Ingredients
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Cake: A
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40g Cake FlourTop/ HK flour ok
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1/2tsp Baking Powder
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Cake: B
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3 Egg White
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5 Egg Yolk
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40g Cocoa Powder
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80g SugarFine
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1/2tsp Vanilla PasteOr Vanilla Essence 1 tsp
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Cake: C
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40g MilkHot
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40g Corn OilHot
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Whipped Cream
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15g Powder Sugar
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80g Whipping Cream
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Cherry Paste
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Canned CherryIn heavy sugar syrup
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1 tsp Corn Starch
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2tbsp Grand MarnierOptional
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Chocolate Fudge
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1 cup Water
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2 tbsp Green Bean FlourAlso known as hun kwee
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35g SugarFine
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40g Bitter sweet ChocolateChopped
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1/2 tbsp Chocolate Emulco
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1 1/2tsp Gelatin Powder
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pinch Sea salt
Directions
This is a black forest swiss roll recipe that I came up out of desperation and I am truly surprised that it is pretty good! Soft and light cake yet decadent with the chocolate ganache and surprise of tangy sweetness from the cherries within.
It is my brother’s birthday and I asked his wife what cake should I bake for him. She said his first choice would be black forest cake followed by Cheesecake. Cheesecake I can do but it is a little boring since I already baked cheesecakes many times before. So I thought I will take up the challenge and go for Black Forest cake. But the problem with this is that I am terrible at frosting cakes. So I came up with the idea of a black forest swiss roll with chocolate fudge.
The traditional black forest cake recipe consists of a chocolate cake, then brush on some alcohol and then a layer of cherries soaked in sugar syrup and alcohol, cream then cake then repeat and finally a layer cream and then chocolate flakes and cherries on top. Now that is pretty challenging and short of coming up with a terrible cake, I thought why not come up with some creative solutions?
First, I do not like to make the chocolate flakes in my kitchen as to make it stay solid, some people recommended using compound chocolate which is chocolate made with vegetable fat usually palm oil instead of cocoa butter. Nothing wrong with that but I don’t come across good quality compound on the retail shelf easily. So one solution is to use cocoa powder. But I feel it will not give enough oomph. So finally we decided on using a chocolate fudge.
This has many advantages. 1) this fudge recipe is easy to apply and prepare. 2) Lesser steps and 3) Chocolate oomph is there. Then next we have to consider the shape of the cake. I did consider doing it like a regular layered cake. But in the spirit of Christmas and me being in the mood to try log cakes and swiss rolls, I decided to use this as an opportunity to give it a try.
The stress of swiss roll is to make sure the cake rolls well. So I did a trial cake to test the recipe before the actual cake. The trial cake was also to test the taste and application of the cherries in the roll. This is my experimental coffee swiss roll. Not too bad right? Can do with a bit more cherries if I want to make it a black forest cake.
I learned both the basic cake recipe from Totts last year and I have not baked the Swiss Roll since. Thus the need for me to do a trial run too. This cake texture is fluffy and light. You can use the same cake recipe and just slice up the cake and stack them up to make a regular cake. In fact, I did consider that so that I don’t have to worry about rolling. But hey, we all have to take up a challenge once in a while and learn right?
For the cherries, I would have bought fresh cherries and pitted it with a chopstick (poke through the cherry) then half it and soak it in alcohol like Grand Marnier for kick. (But my 3 yo darling niece will be eating the cake too and I don’t want to be accused of spiking her food, so my final cake was a non-alcohol cake. I even contemplated making one small part of the cake non-alcohol for her, but decided against it… because I was lazy. =P) If you want to do the alcohol, soak it at least overnight. Anyway, as I was saying, I would have bought fresh cherries. But not in season now. So I used canned ones. I bought the brand SW for the inside of the cake and for the outside I bought Hosen because it has the sticks on top.
The SW ones tasted pretty good actually and I would recommend it. It is not overly sweet as I was originally worried about. In fact, it is good enough for me to use it as a topping over ice cream or even to bake bread too. The Hosen one tasted a little cough syrupy but still ok. Not too sweet too.
The ganache used is actually from the Lana Cake recipe that was featured in 8days magazine many moons ago. I tried baking the cake and felt the cake was not the right texture (or maybe it was my skills) but the ganache was a keeper and I have been wanting to use it again but never got round to that. So many things to bake!!!!
For a coffee cake, I used 1 tsp of instant coffee powder instead of cocoa powder. (I do not have Nescafe at home, so I used Starbucks. Next time I will try with coffee instead of coffee powder since my husband takes only ground coffee and will run out of instant coffee powder soon.)
I have also made other variations from filling it with chocolate mousse to filling it with chocolate ganache. I must say that filling it with loads of chocolate mousse and then chocolate fudge frosting is also a super yummy option. You can refer to my chocolate mousse recipe in the link provided. I also made Matcha swiss roll with azuki red beans in the cream (not really adapted from this recipe) and it was pretty good as it is so light and very Japanese. Oishii!
One thing to note though that you should be pretty generous with the filling for it to taste more decadent. My photo below is an example of a healthier version with not enough mousse. Kept forgetting to take photos of cross section because it goes into the tummy to quickly! Will try to update soon. It is still good enough for people to move on to a second slice. I think thanks to the light fluffy cake.
The thing to note about rolling the swiss roll is 1) keep the cake moist by covering it with a wet towel until you are ready to use it. 2) do not make the sponge too thick so it will be easier to roll and less prone to cracking.
Equipment:
- Swiss roll baking tin: 11″ x 14″ / 28cm x 35.5cm
- Baking paper
- Spatula
- Mixer
- Oven
- Big Mixing bowl
- 2 Medium mixing bowl
- 2 small bowls for milk and oil
- Palette knife
- Small pot
- Stove
Hope you enjoy baking and eating this cake as much as we did! Hope you enjoyed this post. Should there be any parts that are not clear, please feel free to contact us.
Steps
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1
Done
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Preheat ovenPreheat oven to 200C top and bottom heat. Place oil and milk in the oven to warm. (Careful not to let the milk burn or dry out. If you go through the steps smoothly, it should not have time to burn) |
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2
Done
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Line baking tin with baking paperLine baking tin with baking paper, ensuring the walls of the in are also protected by baking paper. Cut the 3 corners such that the paper can overlap and sit flatly in the pan. If the paper needs help staying in pan, dab a few drops of water on the pan before placing paper over. |
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3
Done
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Sift A togetherSift A together into medium sized bowl. |
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4
Done
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Separate egg whites and yolksSeparate whites and yolks and pour whites into the large mixing bowl and yolks into a small bowl. |
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5
Done
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Beat egg white till soft peakWhip egg white to foam and add sugar bit by bit. Then continue on quickly to soft peak stage. Tip: Whip fast for more volume. |
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6
Done
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Add yolk bit 1 by 1Drizzle in egg yolk mixture slowly beating between each addition to incorporate. Beat at top speed to ribbon stage (waves) as fast as possible. When whisk is removed ,the batter drips down and stays on top without sinking. |
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7
Done
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Pour in warm milkDrizzle in warm milk and whip for another 5 more seconds. |
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8
Done
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Hand fold sifted flourFold in the flour in a wind mill motion going up and down and turn the bowl round slowly as you do it. |
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9
Done
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Fold in warm oilDrizzle warm oil into the mixture and fold in quickly. |
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10
Done
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Pour into tinPour batter into tin and use a spatula to spread it evenly. If necessary, use a satay stick or fork to drag through the batter to get rid of air bubbles and even out the surface. |
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11
Done
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Bake for 10-12 minutesBake on middle rack for 10-12 minutes. Test the cake by sticking a stick in. If it comes out clean, it is done. |
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12
Done
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Cool cakeRemove the cake from oven and place on a flat surface. Place a slightly damp towel over the cake (not touching the cake) to keep it moist while cooling or till you are ready to use it. |
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13
Done
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Cut cherries and prepare glazeSeparate cherries from the syrup. Cut cherries in half and set in bowl of grand marnier or just without alcohol. |
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14
Done
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Whip creamIn a large mixing bowl, pour cream and sugar in. Whip at top speed till you see lines on the cream. Stop and continue whisking 1-2 strokes at a time by hand till soft peaks. Note: Do not over whip or the cream will start to break down or look "rough" which is signs that it is about to break down to butter and whey. |
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15
Done
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Assemble swiss rollRemove the damp towel covering the cake. Place a piece of baking sheet on a rack and place these on top of the cake so that the sheet is touching the cake. Holding the tin and rack together with each hand, flip the cake over and remove the tin. Gently peel off the baking paper. Spread the cherry glaze on the cake without the cherries. |
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16
Done
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Roll the cakeTaking one short end of the cake, start rolling the cake by lifting the baking paper up. Then continue to roll without the baking paper. |
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17
Done
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Wrap up and chillWrap the cake up in the baking paper it was seated on and fold in the ends. Secure with rubber bands and place in the fridge to chill and firm for at least 30 minutes. |
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18
Done
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Prepare chocolate frostingUsing 1/2 cup water, whisk the green bean flour till thoroughly mixed. Add remaining ingredients into the pot and heat over medium heat till all melted. Stir well to avoid burning or sticking. Allow it to boil. Add the green bean flour mixture into the pot and gently cook it till it thickens. Stir continuously. Set aside to cool. |
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19
Done
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Frost the cakeOnce cooled, remove cake from fridge, unwrap and place on final serving board. |
