Cake Roll with nougat filling

I have previously mentioned about the fabulous café in Heidelberg,Germany, called Café Gundel. They have a special dessert which is a cake ball with nougat filling, covered in marzipan and chocolate. It was absolutely delicious! I kept going back to the café everyday during my short visit to the pretty little town. I was totally smitten by the simple yet indulgent cake, plus it looked so unique, the window display of the shop itself made me totally drool standing outside the shop.

Cafe Gundel window display, Heidelberg

So, it was only time that I would try and recreate the taste. I made the sponge cake into a roll since making it into a ball would be very tricky. I covered it with a very thin layer of marzipan. Covered it with white chocolate and rolled it in sweetened coconut flakes.

The delicious cake balls on display

Cannot wait to sink my teeth in!

….and its yummmmmm!!

So for this super sweet cake roll you need:

2 eggs separated
a pinch of cream of tarter
60 g of granulated sugar + another tablespoon granulated sugar
30 g melted butter, cooled
120 g plain flour

And for the filling:

60 g icing sugar
200 ml whipping cream or double cream
¾ cup of marshmallow fluff

For the topping: approx 150-200 gms marzipan, white chocolate about 150 gms and a cup of sweetened desiccated coconut flakes. These were more by eye than measurement. I do not like marzipan except when I cannot taste it! So I had rolled it out really really thin.

For the sheet cake

1. Pre heat your oven at 180˚C (fan).
2. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tarter till it forms stiff peaks.
3. Mix the egg yolks and sugar and beat till they are light and fluffy.
4. Fold the yolk mixture into the meringue taking care not to deflate the egg whites too much.
5. Add in the melted butter and the flour in small portions alternating between the two, folding them in till all of them have been incorporated.
6. Line the baking tray with a parchment and spread it out on a baking sheet.
7. Bake in the middle of the oven for 7-10 minutes till it is lightly browned. Cool the cake on a wire rack. Once cooled, peel it off the parchment paper.
   

   cover the roll with melted white choclate

   Lack of light as it was late at night by the time I finished baking, makes the above pictures a bit dull!

For the filling- whip the cream with the icing sugar till a spreading consistency. Then fold in the marshmallow fluff.

Spread the filling on the cooled sheet cake and roll. Now you can make into a log or cut into smaller portions.Roll out the marzipan and cover the cake from all sides. Melt the white chocolate and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then pour it over the marzipan covered cake roll, turn the cake around so that it is fully covered. Spread the coconut flakes on a tray and then roll the cake in it so that it is covered in coconut. The white chocolate will solidify quickly so do this before it becomes solid.

And of course the pictures are much better in day light as you can see the two above! The combination of a soft sponge, the light nougat filling, the sweet sweet white chocolate and chewy flaky coconut- fantastic combination and such a simple cake! The cake can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

I would love to hear from you! Please leave comments below.

Dulce de Leche Macarons

And if you think I am done with Dulce de Leche, well you are wrong. I want to use it for everything at the moment. I made some rolled up French toasts recently and filled them with Dulce de Leche- it was divine!  One of the things I enjoy making most is macarons. They are also one of the hardest things I found to perfect, it took me months before I found ‘my’ recipe- that is a recipe that works for me and I am sticking to it! Macarons not only taste great but also look pretty and exciting as they can be made to be of any colour and any flavour, funky or sophisticated.

I will start with a few tips that I think might help in perfecting these little macarons,

1. I found after a lot of trials that my oven is not the best kind for macaron making. Since it is a fan oven, it seems to rip apart my macarons on the back row of the tray. To lessen the impact( though I cannot fully prevent it), I bake my macarons on the lowest rack of the oven. I put an empty tray directly on the shelf above the bottom rack as well.
2. I ALWAYS use parchment paper. I have tried using baking mat, baking sheet , greaseproof paper etc,  they did not work. Either the macarons did not form feet or stuck to the baking sheet. So parchment paper it is!
3. I put the egg whites in the fridge overnight though you might find varying opinions on this on the numerous macaron recipes and blogs. I have used fresh egg white which works as well but I find the overnight stored ones work just a tad bit better. Also I use a stainless steel bowl to beat the egg whites.

For the macaron shells

35 g almond flour
58 g icing/powdered sugar
36 g egg white (about 1 egg white)
18 g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
gel food colour

1. Pre-heat oven at 150 ˚C.
2. In a food processor, whizz the icing sugar and almond flour for about 2 minutes. Then sift it and let the last bit of granules remain, do not push them through the sieve and discard them.
3. In a stainless steel bowl, whisk the egg whites on a medium speed till it forms soft peaks. Then start adding the caster sugar and beat till stiff. Add salt and colour in the last couple of minutes. Do not over beat the egg white.
4. Now add the almond and sugar mixture in 3 parts and fold it in the egg white. This step is quite tricky and for me it took a few attempts to get the right consistency. What you are looking for is a stage when all the flour and sugar mixture is mixed and the consistency is such that the batter falls as smooth ribbons. For me it takes about 35-40 strokes.
5. Pipe small rounds on parchment lined baking sheet keeping adequate space between each macarons. I sprinkled some instant coffee granules on top of the shells.
6. Once piped, hold the tray and ram it on the counter 3 times. This will dislodge the air bubbles in the macarons.
7. Now let the macarons sit for about 15 minutes.
8. If your oven does not regulate temperature very well like mine, bake them at the bottom of the oven and put an empty baking sheet on the shelf directly above it. Bake for 10 minutes turning the tray around mid way.
9. Cool the macarons completely on wire rack.
10. Fill the macarons with Dulce de Leche. Store in an airtight box in the fridge over night so that the macarons mature. (Of course pop a few in your mouth before you do that.)

Enjoy!

 

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.

Mini Pavlova with Raspberries

Rain rain go away, come again another year!!
Arrgghhh…there has not been a single rain-free day for in the past 2-3 weeks. Really could do with some sunshine in Scotland.

One of my all time favourite desserts is meringues and pavlova. They are the easiest things to serve when entertaining. They look gorgeous and taste delicious. One of my best friends was visiting a while back and I made these mini pavlovas for dessert.

I have used this recipe many times and have got it from a BBC goodfood dessert recipe book. For a pavlova to serve 6, you will need:

2 tsp cornflour
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp white wine vinegar
5 egg whites
300 gm caster sugar
400 ml lightly whipped cream
200 gm of raspberries
2 tbsp of icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 120°C fan oven. Line a baking tray with a baking sheet.
2. Mix the cornflour, vanilla extract and white wine vinegar and keep aside.
3. Whisk the egg whites with a hand mixer or a whisk till it is frothy. Then start adding caster sugar and add all the sugar in 5-6 parts. Beat the egg white and sugar till it forms soft peaks then add the cornflour mixture and beat till the mixture is smooth and shiny and forms stiff peaks. Do not over beat the mixture.
4. Spoon the mixture onto the baking sheet, swirl the edges with the back of the spoon and make a dip in the center . Since I wanted to make mini pavlovas, I had halved the ingredients and it gave me enough mixture to make 4 small pavlovas.
6. Bake at 120 °C in the preheated oven for an hour. You will be able to see some cracks on the meringue when they are done. Switch the oven off and leave it to cool with the oven door open. If the meringues are going brown, that means your oven temperature is too high. Lower the temperature by about 10 degrees.
7. I usually add about 2-3 tablespoon of sugar to my whipped cream while whipping but it is totally to personal liking as to how sweet you would want your dessert.
8. Spoon 3-4 tablespoon of the whipped cream on the mini pavlova. Decorate with raspberries and dust with icing sugar.

And there you go…

Have fun!