Cherry Blossom Cake Roll

I had been waiting to make a Japanese style cake roll but somehow could not make time to do it because I knew this would take time and I wanted a whole day of baking before I would undertake this cake roll the first time. So, one happy sunny weekend, I totally dedicated to blissful baking, and made this cake roll as a celebration for a friend who got engaged around the same time last year under the cherry blossom trees in Japan (how romantic!!). I came across various techniques to make the cake roll, while some people have frozen the different layers of the design and baked the cake in one go, others suggested baking each layer as you go and that’s what I did. It worked perfectly and I have to say it came out better than I expected. I was quite surprised that delicate designs and details held together once I finished off the cake roll. Since it was a dedicated baking-full weekend, I also ended up making a birthday cheesecake for my husband as I always do for his birthday every year! It his favourite (and kind of mine too so I love to get an excuse to make it)- white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake.

Back to the cake roll, the cake itself is very light and still sturdy, and it was very easy to roll it without any cracks. I filled it with whipped cream and fresh strawberries but of course this is very versatile and it can be filled with any fruit one fancies. What I would have loved to do it fill it with flavours of cherry blossom but unfortunately I had nothing at hand.

For the cake, you will need:(adapted from honeybeesweets88.blogspot.co.uk)

Mixture A:
4 egg yolks
40 g caster sugar
75 ml water
50 ml sunflower/vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
100 g cake flour ( to make your own cake flour- for every cup of plain flour- a cup of plain flour, remove 2 tbsp of the plain flour and add 2 tbsp of cornstarch and sift this mixture 2-3 times so that the cornstarch is distributed evenly)

Mixture B:
1 egg white
pinch of cream of tartar
10 g caster sugar

Mixture C:
5 egg whites
40 g caster sugar
¼ tsp cream of tartar

1. Pre heat the oven to 165˚C.
   
2. For the cake- Mixture A- whisk egg yolks, sugar, water, oil and vanilla extract together. Sift cake flour and mix well. Keep this aside.
3. Mixture B- Whisk the single egg white with pinch of cream of tartar and 10 g caster sugar till it forms stiff peaks.
4. To make the batter for coloured layer: mix 1 tbsp of the cake batter (A) and 1 tbsp of single egg white batter (B).
5. For the design coloured layers: take 1 tbsp (this was enough for each colour for my design but judge according to how much of particular colour is in your design) of the coloured layers mixture and add the desired colour. I used yellow for the inside of the cherry blossom, two shades of pink, green for leaves and brown for the stem. I use sugarflair gel colours as they give a brighter colour and you do not end up changing consistency of your batter unlike liquid colours so I would strongly recommend using gel colours.
6. Mixture C: I made this after i had already baked the design layer so that the meringue did not have to sit out for long. Using a clean, oil-free, dry bowl, preferably metal bowl, and beat the 5 egg whites till they are foamy, add cream of tartar and sugar and beat the whites till the meringue forms stiff peaks.
7. You can keep the design under the parchment paper and pipe over it. I had just sketched it and looked at it as guideline. So on a baking tray lined with parchment, trace out the first layer of the detail. Bake for 1 min in the oven and take it out. Do not over bake else it will discolour and crack eventually. Pipe the next layer, that is the cherry blossom flowers and bake for another minute.
8. Once all the designs are complete, fold in the whipped egg white (mixture C) into the remaining yolk mixture (mixture A). Now spread some of this mixture around the design first so that all corners and edges of the design are occupied by the cake mix and then pour all the batter and spread evenly on the baking tray. Bake for 12-14 minutes or till golden brown in colour.
   

   before baking, after baking

   

9. Cool on the wire rack for 10 minutes and then put another piece of parchment on top of the cake, flip so that the design is on the top, then carefully remove the parchment on the design side, put another parchment and flip it back on the wire rack. Remove the parchment on the bare side and leave the cake to cool completely.
10. Once cooled, spread whipped cream and strawberries on it. Now tightly roll along the length of the cake. Once rolled, cover in parchment and keep in fridge overnight.
11. Next day, remove the parchment to reveal the cake and ta-dah!! Enjoy your cake.

Black Forest Cake

Black forest cake always reminds me of birthdays when I was a kid, as this was one of the most common cakes in birthday parties and black forest pastries were one of my favourite as well. One of our friends recently decided to move back to her native Mauritius (so jealous of all the sun and warmth she is going to get while there seems no end to the winter in Scotland in sight!!)  and this being her favourite cake I decided to make this for her as a going away thing. The recipe and design for the cake is adapted from dessertsforbreakfast.com, her pictures are SO pretty and I absolutely loved the literal take on ‘black forest’, how very creative is that! Well it was about mid-night by the time I finished baking so my pictures were taken quite hurriedly and I could not really capture the effect due to lack of natural light.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

236 g caster sugar (1 cup)
236 g plain flour (1 cup)
236 g cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg, beaten lightly
¼ cup vegetable/sunflower oil
½ cup whole milk or semi-skimmed milk
½ cup boiling water

For cherry filling:

283 g dark cherries (about 1 can if using preserved cherries)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp kirsch/ brandy

For chocolate ganache:

85 g dark chocolate, chopped
70 ml whipping or double cream
1 tbsp butter

For cream filling:

1 cup mascarpone cheese
4 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup icing sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚ C (fan).
2. Mix sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
3. In another bowl mix together the beaten egg, oil and milk.
4. Put the dry ingredients in the food processor and mix. Then put in the wet ingredients in as well and mix till even. Then pour in the boiling water and mix again till the mixture is smooth.
5. Divide the cake batter into 2 baking tins (I used 6 inch ones) and bake for about 35 minutes or till a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before assembling the cake.
   

   I cut off the dome of the cake to flatten out the top

6. For the cherry filling: Place the cherries in a saucepan with the sugar. Add cornflour to couple of tbsp of cherry juice from the can and make a paste. Add it to pan and bring the cherries to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the kirsch and let the mixture cool.
7. For the chocolate ganache: Heat the cream and butter in a pan, till it is simmering and then pour it on the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute and then slowly whip it to make the ganache smooth.
8. For the cream filling: Whip the cheese and cream in a bowl till the mixture forms soft peaks. Add the icing sugar and whip till it forms stiff peaks.

Now to assemble the cake: Take one of the cakes (they should have cooled down by now), layer it with half the chocolate ganache, top it with about 1/3^rd of the whipped cream and then add 2/3 of the cherry filling. Top with the other cake, now cover the whole cake with the rest of the chocolate ganache and whipped cream on the top and sides. Top up with the remaining cherry mix.

I made the decorations by melting chocolate and piping them on a parchment paper, cooling them and then just stuck them to the cake. You can decorate as you want, with chocolate shavings or curls as well.

The ingredient list and the steps involved might make this cake look a bit daunting but honestly this was such an easy cake to make, you just need to get the different components together. The only thing difficult was the number of bowls and pans and pots I had to use, such that I was running out of space in my kitchen!!

Enjoy!

Pineapple and Cherry loaf

Did I mention I was gifted Mary Berry’s baking bible over Christmas? Well, I was. It was my dear husband’s not so subtle way of saying what things he would love to eat! It’s a brilliant book, I have already been through it couple of time and have tried a few things, all with success. The best thing about her recipes is that they are really tried and tested, and are very dependable plus she gives amazing tips, small things but very useful. For this really moreish loaf, you will need:

(Adapted from Mary Berry’s baking bible)

150 g glace’ cherries
227 g canned pineapple with fruit juice
150 g softened butter
100 g light muscovado sugar
2 large eggs beaten lightly
200 g self-raising flour
200 g dried mixed fruits/ sultanas

1. Pre-heat the oven to 140 ˚C fan. Grease and line a loaf tin.
2. Chop the glace’ cherries into quarters and wash them using running water. Drain well and dry on a kitchen towel. Drain the pineapples keeping aside about two tablespoon of the fruit juice,  chop the pineapples and dry them on a kitchen towel as well.
3. I put the butter, sugar, eggs and the flour in the food processor and mixed it till it gets smooth. You can do it without the processor as well, just mix all the ingredients until well blended.
4. Now fold in the dried mixed fruits, pineapples and cherries along with the 2 tablespoons of fruit juice from the canned pineapples. Pour the batter into the prepared tin.
5. Bake it in a pre-heated oven for an hour and 15 or 30 minutes till the loaf is golden brown, well risen and a skewer comes out clean. Cool the loaf on a wire rack. It can be stored for couple of days but it hardly lasted the same day in my house!

Let me know how you like it.