to that of the total weight of the tougheners (flour and eggs). Tweak the proportions appropriately and you will get a tender cake. Of course, the mathematics becomes complex when more ingredients come into the picture or when the amount of egg yolks and whites differ.

From experience, I like chocolate cake recipes that use a decent amount of liquid (sourcream, whipping cream, yoghurt, milk, buttermilk). When leavened with the help of beaten egg whites, the resulting texture is much lighter.

Earlier this week, I tried out a chocolate cake recipe and it turned out dissatisfactory being dry and dense, despite the fact that the cake batter was leavened with egg whites. Refusing to let my cake go to waste, I reluctantly followed the instructions and completed it as a Apricot Sacher Cake. The dense cake was sliced into three layers and each layer was brushed with warmed apricot jam. Finally, the three layers were assembled and glazed with chocolate ganache. It sure made a lot of difference with the thin apricot jam layers and the chocolate ganache, adding much depth and flavour to an otherwise dull and boring chocolate cake.

Dark Chocolate Ganache
Taste and texture: Intense, rich, smooth.
Yield: Enough to coat a 8 x 2 inch tall chocolate cake
Equipment and materials:
1) Heatproof bowl
2) Spoon
3) Knife
4) Measuring jug
5) Wire rack
6) Baking paper
7) Spatula

Ingredients:
120ml heavy cream (whipping cream)
120g semisweet (55% cocoa) dark chocolate, finely chopped (use the best quality you can afford)

Method:
Making the Chocolate Ganache - Place 120g finely chopped bittersweet dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place heavy cream in a saucer and heat it until it is almost coming to a boil on medium heat. Turn off the flame and remove the saucer. Pour the cream over the finely chopped dark chocolate and allow chocolate to sit for a while in the heated cream. Stir gently to allow chocolate to melt and blend in with the cream. Do not over-stir or the mixture may become grainy. The smooth cream and dark chocolate mixture is known as a dark chocolate ganache. The chocolate should melt completely if this is properly done (if chocolate is finely chopped)

If dark chocolate is not completely melted - Place the heatproof bowl over a saucepan filled with water. The bowl should fit snugly onto the saucepan and the bottom of the bowl should not be in contact with the water in the saucepan. Bring the water in the saucepan to a low simmer on low heat. This is known as a double-boiler. Stir the chocolate cream mixture gently to obtain a smooth ganache. Do not over-stir or the mixture may become grainy.
 
Coating a cake with ganache:
Place cake on a wire rack over a large sheet of baking paper. Allow chocolate gananche to cool to a pouring consistency. Pour the ganache onto the centre of the cake and use a spatula to help spread the ganache evenly outwards. The ganache should coat the top and sides of the cake completely. Allow ganache to set. It may take several hours.
 
Notes:
1) If the chocolate do not melt completely and there is a need to use a double-boiler, there is a risk that the resulting ganache may be grainy if the heat is not well controlled.
2) Scale recipe up or down to glaze smaller/larger cakes.
3) The purpose of the baking paper below is to prevent a mess. If any part is uncoated, simply scoop and reuse some of the ganache that has dripped onto the baking paper.
4) When cake glazed with ganache is chilled, the ganache will become dull. Use a hair-dryer/blower to blow the surface of the ganache to return the shine.

Nutella Cream Cheese Tarts

I was browsing baking books at Kinokuniya yesterday when I overheard two ladies discussing the instructions on a recipe. They were wondering why the author asked for the cupcake pan to be rotated halfway through the baking time. With the answer in mind, I explained to them the rationale for doing so. 

After a brief chat with them, I got to know that they just started out baking. Out of goodwill, I recommended that they do some readup to prepare themselves well and referred them to baking sites such as baking911 and joy of baking. This incident reminded me of the time when I first started out as a self-taught baker. There was like tons of stuff to read up on and I wished I had a reliable source of help to turn to. Hope the two ladies will have lots of fun and joy embarking on their baking journey, perhaps even finding their passion in the midst of doing so.

Its been a while since I made any tarts (pineapple tarts excluded). I have been itching to try out recipes from one of my tart books. I love to munch on cream cheese tarts from bakeries and have always wanted to make them ever since I started baking. The chance came when I came across a recipe for blueberry cream cheese tarts. Tweaked the recipe a little and it came out nutella cream cheese tarts instead.  

Originally, the recipe asked for milk powder. I didn't like the creamy taste of it and hence omitted them in the recipe below. Taste wise, they are not too shabby. I would have preferred the fillings to be firmer though, similar to cream cheese tarts from local bakeries. 

Nutella Cream Cheese Tarts (recipe adapted from In the Mood for Pastries & Tarts by Alan Ooi)

Serving size: 12 3-inch tarts

Taste and texture: Creamy-cheesey with crumbly tart crust
Equipment and materials:
1) Flour sieve
2) Measuring spoon set
3) Mixing bowl/s
4) Wire rack
5) Fork
6) Pastry blender (optional)
7) Clingfilm
8) 3-inch individual tart tins

Sweet Short Crust Pastry:
210g plain flour
115g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbs icing sugar
2 1/2 tbs cold water
 
Cream Cheese Filling:
250g cream cheese
50g icing sugar
30g butter
50g whole eggs
about 4 tbs Nutella
 
Making the sweet short crust pastry:
Mixing dry ingredients - In a mixing bowl, sift in flour, icing sugar and salt. Whisk with a wire whisk to distribute ingredients evenly.
 
Forming the pastry - Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender until coarse flour coated crumbs are formed. Alternatively, rub the cubed butter into the flour with your clean hands to obtain coarse flour coated crumbs. Stir in cold water and mix with a fork to moisten the crumbs.
 
Gather the crumbs and knead briefly and gently enough so that crumbs come together to form a dough. Wrap dough with clingfilm and chill dough for at least 30 minutes.
 
Lining tart tins - Weigh the dough and divide it into 12 equal portions. Press each portion of dough evenly into individual 3-inch tart tins. Chilled dough-lined tart tins for 20 minutes. 
 
Baking the tart crusts - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Bake tart dough for about 15 -20 minutes or until tart crusts are lightly browned. Allow tarts to cool slightly in tart tins before removing them to cool completely on a wire rack. 
 
Assembling the tarts:
Making the cream cheese filling - In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, icing sugar and butter until creamy and smooth. Add in egg/s beat well to combine.
 
Filling and baking tart crusts - Spoon cream cheese filling onto cooled tart crusts. Drop 1/2 tsp nutella onto the cream cheese filling of each tart and use a tooth pick to create swirls. Bake tarts for 15-20 minutes at 180 degrees C. Allow tarts to cool completely on a wire rack.   

Notes:
1) The cream cheese filling is softly set after 15-20minutes of baking. For a firmer custard, either bake the tarts longer or chill the tarts.
2) My tart crusts are are pale creamy in colour as I did not bake long them enough, and probably due to the milk powder.
3) Use blueberry jam/ pie filling in place of nutella to make blueberry cream cheese tarts.
4) Tarts may shrink a little after baking.
5) Avoid over-kneading the dough of you may end up with tough crusts.

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Bananas about Cookies

It's a hit again. So far the score is 4-1, hits verus misses wise. I'm glad my copy of Martha Stewart's Cookies worked its charm with this banana walnut chocolate chip cookies. Other than using over-riped bananas solely for banana breads/cakes, there is a new option for me now.  

There is something about this cookie. It isn't quite the usual cookie that one would expect. Most of the time, I'm expecting cookies to be either chewy, crunchy, sandy, crumbly or perhaps sometimes cakey. This cookie doesn't fit the bill and it is more like soft and moist bite-sized banana bread/muffin.

My younger brother isn't used to this kind of texture but Stephanie says its good, tasting like cookies from Pepperidge. For me, I would give the thumbs up! Glad I discovered a different kind of cookie.

I will be submitting this entry to this month's Aspiring Bakers # 5 - Fruity March.

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies)
Serving size: 36 - 40 cookies
Taste and texture: Mini, moist banana bread-like cookies with a oaty-nutty taste.
Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater or wooden spoon
2) Flour sieve
3) Measuring spoon set
4) Spatula
5) Mixing bowls
6) Wire rack
7) Fork
8) Baking trays/ cookie sheets
9) Baking / parchment paper

Ingredients:
240g plain flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
160g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
75g castor sugar
75g brown sugar
50g whole egg, lightly beatened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
160g mashed, very ripe/over-riped bananas
85g rolled oats
175g chocolate chips or coarsely chopped semiweet chocolate
75g chopped walnuts, toasted

Making the Cookies:
Preheat oven - Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.

Toasting the walnuts - Toast walnuts at 190 degrees C for about 10 minutes to bring out its fragrance. Set walnuts aside to cool.

Mix dry ingredients - Sift flour, salt and baking soda into a mixing bowl. Stir with a balloon whisk to distribute them evenly.

Cream butter - Beat the butter with both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes until butter mixture is fluffy. Volume of butter-sugar mixture should increase noticeably.

Making the cookie dough - Add in beaten egg and vanilla to creamed butter mixture. Beat until well combined. Next, stir in flour mixture and beat on low speed briefly until flour disappears. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl well with a spatula.

Mash bananas using a fork. Fold in the mashed bananas to the flour-butter batter and mix well. Lastly, mix in the oats, chocolate chips and chopped walnuts with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Baking the cookies - Place heaped tablespoons of dough onto baking trays lined with baking/parchment paper, leaving some space (about 1.5 inch) between each cookie and bake for 12-13 minutes at 190 degrees C. Allow cookies to cool for about 3-5 minutes on tray before transferring to wire rack. When cookies have cooled completely, store them in air-tight containers.

Notes:
1) For a nuttier aroma, substitute 80g of plain flour with whole wheat flour.
2) Cookies are meant to be muffin/bread like. If baked slightly longer, the cookies will just turn out dry and would not be crunchy.

Nutella Goodness and Shrinking Cupcakes

Something is bothering me recently. When I bake cupcakes these days, they shrink. And they do shrink quite a bit. I have noticed that cakes tend to shrink a little when they are cooling, be it chiffon cakes or butter cakes. For cupcakes, the shrinkage seems to be a lot more noticeable, especially when cupcakes are so tiny, compared to the majestic bundt or round cakes. It bothers me the most when my cupcakes shrink from the sides.

I felt embarrassed when my close friend asked why my cupcakes were not filled to the brim. The truth is, I did put enough batter to allow them to rise to the brim. Sadly, they shrank both from the sides and at the top upon cooling. If I had filled them with more batter, the cupcakes would have overflowed, something I totally dread and fear. The same shrinking issue popped up when I made cupcakes for a recent bloggers meetup. It seems that this problem surfaced recently after I tried out two new types of smaller size cupcake liners.

After googling on the internet, I am not the only one with shrinking cupcakes apparently. I think I need more time to adjust to my new cupcake liners. If all else fails, I will keep to my much more dependable larger-size cupcake liners.

Nutella Cupcakes (recipe adapted from I Can Bake by Agnes Chang)  

Serving size: 13 cupcakes

Taste and texture: Cake is soft, moist and fluffy.
Equipment and materials:
1) Cupcake liners - 4.5cm from the base, 5cm in height
2) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
3) Spatula
4) Mixing bowls
5) Flour sieve
6) Weighing scale

Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter, softened
100g brown sugar
100g whole eggs, lightly beaten and at room temperature
150g self-raising flour
4 tbs sour cream or yoghurt, at room temperature
4-5 tbs Nutella

Making the cupcakes:
Preheat oven - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Creaming the butter - In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until fluffy for about 3 minutes. Creamed butter should be noticeably larger in volume. 

Adding eggs - Add in 1/3 of beaten eggs and beat until well combined. Repeat the process in 2 more additions with remaining eggs. If mixture curdles, beat in one tablespoon of flour and continue beating.

Incorporating flour and liquid - Sift in half the flour and beat to combine briefly on low speed until flour disappears and is evenly distributed. Add in all the sour cream or yoghurt and beat briefly to combine. Lastly, sift in the remaining flour and beat until mixture is well combined, about 2 minutes at most. Do not over-mix the batter.

Baking cupcakes - Spoon batter evenly onto cupcake liners. Cupcake liners should be halfway filled. Drop slightly less than half teaspoon of Nutella onto batter and use a toothpick to create swirls. Bake cupcakes for about 25 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow baked cupcakes to cool completely before storing them.

Notes:
1) Butter should be well creamed and eggs should not be cold to prevent curdling.
2) For bigger cupcake liners, fill up to two-thirds full with batter. For smaller cupcake liners, fill only up to one-third full.
3) Baking times will vary according to individual oven and size of cupcake liners.

Yammy Swiss Roll

I think I have fallen in love with Swiss rolls these days, thanks to my friend for the trusty Swiss roll book that she has given me - 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷. It can be a challenge finding dependable baking books. Most books seem to scrimp on details when it comes to instructions and they would rather focus on quality styled food photography. This phenomenon seems to be more noticeable in asian bakebooks, where many a times I have spotted missing instructions, missing ingredients, blatantly wrong oven temperatures and the list goes on. Sometimes I wonder... Do the editors and authors ever bother to proof-read their work? There is no doubt that the recipes do work but I wished that more attention is paid to details.

In many aspects, this book puts many other authors to shame. The book starts off by informing the reader the conversions for the recipes when using different pan sizes. Subsequently, the author illustrates the making of 5 different kinds of sheet cakes with step-by-step photos. Next, she goes on to explain the preparation of different fillings, methods on rolling sheet cakes and introduces the required equipment and ingredients. The book comes with an instructional DVD which I have yet to use. Even without the guide of the DVD, I am able to follow her recipes and instructions with ease. If you are thinking of getting a book on Swiss rolls, you know which book to pick best.

This yam Swiss roll is the third recipe I am using from the same book. Previously, my yam Swiss roll broke while rolling as the sheet cake was too moist and it stuck to the baking paper. Hence, I have reduced the liquid contents this time. If you noticed, my swiss roll looks flat at the top. After I made my Swiss roll, I wrapped it up in baking paper and chilled it. I was unaware that my swiss roll was positioned upside-down, hence resulting in the flat top. I learnt something new again this time; remember to rest your Swiss roll upright. 

Having tried two methods of cooking the yam - steaming and boiling, I find that it is more desirable to steam the yam as it produces a nicer flavour. When the yam is boiled, some of the flavour and nutrients are lost to the water. However, it takes nearly an hour or longer to steam the yam while it takes only 15-20 minutes to boil the yam till it is soft enough to mash. 

*Yam is known as Taro in some countries and in America, sweet potatoes are known as yam.

Yam Swiss Roll (Recipe adapted from 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷)

Serving size: 8 to 10 slices
Taste and texture: Cake base is soft, moist and fluffy. Yam paste is smooth and carries a coconut fragrance.
Equipment and materials:
1) 12 x 12 inch pan or 10 x 14 inch pan
2) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
3) Spatula
4) Wire whisk/balloon whisk
5) Mixing bowls
6) Wire rack
7) Flour sieve
8) Parchment/baking paper
9) Brush for oiling pan
10) Weighing scale

Chiffon Cake Ingredients:
80g egg yolks, room temperature
25g castor sugar
2tbs + 1 tsp corn oil
2tbs + 1 tsp water or milk
75g cake flour
160g egg whites
60g castor sugar

Yam Paste:
275g yam
45g icing sugar
35g unsalted butter
3 tbs coconut milk

Making the yam paste:
Peel yam. Do not wash the yam. Cut the yam into small strips and steam on high heat for about 1 hour or until yam is very soft. Smash yam with two fork and mix well with icing sugar. Add in unsalted butter to combine. Lastly stir in the coconut milk and mix well. Yam paste should be smooth.

Making the chiffon sponge:
Prepare Oven and line pan - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line tin with baking/parchment paper.

Preparing the egg yolk mixture - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 25g castor sugar, vegetable oil and water until combined. Sift in cake flour to egg yolk mixture and mix until smooth and well combined.

Beating egg whites - In a metal bowl, beat eggs whites starting with low speed. When the egg whites turn frothy, slowly increase the speed to high and beat until egg whites are soft peaks (egg whites form peak that is drooping). Add the sugar (60g) slowly at this point and continue beating until egg whites are nearly stiff but still moist and not dry. This is when the bowl is overturned, the egg whites would not budge. Egg whites will form shiny and creamy upright peaks when beater is withdrawn. Take care not to overbeat the egg whites as they will become dry or may water out.

Folding egg whites into egg yolk mixture - Fold one third of beaten egg whites with a balloon whisk into egg yolk mixture to lighten and mix well. Incorporate another one third of the whites. Lastly, add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to obtain a smooth uniformly coloured foamy batter. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula to ensure batter is well mixed.

Baking the cake - Pour batter into a 12 x 12 inch tin or 10 x 14 inch lined swiss roll tin. Level the batter and bake for 8 - 11 minutes. Start checking for doneness at 8 mins. Cake is done when inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow sheet cake to cool.

Assembly:
Turning the cake out - Carefully turn the baked sheet cake onto a piece of baking/parchment paper. Slowly peel off the attached baking/parchment paper from the cake. Place a new piece of baking/parchment paper over the sponge. Invert the sponge again, carefully. Now, peel of the top piece of baking/parchment paper. The skin would be stuck to the baking/parchment paper and would be removed.

Rolling the cake - Make a few slits across the breadth of the cake at the side nearest to you with a knife. Apply yam paste evenly over the surface of the sheet cake. With the shorter side/breadth facing you (if using 10 x 14 inch pan), roll the cake up tightly to form a swiss roll. Trim both ends to get a presentable looking swiss roll.

Notes:
1) If sheet cake is too moist after baking and cooling, return it to the oven and bake it for a further 2-3 mins at 180 degrees C.
2) The icing sugar and butter is best combined with the yam when it is still hot.

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Pandan Chiffon Cake II

When I first started out baking, my first bake was a Pandan Chiffon Cake. Back then, I was browsing Bakingmum's blog and her bakes got me enticed. Without giving much thought, I plunged foolishly into making the highly temperamental chiffon cake. Needless to say, I ended up with five failures before I managed to get a decent chiffon cake. Had I known better, I would have started with simpler bakes.

It can be frustrating to bake chiffon cakes at times, especially when most recipes state the number of whites instead of the specific weight. Egg whites are the building blocks of a chiffon cake. How well a chiffon cake would turn out depends on the volume of egg whites and if they are whipped appropriately; almost stiff but still moist.

When whipping egg whites, a number of factors influence the resulting volume, such as: presence of fats (eg. traces of egg yolks) in the mixing bowl, on the beater or in the egg whites; temperature of whites; quality of eggs (my deduction); time when sugar is added to egg whites and most obviously the weight of egg whites used. Humidity might also play a part, since meringue is moisture sensitive. The amount of liquid is important too. If the cake is too moist, the weight of the cake may cause it to fall out of the tin when the tin is overturned to cool. Just my take on making of chiffon cakes.

For consistency, I will be baking chiffon cakes in future by weighing the egg whites, a cultivated practice/habit that is attributed to Rose's (Rose Levy Beranbaum) influence. After all, baking is an exact science where precise measurements are required for consistent results.

Pandan Chiffon Cake (Recipe slightly adapted from Bakingmum)

Serving size: 10-12 slices

Taste and texture: soft, light and fluffy.

Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
2) Measuring spoon set
3) Spatula
4) Mixing bowl
5) Metal bowl
5) Wire rack
6) 21 cm or 22cm chiffon tin (oil-free)
7) Balloon whisk

Ingredients:
1 tbs pandan juice (5 pandan leaves blended with 3 tbs water)
65g egg yolks
30g castor sugar
a pinch of salt
3 1/2 tbs corn oil
100ml coconut milk
3/4 tsp pandan paste
100g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
160g egg whites at room temperature
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional, I did not use this)
70g castor sugar

Method:
Preheat Oven - Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

Mix dry ingredients - In a mixing bowl, sift cake flour and baking powder. Whisk using a balloon whisk to distribute the dry ingredients evenly.

Make pandan juice - Wash the pandan leaves and cut into thin strips. Blend with 3 tbs water. Add more water if needed. Pass the pandan puree through a sieve and set aside 1 tbs of the pandan juice.

Making the egg yolk batter - In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 30g sugar, salt, corn oil, coconut milk, pandan juice and pandan paste until smooth and combined. Stir in flour mixture into egg yolk mixture and mix until smooth and combined.

Beating egg whites - In a metal bowl, beat eggs whites on low speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar if using at this point. Continue beating and gradually increase speed to high until egg whites are at very soft peaks. Add remaining 70g sugar slowly and continue beating until egg whites are almost stiff but still moist. This is when the bowl is overturned, the egg whites would not budge. Egg whites form shiny and creamy upright peaks when beater is withdrawn.

Folding egg whites into egg yolk batter - Fold one third of beaten egg whites with a balloon whisk into egg yolk batter to lighten and mix well. Incorporate the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to obtain a smooth, uniformly coloured foamy batter. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula to ensure batter is well mixed.

Baking the cake - Pour batter into chiffon cake tin carefully and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Invert chiffon cake tin to cool before unmoulding.

Notes:
1) Chiffon tin must be oil-free. Do not grease, line or flour the tin.
2) Metal bowl for beating whites and beater must be oil-free. Egg whites should be at room temperature. These are necessary to obtain maximum volume for beaten egg whites.
3) Batter should fill 2/3 of 21cm tin. My cake rose to almost the brim but deflated slightly upon cooling.
4) The batter should overflow if a 18cm chiffon tin is used.

Fruity Goodness - Orange Cranberry Shortbread

I am counting down as the days pass by. Five days and "It's Time"! In case you're wondering, I am counting down to the release of Stefanie Sun's album and "It's Time" is the name of her long-waited album, which will land in record stores on 8th March, that is if no mishap occurs. While she is seemingly having a good break these past four years, leading her own life and making preparations for this album, I am baking consientiously in the kitchen and burying myself in baking titles with thick covers. 

In the meanwhile before the arrival of the big day,  I can only hide my excitment and distract myself by churning out sweet goods. Shortbreads are my preferred choice when it comes to cookies. They are firm, crunchy and buttery, all the requirements I would expect from a cookie. Actually, I am really not that picky. Give me a jar of cookies and I will clear it in no time.

Traditionally, shortbreads are baked in round pans and cut into wedges. However, that will only yield about 10 cookies. Therefore, I prefer to bake my shortbread cookies as icebox cookies, where the cookie dough is being formed into a log, chilled, and then sliced into rounds or squares. If you dislike shaping and cutting out cookies, this is one method you would like to consider. 

Let the vibrant colours and fruity flavours charm you with this cranberry shortbread. It is a good choice of cookie to pass to your loved ones and brighten their day up. Just make sure you use a decent brand of butter to impart a nice fragrance to the cookies.

I will be submitting this entry to this month's Aspiring Bakers # 5 - Fruity March hosted by Jess from Bakerious.

Orange Cranberry Shortbread (recipe adapted from Honey & Jam)
Serving size: 40 - 50 cookies
Taste and texture: Crunchy-crumbly.
Equipment and materials:
1) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater or wooden spoon
2) Flour sieve
3) Measuring spoon set
4) Spatula
5) Mixing bowls
6) Wire rack
7) Baking trays/ cookie sheets
8) Baking / parchment paper
9) Grater/ zester

Ingredients:
205g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
105g icing sugar
finely grated zests of 2 oranges
90g chopped dried cranberries
270g plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

Making the Cookies:
Preheat oven - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Mix dry ingredients - Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir with a balloon whisk to distribute them evenly.

Cream butter - Beat the butter, icing sugar and orange zests on medium speed for 2 minutes until butter mixture is fluffy. The butter need not be as well-creamed as that for making cakes.

Making the cookie dough - Stir in flour mixture and beat on low speed to combine butter mixture and flour briefly. Stop once the dough starts to comes together. Scrape and fold in any stray flour with a spatula. Next, fold in the chopped cranberries.

Divde dough into two equal portions. Place dough onto baking/parchment paper and roll the dough into a 1 inch (2.5cm) round/square log. Refrigerate or freeze until log is firm. Slice the log into rounds/squares of about 1 cm thickness.

Baking the cookies - Place rounds onto baking trays lined with baking/parchment paper, leaving some space between each cookie. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Once done, the cookies should be firm to the touch and will firm up further upon cooling. Leave cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in air-tight containers.

Notes:
1) If cookies do not firm up well after cooling. It means they are underbaked. Fret not. Simply return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 7-10 minutes, then allow to cool.
2) When cookies are cooled, pressing into the cookies will not yield any dents/ imprints.
3) Use good butter to impart good flavour to the cookies.
4) Do a test batch of 3 or 4 cookies to test the baking time.

Instagram link: http://instagram.com/bakertanbakes

Baking with Flavours - Lemon Swiss Rolls

Have you ever wondered, what is your favourite flavour when it comes to baking? For me, it would be durian, chocolate and lemon, in that order of preference. Ashamedly, I have yet to get my hands working on any durian bakes even though I consider myself a self-professed durian lover. Transporting durians poses a major challenge to me as the King of Fruits is not allowed on public transport over here due to its overpowering aroma which may be deemed pungent by some. Maybe I will work on a durian dream cake for my coming birthday, but that will take quite a few months to happen. 

On the other hand, chocolate is a staple in my pantry. Whenever I pass by baking supplies stores or supermarkets, I will always make a concious effort to stock up chocolate pistols, bars and cocoa powder (Valrhona especially, neat!). 

Lemon is highly versatile and probably the most widely used fruit when it comes to baking, I supposed. It brings out a pleasant, soothing, tangy fragrance when used for baking and I tend to incorporate it in a variety of bakes such as cookies, tarts, cakes and cheesecakes. The results never fail to amaze me.

Previously, I mentioned that my baking nemesis is Swiss Roll. After a couple of practice, I think I have gained some confidence and a better comprehension on how to handle this trouble maker. The key is to roll the sheet cake tightly. If the initial roll is good enough, there shouldn't be much problem later on. Even if the sponge breaks at the start, the cracks will be well concealed once the swiss roll comes together.

This time round, I tried using the chiffon method for the first time (for swiss rolls) to make this Lemon Swiss Roll. Where sponge cakes are concerned for me, chiffon cakes are preferred any time over genoise. To date, I have yet to try out the separated-eggs sponge method for swiss rolls or any bakes. It is said to yield a soft and fluffy sponge and is recommended by Grace and Bee Bee.

As compared to swiss rolls made via the genoise sponge method, this lemon swiss roll is soft, very moist, fine crumbed and fluffy to the bite, not forgetting that it has a nice citrusy touch imparted by one of my favourite baking ingredients.

Instead of using the lemon buttercream stated in the book, I used my leftover Honey Lemon Buttercream for the filling. Although it may require a little more effort to produce a swiss meringue buttercream, the results are worthed every effort put in. I am offically a Swiss Meringue Butttercream convert.

I will be submitting this entry for this month's Aspring Bakers #5: Fruity March  hosted by Jess from Bakericious.

Lemon Swiss Roll (Sponge recipe adapted from 孟老师的美味蛋糕卷)

Serving size: 8 to 10 slices
Taste and texture: Cake base is soft, moist and fluffy. Honey Lemon Buttercream is buttery, tangy and velvety.
Equipment and materials:
1) 12 x 12 inch pan or 10 x 14 inch pan
2) Stand electric beater/ handheld electric beater
3) Spatula
4) wire whisk/balloon whisk
5) Mixing bowls
6) Wire rack
7) Flour sieve
8) Parchment/baking paper
9) Brush for oiling pan
10) Weighing scale
11) Grater/zester

Lemon Chiffon Cake Ingredients:
80g egg yolks, room temperature
25g castor sugar
2tbs + 1 tsp corn oil
1 tbs lemon juice
2tbs water
zest of 1 lemon
70g cake flour
160g egg whites
65g castor sugar

Honey Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream (recipe adapted from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

65g sugar
60g egg whites
150g unsalted butter, cubed and slightly softened but still cold
3 1/2 tbs fresh lemon juice, strained
honey, add to taste
1/2 tsp vanilla extact

Making the buttercream:
Dissolve sugar in egg whites - Place egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl sitting over a pan of slightly simmering water without the base of the bowl in contact with the water (double-boiler). Whisk the mixture constantly until the sugar dissolves completely. Rub the egg white mixture with your fingers to check if it is still gritty to test if the sugar has fully dissolved. Egg white mixture should be warm to the touch. Remove bowl from the heat. Do not allow egg whites to scramble/coagulate.

Beating egg whites - Beat egg whites with an electric beater on medium high speed until whites are very stiff and glossy. Egg whites should form stiff upright peaks and will not budge when bowl is overturned. Egg whites should be cool to the touch at this point.

Incorporating butter - Add in butter to beaten egg whites in 3 additions and beat on medium speed. The mixture may become watery as butter is being incorporated. Just continue beating. After the third addition, beat the mixture until it becomes fluffy and firm, like creamed butter.

Flavouring the buttercream - Add lemon juice and vanilla extract to buttercream and beat well to mix. Add in honey by the tablespoon to taste.

Making the chiffon sponge:
Prepare Oven and line pan - Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line tin with baking/parchment paper.

Preparing the egg yolk mixture - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 25g castor sugar, vegetable oil, water, lemon juice and lemon zests until combined. Sift in cake flour to egg yolk mixture and mix until smooth and well combined. 

Beating egg whites - In a metal bowl, beat eggs whites starting with low speed. When the egg whites turn frothy, slowly increase the speed to high and beat until egg whites are soft peaks (egg whites form peak that is drooping). Add the sugar (65g) slowly at this point and continue beating until egg whites are nearly stiff but still moist and not dry. This is when the bowl is overturned, the egg whites would not budge. Egg whites will form shiny and creamy upright peaks when beater is withdrawn. Take care not to overbeat the egg whites as they will become dry or may water out.

Folding egg whites into egg yolk mixture - Fold one third of beaten egg whites with a balloon whisk into egg yolk mixture to lighten and mix well. Incorporate another one third of the whites. Lastlty, add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently to obtain a smooth uniformly coloured foamy batter. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula to ensure batter is well mixed.

Baking the cake - Pour batter into a 12 x 12 inch tin or 10 x 14 inch lined swiss roll tin and bake for 8- 11 minutes. Start checking for doneness at 8 mins. Cake is done when inserted toothpick comes out clean

Assembly:
Turning the cake out - Turn the baked sheet cake onto a piece of baking/parchment paper. Slowly peel off the attached baking/parchment paper from the cake. Place a new piece of baking/parchment paper over the sponge. Invert the sponge again, carefully. Now, peel of the top piece of baking/parchment paper. The skin would be stuck to the baking/parchment paper and would be removed.

Rolling the cake - Make a few slits across the breadth of the cake at the side nearest to you with a knife. Apply 2/3 of buttercream evenly over the surface of the sheet cake. With the shorter side/breadth facing you (if using 10 x 14 inch pan), roll the cake up tightly to form a swiss roll. Use the remaining 1/3 buttercream to frost the exterior.
 
Notes:
1) Apply the amount of buttercream desired for the swiss roll filling. The rest can be kept and chilled for frosting cupcakes etc.

2) Make the buttercream first before making the chiffon sponge cake.

Instagram link: http://instagram.com/bakertanbakes