Japanese Rolled Cake

This was truly a challenge to be able to do this cake
It took three trials before I was pretty satisfied with the result, not the cake but more to the painting on the cake itself
The last trial I used slightly different recipe and that was a good decision to get it right
Now I know which recipe I shall use in the future
But will I make this again? I'm not sure. It took at least two hours for me to make, and it gave me a pretty high pile of dishes to wash wew.....
This cake is another example to prove that baking is indeed science
To be able to do it quite successfully does give a certain level of satisfaction and that matters :)

My first try - not too bad, but I burnt a little of the white color and it wasn't so smooth cos some parts were stuck at the baking paper that I had to peel super carefully with knife and arranged it back on the cake

I used Nutella for the filling

My second try - not too bad, either but I didn't like the christmas stocking, the red part wasn't smooth at all - even worse than the first try, and yes, some parts were still stuck at the baking paper
I used chocolate ganache for the filling

 

Finally it's smooth and firmly attached to the cake, I was pretty pleased with this one, except for the small stain on the tree and I used non stabilized whipping cream filling for this cake - it wasn't firm enough, hence the not so round shape of this rolled cake
I used whipped cream and cut strawberries for the filling

My first and second try were using the same recipe from Mba R, this recipe was used by many fellow Indonesian bloggers
It gave me a beautiful texture and yummy cake, it's really a keeper
But somehow, I couldn't be comfortable with the recipe for the batter to do the painting, even after the second try

My third try I used recipe from Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders
I must thank her for doing the translation and sharing it in her blog, it's a great help!
I was so pleased with the recipe for the painting batter, and the cake was yummy too, but more to thinner side


The recipe for the cake:

What you need:

5 egg yolks
40g sugar
40ml canola oil
60ml water
80g plain flour

150g egg whites
40g sugar
150g corn flour
1/2 tsp salt

For the painting:
50g egg whites
10g sugar
5g corn flour

For the egg yolk batter:

1. Beat egg yolks and sugar til ribbon stage. In low speed, add in oil slowly, mix well
2. Add in water slowly, mix well
3. Add in flour and mix well til thick. Set aside

For the painting:

1. Prepare swiss roll pan, grease and line with baking paper which has drawing of picture to be painted. Place the drawing facing down
2. Beat egg whites and half of sugar til foamy, add in the remaining sugar gradually while beating in low speed til medium peak
3. Add in corn flour and mix well briefly til well mixed
4. Divide according the need of the painting, how many colors needed
5. Mix each part with each color til well mixed and put it in piping bag
6. Snip a very little hole at the tip of the piping bag and start painting starting from the outline first if there's one, otherwise start from darker color first
7. Bake in preheated oven of 170degC for 1 minute each color
8. Set aside

For the egg whites batter:

1. Beat egg whites and half of the sugar and salt til foamy
2. Add in the balance of the sugar gradually til medium peak
3. Add in corn flour, mix well

1. Scoop out 1/3 of the egg white batter into the egg yolk batter and fold in gently
2. Add in the remaining egg white batter and fold in gently (do not over fold to avoid the batter being deflated)
3. Pour the batter onto the prepared and painted pan, level
4. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes - do not overbake to avoid difficulty in rolling the cake later on
5. After it's cooked, remove the cake from pan, peel the baking paper slowly and carefully
6. When the cake is cool, flip the cake on another baking paper (now painting is facing down) Spread with filling and roll away from you using the baking paper
7. Keep in the fridge for around 1 hour in the fridge til set before opening up the baking paper

I personally love both the cake recipes, but for the painting batter I definitely will use Miss B's recipe :)


I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #26 hosted by Alan of Travelling Foodies and LBT challenge this month