This was our first week-end back from holidays and it was one of the busiest one ever!
I had booked tickets to go to the Foodies Festival on Saturday, then we promised some friends to join them afterwards for dinner. On Sunday I had to take Bee to a birthday party and in the between dropping and picking her up I had to get everything ready for dinner as we had friends coming over to taste my homemade pizza! Phewwwwwww
Obviously being just back from holidays, I completely forgot that on Wednesday the Great British Bake Off was on so I missed that!
The next day I noticed images of Swiss rolls popping up everywhere.. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.. what was that all about?The Great British Bake off obviously! Therefore even if haven’t watched it (yet) I decided to do my first attempt to make a Swiss roll.
To be honest it’s not something that I would normally think to bake. I remember my mum used to make lots of these Swiss rolls when we were little so I thought to dig up one of her recipes and have it a go.
I dropped Bee off to the birthday party at 2pm and then I rushed home thinking that 1 and 1/2 hours to prepare a swiss roll would have been enough.. at the end I made it but it was crazy (I mean look at these pictures I quickly took with my iphone!! ) because I wanted to bake it but I didn’t want to be the parent who was going to be late to pick her child up from the party!
I adapted a basic Swiss Roll recipe that my mum wrote on a recipe notebook… she gave it to me the day I left to move to Scotland… awwww!
Anyway, if I had to make it again I would avoid preparing this type of filling as although it tasted lovely, it kind of reminded me of strawberry yoghurt so I thought it was too much hassle to make something that ends up tasting like yoghurt!
This is my recipe:
Ingredients for the roll
100gr of flour
2 tbps of vanilla extract
140 gr caster sugar
5 eggs
red food coloring to taste
2gr of baking powder
Ingredients for the filling
50 gr of caster sugar
125 ml of double cream
125g of mascarpone
350 g of strawberries
8 gr of gelatin sheets
25 gr of powdered sugar
Preparation
Fist you need to start by making the filling. Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl with cold water for 10 minutes to soften. In the meantime wash and chop the strawberries and put them into a pan with the sugar and cook them just enough to soften.
Put the strawberries in the blender and blend until you get a puree. When the gelatine sheets are soft, squeeze them well and incorporate the strawberry sauce which should still be warm.
In another bowl combine together the icing sugar and mascarpone then add the strawberry sauce. Stir to mix the ingredients until you will get a light pink cream.
Whip the double cream and incorporate it to the pink cream. Transfer it in a large bowl to cool, cover with plastic wrap and let it harden in the fridge for about 2 hours.
To prepare the Swiss roll place the egg yolks in a bowl (set aside the egg whites), sugar and mix add the vanilla extract and continue beating until mixture is light. Whip the egg whites separately and when you get stiff picks add the sugar.
Incorporate the egg whites by folding them with the rest of the mixture.
In a bowl combine the flour and baking powder, add it to the egg mixture and blend all together. Pick up a small portion of batter (around 4 tablespoons), take the red food coloring and pour a few drops in it, just remember to add the food coloring a little at a time until you get the deep red color.
Transfer the mixture in a piping bag and make the hearts of about 2 cm on a sheet of baking paper lying on a baking tray ( promise I can make better hearts but I was rushing rushing!)
Cook the hearts in oven preheated to 220° C for 2 minutes (fan oven at 200 degrees for about 1 minute)
Then take the tray out and spread the rest of the batter mixture into the baking tray distributing it over the hearts.
Cook for another 7 minutes at 220° always in preheated oven (if fan oven at 200 ° C for 3 -4 minutes).
When it is ready, transfer it still hot on the work surface, sprinkle the surface with the granulated sugar and cover with the film. By doing so the roll will remain soft and elastic and easier to roll. When it has cooled, remove the cling film and spread the strawberry cream making sure to leave a two cm border.
Roll the Swiss roll and wrap it pretty tight (not like it did!). Let the Swiss roll firm up in the fridge for about 4 hours, then dust it with icing sugar and serve.
TIP: You can vary the filling cream by using other fruits such as peaches or berries or just use plain jam and cream.
