Roll Cake Recipes Sure to Impress – Sugar Geek Show

Buche de Noel

Sugar Geek Show — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 01:11:48 +0000

Buche de Noel Cake (Yule Log Cake) is a classic Christmas Dessert

A Buche de Noel cake (or yule log cake) is commonly made from a yellow sponge cake and filled with chocolate buttercream. The outside is typically frosted with chocolate ganache and given a texture that resembles bark. It is often dusted with powdered sugar to resemble snow and sometimes has other decorations made from marzipan or meringue mushrooms.

To make a Buche de Noel, you will need to make:

Read on to learn more about the Yule log cake, the perfect recipe and step-by-step instructions on how to make your own beautiful Bûche de Noël Christmas centerpiece. Full video tutorial in the recipe card at the bottom of this blog post.

The history of the Buche de Noel (as far as we know)

A yule log (not the cake) is a log that is burned in your fireplace during a winter festival. It was originally a Nordic tradition. Yule is the name of the old Winter Solstice festivals in Scandinavia and other parts of northern Europe, such as Germany. The log (sometimes an entire tree) would be carefully chosen and then brought into the house to be lit on one end, the rest extending into the house. A little of the log would be burned each day, extending through the 12 days of Christmas.

This sounds to me a lot like bringing a Christmas tree into the house. I'm glad we just put lights on our tree now and don't light it on fire. I'll stick to baking my yule log.

Depending on the region, various ingredients (such as salt or whine) were sprinkled on top of the log before burning to bring good luck or to ensure a good harvest for the following year. The ashes from the yule log where used in remedies and good luck potions.

But what does this have to do with a yule log cake? Well, little by little, the celebration of burning an entire tree in your living room died out. Maybe too many house fires? Eventually, people were just putting a single log into their fireplace to represent the yule log.

Sometimes there was no fireplace at all and a log was placed on the table as a centerpiece. It only makes sense that eventually someone decided a cake log would be much better than a real log. Obviously this dessert trend took off and became a very popular dessert all over the world.

In France, the buche de Noel was made from a flourless sponge cake, filled with chocolate whipped cream and then rolled into a log shape. It was then dusted with confectioners sugar to resemble snow on the log. We usually refer to bûche de Noël as a Yule log cake in America.

What day should you start baking your Buche de Noel?

Let's talk about the process of making this cake. Plan on doing some things the day before decorating to make your life easier.

Day 1:

Make ganache and let it sit at room temperature
Make roll cake sponge, fill with buttercream and chill overnight
Make meringue mushrooms

Day 2:

Assemble your Buche de Noel cake and chill at least one hour before serving.
Dust with powdered sugar right before serving.

How to make the sponge

Making a roll cake sponge is not overly complicated but there are some things you will want to keep in mind for success.

Make sure you whip your egg/sugar mixture to the ribbon stage. The ribbon stage is when the batter triples in size and sits on top of itself when you drizzle it in ribbons from the whisk.
Sift the flour onto the egg mixture. Fold in your flour gently or you risk losing all the air in your sponge cake.
Spread the batter all the way to the edge of your pan lined with parchment paper. No need to grease the pan.
Don't overbake your cake or your edges will be dry and crack when you try to roll it up.
Roll your cake length-wise so it's longer so that you have enough to cut off the end and it won't be too short.
Roll your cake right out of the oven with a tea towel. When the cake is warm it helps the cake retain it's round shape as it cools, reducing the chances of cracking later.
Let your cake chill overnight before slicing for prettier slices.

How to assemble a Buche de Noel

Once your sponge cake has cooled for at least an hour. You can carefully unroll it and fill the inside with a layer of chocolate buttercream, chocolate ganache.

Sponge cake is not super moist so if you want it moister, brush the surface with simple syrup first and use a filling like chocolate honey mousse or whipped cream. Add cocoa powder to the whipped cream to make it chocolate. Then roll the cake back up nice and tight so there are no gaps in the filling.

Roll up sponge lengthwise

Place the cake into the freezer for about an hour or into the fridge overnight to chill the filling.

Cut the ends of the roll cake off to reveal the swirl of filling. Then cut off one more piece of the roll cake at a slight angle and place on the side of the roll to represent a branch.

Frost the outside of the Buche de Noel with chocolate ganache. Decorate the outside with some of your meringue mushrooms, fresh cranberries and sprigs of rosemary. Dust the whole thing lightly with some powdered sugar to look like snow.

Chill before serving. The Buche de Noel cake lasts for three days in the fridge.

More Christmas Recipes to love

Gingerbread house recipe

Gingerbread cookie recipe

Patterned roll cake recipe

Recipe

Buche de Noel Cake (Yule Log Cake)

A Buche de Noel is a light and airy sponge cake filled with chocolate buttercream and frosted with ganache to resemble a yule log.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 8

Servings servings

Calories 388kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

stand mixer with metal bowl and the whisk attachment
½ sheet pan (13"x18")
Parchment Paper
tea towel
medium sauce pan
Piping Bag
#2A piping tip

Ingredients

Meringue Mushrooms

3 large egg whites about 3 ounces
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
5 ounces granulated sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt

Mushroom Speckles

½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cocoa powder

Roll Cake Ingredients

8 large eggs
8 ounces sugar
8 ounces cake flour or all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Buttercream filling

4 ounces pasteurized egg whites
8 ounces powdered sugar
8 ounces unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ounce cocoa powder

Ganache Frosting

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate good quality
14 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Buche de Noel Sponge Cake Batter Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF (204ºC) with the oven rack in the center.
Line a sheet pan (13×18″) with parchment paper.
Next, fill a saucepan with 2-3″ of water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat until boiling.
Then, reduce the heat to medium or until the water is simmering.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the eggs, granulated sugar, and salt and blend together with a whisk.
Next, place the bowl with the mixture on top of your simmering water. Do NOT let the bottom of the bowl hit the water.
Using your whisk, stir the egg mixture slowly until the sugar granules dissolve (about 110ºF or 43ºC).
Then, remove it from heat.
Attach your bowl to your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
Add in your vanilla and whisk on high for 5-7 minutes until you reach the ribbon stage (see notes below). The mixture should triple in volume and lighten in color.
Sift in ⅓ of your flour mixture and fold (see notes) the flour in gently without damaging the structure of your egg mixture. Repeat two more times with the flour until just combined.
Spread the cake batter evenly into your parchment-lined sheet pan, and then spread it with an offset spatula or knife all the way to the edges of the pan. Do not grease your pan.
Bake the cake at 400ºF (204ºC) for 8 minutes.
Then, remove the cake from the oven and place it onto a cooling rack.
Immediately use a paring knife to carefully cut the edge of the sponge away from the sides of the pan.
Dust the surface of the cake with powdered sugar.
Next, place another piece of parchment on top of the cake, and then another cooling rack, and flip over to release the cake from the pan.
Remove the parchment paper carefully, and dust the surface with more powdered sugar.
Place a tea towel over the top of the cake and carefully roll into a spiral going lengthwise.
Finally, place it into the fridge to cool for one hour before filling it with your frosting. For more tips and tricks on making roll cakes, be sure to read my roll cake tutorial blog post.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Instructions

Start by sifting your powdered sugar and cocoa powder into the bowl of your stand mixer to remove any lumps. The cocoa powder especially loves to clump up and make these ugly specks in the finished buttercream.
Now, add in your pasteurized egg whites (yes, they need to be pasteurized). If you cannot get any pasteurized egg whites, you can make my chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream instead.
Mix everything together on low speed with the whisk attachment to combine it.
Then, mix on medium speed (setting 2 on my Bosch Mixer, setting 4 on a KitchenAid) for 3-5 minutes to help the powdered sugar and cocoa powder dissolve properly.
Next, add room temperature butter and mix it for 5-10 minutes on high speed.
Next, you want to turn up the speed to high and begin whipping in air! I whip mine for 5-10 minutes. Once it no longer tastes buttery, it’s done.
Switch to the paddle attachment and mix it on low speed for 10-15 minutes. This is totally optional but will help to remove excess air bubbles and make the buttercream really smooth.
Finally, you will switch to the paddle attachment and mix it on low speed for 10-15 minutes (totally optional) to remove excess air bubbles and make the buttercream really smooth.

Ganache Frosting Instructions

Measure out your chocolate and chop it finely if it’s in big pieces so that it melts evenly.
Heat your cream on the stovetop until steam just begins to rise from the surface. Whisk occasionally to prevent burning. Do not walk away or your cream could boil over.
Pour your hot cream over the chocolate and push the chocolate down so it’s all under the surface of the cream. Let the chocolate and cream sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk the cream and chocolate together until it’s smooth. Start with small circles in the center until the chocolate and cream start creating an emulsion.
If you have lumps or un-melted chocolate, you can use an immersion blender to make your ganache super creamy and lump-free.

Meringue Mushroom Instructions

First, preheat your oven to 225ºF (107ºC) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in a pot.
Place a clean stainless steel mixing bowl over the water. It should not touch the water.
Combine your egg whites and sugar and whisk to combine. Occasionally whisk as it’s heating to distribute the heat and dissolve the sugar.
Once your egg whites are at 110ºF (43ºC) (or when you don’t feel any grains of sugar between your fingers) you’re ready to whip.
Place the bowl on your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
Whisk on medium speed (setting 2 on my Bosch Mixer, setting 4 on a KitchenAid) for one minute.
Then, add in the cream of tartar, salt, and flavoring.
Next, bump the speed up to high and let it whip until you reach STIFF peaks.
With a round piping tip, place your meringue into a piping bag and snip off the tip.
Pipe your stems and caps (see the video in the recipe card for more tips on these).
Bake them for 60 minutes, and then turn off the oven (but do not take out the cookies).
Let them sit in the oven until they are completely cold. I like to leave mine in overnight.
Poke a hole in the base of the mushroom and add a tiny bit of ganache or melted chocolate in the hole.
Then, place the cap on the stem.
Next, combine cocoa powder and vanilla.
Splatter the tops of the mushrooms with a stiff paintbrush.

Buche de Noel Cake Assembly Instructions

Once your sponge cake has cooled for at least an hour, you can carefully unroll it and then fill the inside with a layer of chocolate buttercream.
Then, roll the cake back up nice and tight lengthwise so there are no gaps in the filling.
Place the cake into the freezer for about an hour or into the fridge overnight to chill the filling.
Cut the ends of the roll cake off to reveal the swirl of filling.
Then, cut off one more piece of the roll cake at a slight angle and place it on the side of the roll to represent a branch.
Frost the outside of the Buche de Noel with chocolate ganache.
Decorate the outside with some of your meringue mushrooms, fresh cranberries, and sprigs of rosemary.
Dust the whole cake lightly with some powdered sugar to look like freshly-fallen snow.
Finally, chill before serving.

Video

Notes

The ribbon stage is when your egg mixture triples in volume, lightens in color and when spooned onto itself, it forms ribbons of batter that stay on the surface before slowly dissolving back into itself.

Fold the batter by running the spatula around the outside edge of the batter and the bowl and then gently lift the batter onto itself. This allows the batter to mix without damaging the delicate structure.

Important Things To Note Before You Start

Use a scale to weigh your ingredients (including liquids) unless otherwise instructed (Tablespoons, teaspoons, pinch etc). Metric measurements are available in the recipe card. Scaled ingredients are much more accurate than using cups and help ensure the success of your recipe.
Practice Mise en Place (everything in it’s place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.

Nutrition

The post Buche de Noel appeared first on Sugar Geek Show.

Pattern Roll Cake Recipe

Elizabeth Marek — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 17:45:31 +0000

How to make a decorative pattern roll cake dessert

Make beautiful designs on the outside of your pattern roll cake! Such a fun and easy way to get creative without all the fuss of a layer cake.

What is a pattern roll cake?

A pattern roll cake is achieved by piping a colorful batter onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, freezing it and then layering on your roll cake batter.

After you peel off the parchment paper, the pattern is revealed! All that's left to do is roll up the sponge with a tasty filling and you've got a fun and easy decorated cake!

You can do any kind of pattern you want by changing the colors and the design of the batter. You can even use stencils or templates.

For this recipe, I decided to do something super simple without any templates so you can see how easy it really is.

How to make the roll cake pattern

The pattern batter is super simple to prepare. Just mix it all together with a hand mixer or even a whisk until cohesive. Add in some food coloring and put it all into a piping bag.

You can also divide the batter up and make multiple colors if you want to get fancy. I used a couple of drops of electric blue food coloring in mine for my snowflakes.

I used a #2 piping tip for making my snowflakes and I'm using a 10"x15" cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (not wax paper). To make a snowflake start by piping a big +. Then pipe a small x over the top. Make a v on the ends of the big lines and voila! Snowflake.

Then just pop the whole thing into the freezer for 20 minutes. While it's freezing, go ahead and make your roll cake sponge.

How to make a roll cake sponge

Making the roll cake sponge requires a simmering pot of water and a heatproof bowl. I use the stainless steel bowl of my kitchenaid mixer because it makes it easy. Combine the eggs and sugar in the bowl and place over the simmering water. The bowl shouldn't be touching the water.

The idea is to heat the mixture for just long enough that the sugar dissolves. Whisk occasionally so the eggs don't cook. Once the sugar has dissolved, it's ready to whip up. I usually just feel the egg whites with my fingers to see if it's dissolved.

Whip the batter on high until the batter has tripled in volume and you get to the ribbon stage. The ribbon stage is when you drizzle the batter back onto itself and the batter forms "ribbons" that lay on top of the surface for a while before dissolving back into itself.

Once your egg reaches the ribbon stage, you want to fold your flour into the egg GENTLY so you don't deflate. I sift my flour onto the egg mixture then gently fold to incorporate.

Slowly run your spatula around the outside edge of the batter, moving along the side of the bowl then towards the bottom of the bowl. Lift the batter up gently and fold it over onto itself. Repeat. If you mix too aggressively, your batter will deflate and it won't rise later.

Once your sponge is mixed you can spread it out onto your baking sheet with the frozen snowflake batter. Make sure you push the batter all the way to the edges. Do not grease your pan.

Then place the whole thing in your preheated oven for 8 minutes. This cake bakes very quickly so make sure you have everything ready to go as soon as it comes out.

What you need to roll your cake

Two cooling racks
Powdered sugar and a sifter
A tea towel or other thin towel
Small sharp knife

Once the sponge is done, you need to run a knife around the outside edge to loosen it from the pan.

Flip onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment, dust with powdered sugar. Spread the tea towel on top, then place the other cooling rack over the towel. Flip the whole thing back over again so the tea towel is on the bottom.

Tightly roll up the cake while it's still warm. This is vital to avoiding those nasty cracks when you roll it up again with filling. Let it cool a few hours or even overnight.

When you're ready to fill your cake, gently unroll it. Spread a thin layer of buttercream inside. You can also use stabilized whipped cream, ganache, fruit puree or even curd.

Then roll it back up! I put mine back in the fridge to chill before serving to give the filling a chance to set up. The slices look better.

Want more? Check out these recipes!

Vanilla Roll Cake with Strawberry Cream

Almond Joconde Cake

Foolproof French macaron recipe

Recipe

Pattern Roll Cake Recipe

A pattern roll cake is made by piping a pattern onto the parchment paper before baking the sponge cake and then rolling it. Such an easy and fun way to make a decorated cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 8

Servings servings

Calories 194kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

stand mixer with metal bowl and the whisk attachment
10"x15" pan
Parchment Paper
tea towel
medium sauce pan
Piping Bag
#2 piping tip and bag

Ingredients

Pattern Batter

1 ounce powdered sugar
1 ounce butter softened
1 ounce pastuerized egg whites
1 ounce all-purpose flour
2 drops food coloring I used americolor electric blue

Roll Cake Ingredients

6 large eggs
6 ounces sugar
6 ounces cake flour or all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stabilized whipped cream

10 ounces heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
2 ounces cold water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoon heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF with the oven rack in the center. Line a ¼" sheet pan (9x13") with parchment paper.

Roll Cake Pattern

Cream together butter, flour, sugar and egg whites with a whisk attachment until smooth. Add in your food coloring and mix until cohesive in color.
Place batter into a piping bag or plastic baggie and snip off the tip. Pipe your pattern onto the parchment paper and then freeze while you prepare your roll batter (about 20 minutes)

Roll Cake Batter

Fill your saucepan with 2-3" water and bring to a boil over medium high heat until boiling then reduce heat to medium or until water is simmering
Place eggs, sugar and salt into the mixing bowl and blend together with a whisk
Place the bowl with mixture on top of your simmering water. Using your whisk, stir the egg mixture slowly until the sugar granules dissolve (about 110ºF) Remove from the heat.
Attach your bowl to your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Add in your vanilla and whisk on high for 2-3 minutes until you reach the ribbon stage (see notes). The mixture should triple in volume and lighten in color.
Sift in ⅓ of your flour mixture and fold (see notes) the flour in gently without damaging the structure of your egg mixture. Repeat two more times with the flour until just combined.
Spread batter evenly into your prepared sheet pan and spread with an offset spatula or knife all the way to the edges of the pan. Do not grease your pan.
Bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack
Immediately use a paring knife to carefully cut the edge of the sponge away from the sides of the pan. Dust the surface with powdered sugar. Place another piece of parchment on top of the cake, then another cooling rack and flip over to release the cake from the pan.
Remove the parchment paper carefully and dust the surface with more powdered sugar.
Place a tea towel over the top of the cake and carefully roll into a spiral. Place into the fridge to cool for one hour before filling with frosting.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Sprinkle your gelatin over the water and let bloom for 5 minutes.
Melt gelatin for 5 seconds in the microwave. If not fully melted do another 3 seconds. You can tell gelatin is melted when there are no granules of unmelted gelatin visible. Add in 1 teaspoon of cream and stir to combine
In a cold mixing bowl, whip your heavy cream to soft peaks. Add in your powdered sugar and vanilla.
Turn your mixer down to low and drizzle in your gelatin and mix until whipped cream forms firm peaks (but not curdled)

Roll Cake Assembly

Carefully unroll your cooled sponge. It may crack a little towards the very center of the spiral and that is normal.
Spread a thin layer of your whipped cream and layer chopped fresh fruits like strawberries or blackberries or even mix together if desired.
Carefully roll your cake back up. Cut the ends of the roll cake off so they look nice and clean and then transfer to a platter.
Dust the surface of the roll cake with more powdered sugar, swirls of whipped cream and more fresh berries.
Serve chilled. It will last for three days covered in the fridge.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

The post Pattern Roll Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugar Geek Show.

The Best Swiss Roll Cake

Elizabeth Marek — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 04:12:56 +0000

How to make a light and fluffy Swiss vanilla roll cake filled with strawberry whipped cream and rolled into a gorgeous spiral! Learn how to get the perfect spiral without cracking.

What is a roll cake?

You may have guessed, a roll cake is a cake that is rolled. A roll cake is often called a swiss roll or a jelly roll. It's a type of sponge cake that is filled with whipped cream, jam or frosting and then rolled into a spiral before serving.

A roll cake is similar to a roulade but a roulade can be filled with other things besides sweet fillings and can even be savory.

Swiss roll cakes are also a type of roll cake but to me, a swiss roll cake is a chocolate sponge with a cream filling and then covered in chocolate. I used to eat those Little Debbie swiss roll cakes back in High School. Sooo good!

Ingredients

This Swiss roll only has 5 ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry, eggs, granulated sugar, flour, salt, and vanilla. I prefer to use cake flour because it makes for a more tender cake, but you can use all-purpose flour if that's all you have.

The strawberry whipped cream filling has a few more ingredients, I like to stabilize my whipped cream so that it doesn't ooze out the sides of the cake. I stabilize whipped cream with gelatin, but I have 5 other methods like cream of tartar or cornstarch if you don't like to use gelatin. Mix in some strawberry puree made from fresh or frozen strawberries and you have a delicious filling! You can always fill your cake with easy vanilla buttercream, cream cheese frosting, or Swiss meringue buttercream.

How to make a roll cake sponge

The idea is to heat the mixture for just long enough that the sugar dissolves. Whisk occasionally so the egg yolks don't cook. Once the sugar has dissolved, it's ready to whip up. I usually just feel the egg whites with my fingers to see if it's dissolved.

Tips for making a roll cake

Making the sponge cake isn't too complicated but you definitely need to make sure you whip it enough. The egg mixture should triple in volume and reach the ribbon stage. We whip all the air into the cake instead of using a raising agent like baking powder.

Whip to ribbon stage - The ribbon stage is when you drizzle the batter back onto itself and the batter forms "ribbons" that lay on top of the surface for a while before dissolving back into itself.
Fold gently - Once your egg reaches the ribbon stage, you want to fold your flour into the egg GENTLY so you don't deflate. I sift my flour onto the egg mixture then gently fold to incorporate.
Spread it out - Spread your batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and go allllll the way to the edges. Do not grease the pan. The ungreased pan helps the sponge cake rise.

Don't over bake it - This sponge bakes incredibly fast. It only takes 8 minutes to set and then it's done. Don't bake too long or the edges get too brown and will crack during rolling.
Work fast - Once the sponge is done, you need to run a knife around the outside edge to loosen it from the pan. Dust the surface with powdered sugar, flip onto a cooling rack, remove the parchment, dust again with powdered sugar and then roll up with a tea towel all before it cools down. This is vital to avoiding those nasty cracks when you roll it up again with filling.
Let it cool - Let your roll cake cool down before you unroll and fill with filling. You'll notice the sponge has a memory now and will easily roll back up without cracking.
Frost and chill - Now you can frost your roll cake or just dust it with powdered sugar but you want to let it chill for a few hours before serving so that the roll cake holds it's shape when you cut it.

This vanilla roll cake tastes fantastic with the strawberry whipped cream but you can also fill it with straight strawberry puree, strawberry buttercream, chocolate ganache or any filling you like! Get creative!

Recipe

The Best Swiss Roll Cake

The best roll rake recipe made for making jelly roll cakes. Light and fluffy but flexible enough to roll without cracking.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 8

Servings servings

Calories 148kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

stand mixer with metal bowl and the whisk attachment
13"x18" sheet pan
Parchment Paper
tea towel
medium sauce pan

Ingredients

Roll Cake Ingredients

6 large eggs
6 ounces sugar
6 ounces cake flour or all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberry Whipped Cream Filling

16 ounces heavy whipping cream
4 ounces strawberry puree or chopped strawberries (drained)
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
5 Tablespoons cold water
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400ºF with the oven rack in the center. Line a sheet pan (13x18") with parchment paper.
Fill your saucepan with 2-3" water and bring to a boil over medium high heat until boiling then reduce heat to medium or until water is simmering
Place eggs, sugar and salt into the mixing bowl and blend together with a whisk
Place the bowl with mixture on top of your simmering water. Using your whisk, stir the egg mixture slowly until the sugar granules dissolve (about 110ºF) Remove from the heat.
Attach your bowl to your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Add in your vanilla and whisk on high for 5-7 minutes until you reach the ribbon stage (see notes). The mixture should triple in volume and lighten in color.
Sift in ⅓ of your flour mixture and fold (see notes) the flour in gently without damaging the structure of your egg mixture. Repeat two more times with the flour until just combined.
Spread batter evenly into your prepared sheet pan and spread with an offset spatula or knife all the way to the edges of the pan. Do not grease your pan.
Bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack
Immediately use a paring knife to carefully cut the edge of the sponge away from the sides of the pan. Dust the surface with powdered sugar. Place another piece of parchment on top of the cake, then another cooling rack and flip over to release the cake from the pan.
Remove the parchment paper carefully and dust the surface with more powdered sugar.
Place a tea towel over the top of the cake and carefully roll into a spiral. Place into the fridge to cool for one hour before filling with frosting.

Stabilized Whipped Cream

Sprinkle your gelatin over the water and let bloom for 5 minutes.
Melt gelatin for 5 seconds in the microwave. If not fully melted do another 3 seconds. You can tell gelatin is melted when there are no granules of unmelted gelatin visible. Add in 1 Tablespoon of cream and stir to combine
In a cold mixing bowl, whip your heavy cream to soft peaks. Add in your powdered sugar and vanilla.
Turn your mixer down to low and drizzle in your gelatin (or another stabilizer) and mix until whipped cream forms firm stiff peaks (but not curdled.)
Fold in cold strawberry puree or freshly chopped and drained strawberries

Roll Cake Assembly

Carefully unroll your cooled sponge. It may crack a little towards the very center of the spiral and that is normal.
Spread a thin layer of your whipped cream mixture over the sponge
Carefully roll your cake back up. Cut the ends of the roll cake off so they look nice and clean and then transfer to a platter.
Dust the surface of the roll cake with more powdered sugar, swirls of whipped cream and more fresh berries.
Serve chilled. It will last for three days covered in the fridge.

Video

Notes

Nutrition

The post The Best Swiss Roll Cake appeared first on Sugar Geek Show.

Meringue Mushrooms

Kelsey Prevost — Mon, 02 Dec 2019 03:52:13 +0000

Meringue mushrooms are the perfect holiday treat

Meringue mushrooms are delightfully crisp and light as air. They make the perfect addition to your Buche de Noel cake or for a whimsical woodland party theme. You can make meringue mushrooms days in advance or even freeze them to eat later.

Ingredients for meringue mushrooms

Egg whites - Fresh is best for whipping up a stiff meringue
Sugar - Gives the mushrooms their sweetness and volume to the meringue
Cream of tartar - Stabilizes the egg whites so the mushrooms are not hollow
Vanilla extract & Salt - Flavor!
Cocoa powder - For coloring the mushrooms

How to make your meringue

Making the meringue is pretty easy. Fill a medium-sized saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring it to a boil. Place your egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl. I use my bowl for my stand mixer.

Occasionally whisk the mixture until you can no longer feel any granules of sugar. Don't forget to whisk or you can accidentally cook your eggwhites.

Once your sugar is dissolved, transfer the egg white mixture to your stand mixer and whip on high until you achieve firm peaks (about 5 minutes). Then add in your vanilla, salt, and cream of tartar. Then whip for 5 more minutes until you reach STIFF peaks. The meringue should stand straight up and feel very firm! Don't worry about over-mixing. It's practically impossible.

Place your piping tip in the piping bag and snip off the end of the bag. Fill your bag with the meringue. Don't forget to glue your parchment down onto your pan so that it doesn't fly up during baking.

How to make meringue mushrooms

The best thing about making meringue mushrooms is they don't have to be perfect. Thank goodness because when I was making mine, I really messed up my oven temperature.

Even though I had my top oven set to 225ºF (I have a double oven) my bottom oven was set to 400ºF and the heat from the bottom made my top oven hotter. This caused my mushrooms to crack and split BUT I was able to save most of them and the cracks looked pretty natural.

To pipe the caps, I hold my piping tip straight up and down and squeeze to form a round meringue cookie. There will be a little peak but just smooth that down with a bit of water on your finger.

Then for the stems, I begin squeezing to attach the meringue to the parchment paper the pull up about two inches. Stop squeezing to finish the top of the stem. If they fall over it's ok. You can eat those later, no one will know! The stems do not need to be super tall.

Then bake your meringues in the oven at 200ºF for about two hours. Then just turn off the oven and let them cool in there overnight. If you live in a humid area they might take longer to bake and you'll want to store them in airtight containers to avoid them getting sticky.

How to assemble meringue mushrooms

Melt down your chocolate and set it aside. Combine ½ teaspoon of vanilla extrac and ½ teaspoon cocoa powder together to make the speckle paint. You can paint the base of the mushroom caps if you desire to look like lines.

Make a small hole in the cap of your mushroom cap with a knife or skewer. Dip the tip of the meringue stem into the chocolate and attach the stem to the cap.

All that's left to do is speckle the tops of your mushrooms with a stiff brush.

Voila! Your mushrooms are complete! They look so super cute on top of my Buche de Noel cake! This recipe makes a TON of mushrooms so you can use the extras on a separate plate or as decorations on your place settings.

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Recipe

Meringue Mushroom Recipe

Easy crispy crunchy meringue mushrooms are a Christmastime favorite or the perfect treat for a woodland party.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 2

cooling 1

Total Time 2 10

Servings mushrooms

Calories 25kcal

Author Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

804 Piping Tip
Piping Bag

Ingredients

Meringue Mushroom Ingredients

3 egg whites fresh
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
5 oz sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring
1 pinch salt
1 ounce melted chocolate

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Meringue mushroom instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 225ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in a pot. Place a clean stainless steel mixing bowl over the water. It shouldn't touch the water.
Combine your egg whites and sugar and whisk to combine. Occasionally whisk as it's heating to distribute the heat and dissolve the sugar.
Once your egg whites are at 110ºF (or when you don't feel any grains of sugar between your fingers) you're read to whip
Place the bowl on your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk on med for one minute, add in cream of tartar, salt and flavoring.
Bump up to high and let whip until you reach STIFF peaks.
Now you are ready to pipe your meringue onto a parchment-lined baking sheet into your mushrooms!
Note: make sure your parchment sits completely flat on your baking sheet by placing dollops of meringue under each corner and pressing it flat against the pan.
Place piping tip into a piping bag. Fill your bag with your meringue.
To make the caps of the mushrooms, hold your piping bag straight up and down and squeeze to form the mushroom cap and pull up. There will be a little peak and that is okay, we will take care of that in a minute.
Once you have formed all your caps, use a tiny bit of water on your finger tip and gently smooth the top of the meringues.
For the stems, you hold your piping bag straight up and down again, touch the tip to the parchment, squeeze a bit to attach the meringue to the parchment then slowly move your hand up while squeezing. The base should be a bit thicker than the top. Make your stems about 2" tall.
Bake for about 2 hours, then turn off the oven but do not take them out. Let them sit in the oven until they are completely cold. I leave mine in overnight.
Meringue mushrooms can be stored in a ziplock bag unrefrigerated for up to two weeks.

Nutrition

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