Lemon Swiss Roll

Hi my friends, it's been a long while I had not been updated my blog. My office job has demanded a lot of my time and energy lately. I always look forward to weekends so that I can spend time in my baking but tiredness has taken a toll on me. I wish I have more than 24 hours a day everyday to do things that I enjoy ... Nevertheless, I promise to do my best to upload and update this blog as frequent as possible.

From where I left off the last time, I promised you that I would share more swiss roll recipes with you. Here is another swiss roll that I love -- a lemony sponge fill with lemon butter cream.
Lemon is the main ingredient in this recipe. Most people love lemon because it brings more good than harm to us especially it has the power to open up our taste buds and our senses although physically our body does not feel like it. The juice and the zest of lemon make it light to the taste. For the fnishing touch, I decorated it with a thick layer of lemon butter cream on top ... enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

For the sponge:
80g egg yolks
25g castor sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs + 1 tsp corn oil
2 tbs water
zest of 1 lemon
70g cake flour
160g egg whites
65g castor sugar

Filling:
65g castor sugar
60g egg whites
150g unsalted butter
3 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Whisk together egg yolks, 25g sugar, corn oil, water, lemon juice & lemon zest until combined.
2. Sift in cake flour and mix until smooth.
3. In a seprate bowl, beat egg whites until it turn frothy then gradually add sugar (65g) and continue to beat until becomes stiff peak.
4. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until mix well. Then fold in the remaining egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until all incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into a baking tin measuring 12x12 inch and bake in a preheated oven (180C) for 8 mins or until it turns light brown. Set aside.
6. For the filling: Place egg whites & sugar over a double boiler. Constantly mixing it until sugar dissolved.
7. Remove from heat and continue mixing until it turns pale and creamy color and stiff.
8. Add in the butter to the egg white mixture and continue to beat until it becomes fluffy and thick.
9. Add lemon juice & vanila extract and beat well.
10. Assemble the swiss roll (follow the instructions explained in the previous recipe).

Strawberry Swiss Roll

Swiss roll, what an elegant name! Does it really originate from Sweden? The answer is 'no'. It's an european dessert however, which has been existed in the world of bakery long time ago. I was attracted to swiss roll when I was a little girl about 10 years old. The shape of the 'cake' is so unique, so different from the norm which is in either square or round shape. I wondered how the baker managed to make such a beautiful 'cake'. I was pretty excited about it. In those days, swiss roll was not a 'super star' amongst other desserts available. Its taste was quite plain. My dad used to buy back home swiss roll for me particularly the one with grounded peanuts spread on top of the swiss roll. The taste and the look are still vividly remained in my memory till today!

But, bakers nowadays have innovated the look, flavour and texture so much so that it tastes much much better than 20 years ago. I have made quite a few with different flavours in the past. Here is one that I love very much ... the Strawberry Swiss Roll.



The sponge cake texture is very soft and fine. The little red thing at the centre is cut strawberry.

If this is your first time of making a swiss roll, there are a couple of things you need to know:
1. Line your parchment paper well fitted in the baking tray. This will help you later to take off the sponge cake easily.
2. When stripping off the parchment paper from the sponge cake, do it slow and gentle. Some recipes advise to do this step while the sponge cake is still warm whereas others say wait till the sponge cake is completely cool down. My approach is doing it while it's still warm.
3. Do not over bake the sponge because it is a thin layer and hence easily get burnt or hardened. You will find it difficult to roll the sponge if over baked. You don't want any cracks on the sponge when roll it.
4. There is a technic to roll the sponge i.e. using a roller pin (if you have one). You can always check this out by watching videos from youtube. What you want to achieve is a compact swill roll.

I will share more swiss roll recipes in my subsequent posts.

Here is the recipe for the Strawberry flavour:
For the sponge cake:
Egg 200g
Egg yolk 40g
Sugar 80g
Honey 30g
Flour - sifted 80g
Milk 30g
Oil 20g

For the filling:
Heavy cream 200ml
Sugar 1 tbs
Fresh strawberries - cut in small bite pieces 200g (or more depending on your preference)

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 200C. I used a baking tray measuring 30x33cm.
2. Add eggs, egg yolk, sugar and honey in a bowl. Keep stirring it over a double boiler. When the temperature comes to about 39C (or not too hot), then remove it from the heat and continue mixing it with an electical mixer. This will take about 10 mins or more to reach a light, fluffy consistency with no bubbles left.
3. Add the flour in the mixture and mix slowly.
4. Heat the milk & oil (just before boiling point) and quickly pour it into the dough. Mix slowly to incorporate the milk mixture.
5. Pour out the dough onto the baking tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Drop the baking tray on the table (1 time) to release any air bubbles in the dough. Bake for 8 - 10 mins.
7. Whip the heavy cream & sugar. Then spread the cream on the sponge cake. Place the cut strawberries on the whipped cream line by line.
8. Roll it and then place the swiss roll in the fridge for at least 4 hours before cutting it.

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Most of us have tasted cheesecake ever since the existence of cheesecakes. There are some people have even taken it a step further to make it a part of their food chain. I am not kidding ... if you take cheesecake at least 2 to 3 time a month, you probably be classified as "cheesecakeholic". Many times, we take the very popular form of cheesecake that most people love i.e. heavy, solid & moist with 99% of cheese filling. Me too.. usually 1 slice is enough for the day because it gives you that 'heavy' yet satisfying feeling. Sometimes, I do feel guilty to take a second slice because of the fat content in the cheesecake... but nevertheless, that's the love-hate relationship I have with cheesecake!

Alternatively, there is another type of cheesecake which contains less fat but tastes wonderfully good i.e. the fluffy japanese cheesecake which is as light as feather and as soft as cotton.  Its smooth and fine texture causes it melts in your mouth almost immediately!

                                                                Fresh from the oven!

                                                               The texture is so fine - like sponge!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

(A):

250g cream cheese

250 ml milk

120g butter

(B):

50ml fresh orange juice

2 nos orange rind, grated

(C):

6 egg yolks

60g sugar

(D):

70g plain flour

20g corn flour

(E):

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

60g sugar

Method:

1) Melt cream cheese  and milk over a double boiler until cheese is dissolved. Drain to get smooth texture.

2) Remove from heat and add in butter, stir until butter dissolved.

3) Add in (B) & (C). Mix well.

4) Add in (D), mix until becomes thick.

5) Whisk egg whites & cream of tartar & gradually add in sugar (E) until stiff peak.

6) Fold egg whites to cream cheese mixture slowly.

7) Pour batter into a 8" square tin and bake in a preheated oven 150C with water bath for 1 hour 10 mins.

      

Mini Cream Puff

I love cream puff. I love its puffiness and the creamy filling. Not so sweet :)
So, I decided to make my own cream puff which calls for 4 main ingredients: water, flour, eggs and butter. This is my third try. First and second tries were total disasters ... all puffs were burnt like charcoal. Well, I learnt an important lesson here, never trust the oven's temperature setting. It may not be accurate! It's important that you have a thermometer to tell you the exact temperature and it's not very expensive to buy one. This is a thermometer used for baking (not the one that you hang on the wall).

It's amazing to watch the dough puffs up like a 'ping-pong' ball. Make sure you don't open the oven door at this crucial time, otherwise your cream puffs will become flat.  For the filling, I always go for pastry/custard cream instead of whipped cream as it tastes much better.

  

Lemon Drizzle Cake

While looking through my kitchen cabinets the other day, I found packs of plain flour and SRF which I think I've bought some times ago.   I started looking for a simple recipe so that I could use up those flours. I don't like to keep them as they may turn rancid easily especially SRF.  So, I found this lemon cake recipe from "Breads & Baking" by Gina Steer, which calls for SRF. Great! Wonderful!

But when I checked on the date, damn! the SRF has already been expired half a year ago. Thinking of using it and hoping that the rising agent in the flour could still be used. Then I did a test to see if it's still active. It's a very simple test really !  Just pour some warm water in a small bowl, add a teaspoon of the SRF into the warm water. If it bubbles, means it's still active. Unfortunately, mine has no bubble.  So, I decided to make my own SRF.  Here's how you do it: for each cup of plain flour, add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  So, I'm on my way to bake the cake!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
125g butter
175g SRF
175g castor sugar
2 large eggs
2 lemons
50g castor sugar

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 180 C.  Line a 7" square tin with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and 175g sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Beat the eggs, and gradually add a little to the creamed mixture, followed by adding 1 tablespoon of the flour. Mix well.
4. Finely grate the rind from 1 lemon and add in the mixture. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and add in the mixture. Mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 25-30 mins.
6. Grate the rind from the other lemon and mix with 25g of the sugar and set aside.
7. Squeeze the juice from the last lemon into sauce pan. Add the remaining 25g of sugar and simmer over low heat until sugar dissolved.
8. While the cake is still hot, prick little holes all over it using a skewer. Sprinkle the lemon rinds sugar mix and drizzle over the syrup.

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year and to all my friends who celebrate Chinese New Year (CNY), Gong Xi Fa Chai!

I was supposed to bake a cake for this CNY but I was so loaded with work ... house chores to be exact. So, I had no time to get down to my kitchen lab at all! Anyway, I would like to share with you one more cheesecake which I baked sometimes last year. It was a delicious cake topped with creamy caramel and aromatic toasted pecans ... it's heaven! I discovered this recipe in the Net while I was searching for challenging cheesecake recipes. Then, I came across an eye-catching photo of a cheesecake with a thick chocolatish caramel dripping down the sides of the cake. I tell myself, this is it... I want to do this! The passion and the determination of making one 'successfully' drove me to start the mission almost immediately. I drove to the nearby bakery supply shop to assemble all the necessary ingredients and hit the kitchen right away.....

These photos were taken from my handphone camera (I should get a semi-pro digital cam for better quality). If you like caramel and pecan, I highly recommend this!!

Here is the recipe:

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

250g (or 1/2 pound) digestive biscuits

4 tbsp unsalted butter (melted) 

Filling:

2 1/2 pounds cream cheese (at room temperature)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Caramel topping:

3/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

12 tbsp heavy cream

Handful of pecans to sprinkle on top (you can also substitute it with walnuts)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven at 325F.
2. Mix the crust ingredients together well with your fingers. Press the crust into the springform pan (I used 8") and partway up the sides, to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
3. In a small bowl, blend the cream and sour cream together.
4. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese on medium-low speed until it is very smooth.
5. Add the following ingredients i.e. cream cheese, sugar, salt, lemon juice, zest, eggs (one at a time) and cream/sour cream mixture, mixing on medium-low speed until smooth after each addition and scraping the bowl frequently.
6. Pour the batter over the crust in the prepared pan.
7. Bake with water bath until the cake has just a slight wobble in the center when nudged.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
9. Cover the cake with plastic wrap directly on its surface, and chill overnight.
10. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and let it unchill slightly while you prepare the topping.
11. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, water over medium-high heat to dissolved the sugar. Heat on medium-high without stirring, washing down the sides with a wet pastry brush occasionally, until the mixture turns an amber color.
12. Add the cream and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring from time to time, until the caramel is thick but not chewy.
13. Remove from the heat and cool at room temperature until it is slightly warmer; it should still be quite pourable at this point.
14. Pour the topping over the cake; use an offset spatula to spread it to the edges and let it drip down the sides.
15. Top with chopped pecans.
16. Chill for 2 – 6 hours before serving.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Happy New Year 2012 to all of you!!

Whenever I am not working, I would always find time to try out new recipes to improve my baking skills. I remember last year, I had this desire for cheesecakes that I would bake one cheesecake every fortnightly, well almost.  It's like when you are into something and you wouldn't want to get out of it. You just stick to it for as long as you want. That's the feeling and emotion I had.  Ok, back to my baking lab (l like to call my kitchen a lab instead because I do a lot of R&D stuff in there), here is a blueberry cheesecake which I used fresh blueberries instead of canned blueberry jam. I like the sourness of the berries that mixed together with the sweetness of the cream cheese ... take a bite of the cheesecake with the berries burst in your mouth ... that is what I called the real blueberry cheesecake!

Recipe:

Crust:
141g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
3 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs melted butter

Filling:
1 pound cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Method:
1. Preheat oven at 160C. I used a round 8x8 springform pan.
2.  Combine the crushed biscuits, sugar and melted butter. Mix well. Pour the mixture  into the pan and press evenly.
3. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Set aside.
4. Combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth.
5. Stir in flour until well blended.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until the batter is smooth.
7. Stir in the vanilla and heavy cream until well incorporated. Lastly, stir in the blueberries. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.
8. Bake in water bath for 50 minutes or until the centre is set. Let it cool and refrigerate overnight to get the best result.