Chocolate Cake Roll with Earl Grey Cream

Back with another cake roll per R and G's request.

They requested for chocolate and earl grey flavors and extra cream, so I added cocoa powder to the cake batter and infused the cream with earl grey tea. The resulting cake roll is dreamy. I love this classic earl grey chocolate flavor pairing, and the earl grey cream was absolutely divine on its own.

To make the earl grey cream, I infused about 200g cream (almost double the amount of what I used for the previous cake rolls) with 3 earl grey tea bags. I heated the cream up to a slow simmer and let the tea bags sit with the cream for about 45 minutes off heat.

Chocolate Cake Roll with Earl Grey Cream
recipe adapted from Neo Sook Bee on IG
makes one roll

Chocolate Cake:
30g oil
45g cake flour
14g cocoa powder
1g salt
50g water or milk
3 eggs
40g sugar
drops of lemon juice, optional to add to egg whites

1. Warm oil to 70C (158g).
2. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk to combined.
3. Add water and whisk.
4. Add yolks and whisk until combined and lump free.
5. In another bowl, beat egg whites. When bubbles are formed, slowly add in half of sugar. Keep beating until soft peaks form. Add rest of sugar and continue beating until medium peaks.
5. Fold egg white into egg yolk mixture 1/3 at a time until no more white streaks.
6. Pour batter in one spot onto lined pan. Smooth into even thickness and gently tap to rid of large bubbles.
7. Bake in preheated 325F oven for 20-23 minutes or until cake is spongy to touch.
8. Slide to rack to cool. Place a clean parchment paper over to prevent over drying.
9. Once is cool enough to touch, flip and peel off parchment paper.
10. Optional: trim off edges. On a short end, trim at a 45 degree angle. This will help with rolling/ sealing.
11. Spread a thin layer of cream. Roll and wrap to chill.
12. Chill for 1-2 hours before cutting.

Earl Grey Cream:
200g cream
3 earl grey tea bags

Over medium low heat, heat cream till simmer. Off heat. Add tea bags and steep for 30-45 minutes. Once cooled, chill in fridge before whipping.

Step by step photos:

 

 

Baked:

 

The skin peeled off evenly and revealed a nice "towel" roll. I would want extra cream too if it's this earl grey cream. 

Taste: 4 stars out of 5

5 stars for the earl grey cream, but the chocolate flavor can be more dark/intense

Texture: 5 stars out of 5

Pillow-y airy cake with a creamy rich filling.

Hojicha Cake Roll with Hojicha Cream

Hojicha is roasted green tea with smoky notes similar to coffee. The taste is so complex and sophisticated. This cake roll has double the Hojicha and is perfect for any Hojicha lover!

Both the cake and cream have Hojicha powder added and are packed with the roasted tea flavor.

Hojicha Cake Roll with Hojicha Cream
recipe adapted from Sift and Simmer
makes one 9" x 13" cake

Cake:
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
40 g granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
30 g granulated sugar
30 g oil
30 g milk
45 g cake flour
10 g hojicha powder

Hojicha Cream Filling:
1/2 C heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp hojicha powder
1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Gently fold egg whites into yolk batter

Bake until top is dry and springy to touch

Make the Cake:
1. Line a 9" by 13" baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Add egg yolks to a large bowl. Add insugar and whisk together.
3. Next, add in toil and milk and whisk until combined.
4. Add in  sifted cake flour and hojicha powder. Use a spatula to mix together. Set aside.
5. With a stand mixer, gradually whisk egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add in cream of tartar. Increase the speed gradually and add in sugar in small increments.
6. Beat until egg whites reach medium peaks.
7. Fold egg whites into yolk batter in third until homogeneous.
8. Pour into lined baking tray. Smooth out batter and tap tray to remove any trapped air bubbles.
9. Bake at 375F for 13-15 mins, until top is dry and springy to touch.
10. Remove from oven and carefully drop it from a height of about 1'.
11. Transfer cake over to a cooling rack, with the parchment-side down.
12. Loosely cover top with a new piece of parchment paper.

Make the Hojicha Cream:
Add whipping cream, hojicha powder and sugar to a large bowl. Whisk until the cream thickens.

 

To assemble:
1. While cake is still warm, carefully flip the cake onto the new parchment paper, with bottom side facing up. Peel the old parchment paper off the cake.
*Optional to trim edges. Trim one edge at an angle for a more rounded roll.
2. Using an offset spatula, spread the hojicha cream over the surface of the cake.
3. Carefully roll up cake from the short side and seal the ends of the parchment. Place into the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours.
4. Slice with a serrated knife and serve.

Taste: 5 stars out of 5
Hojicha rich!
Texture: 5 stars out of 5
Light and airy cake with creamy rich cream.

Banana Ogura Cake

This cake baked up so beautifully with moist crumbs and a smooth golden brown exterior. It's like a pillow. So soft and fluffy! The banana flavor comes through, and the light sweetness makes this cake crave-able at any time of the day. I love enjoying this cake plain.

Banana Ogura Cake
makes one 8" square pan
recipe adapted from Jeannie Tay

5 yolk + 1 whole egg
60g corn oil
160 mashed banana
1/4 tsp salt
70g cake flour
5 whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
65g sugar

1. Whisk egg yolks, 1 whole egg and corn oil until frothy then add mashed banana and mix well.
2. Sift in flour and salt and mix again until well combined. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg white, cream of tartar and castor sugar until firm peaks formed.
4. Mix 1/3 of meringue with yolk batter with a hand whisk.
5. Add another 1/3 portion and fold gently with the whisk.
6. Pour in remaining meringue. Fold gently using a spatula until no more streaks of meringue can be seen.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and tap pan lightly to remove air bubbles.
8. Bake in a water bath for 70 minutes at 320F.
9. Remove from oven. Drop pan at a 4" height onto a table top. Unmould as soon as you can.

Taste: 4.5 stars out of 5
Subtle banana flavor and sweetness just right.
Texture: 5 stars out of 5
So light and fluffy yet moist.
Appearance: 4.5 stars out of 5
Smooth golden brown top. Would try baking this in a smaller pan to get a taller cake!

Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake

Throw back to my first successful chocolate sponge/chiffon cake in 2010 (original post here). My family and I loved it so much that I made this cake a couple more times following - as seen here and here. Somehow somewhere this recipe got a bit forgotten in the past 7 years or so.

For my dad's birthday this year, I decided to dig up this oldie to see if it's as good as remembered. I made some slight modifications and encountered a bit of a mishap.

Simple Sponge Cake

On one of those spontaneous lazy afternoons..

I had a sudden urge to eat bake/decorate a simple strawberry layered cake.

I didn't want to use any tried recipes.

So, I did a quick search online..

And after a few hours, here's what I created.



Sponge Cake
-makes one 6" round

60g cake flour
3 eggs, room temperature
40g sugar
25-30g oil or melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Beat egg with sugar until stiff
3. Sift flour into egg mixture in 2-3 batches and whisk
4. Add oil and whisk lightly
5. Bake for 25 minutes



*For a chocolate sponge cake, reduce cake flour to 50 cake and add 10g of cocoa powder


^trimmed(;

The sponge cake turned out to be on the dense/firm side (*good for doing layers). Overall, a good and acceptable* recipe for those lazy days.


^my strawberrilicious layer

Taste: 3.5 stars out of 5 (nothing out of the ordinary)
Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5 (I prefer an airy-er and lighter cake)

Lemon and Chocolate Mousse Layered Shortcake

Layered cakes take a lot of planning and preparation. But sometimes, not knowing what you are doing can result in a good surprise!

I originally intended to do a boring simple sponge cake with one layer of whipped cream and strawberries, and then maybe do a coat of whipped cream on the outside.

Well, turned out..

First layer of cake.
Lemon mousse.
Second layer of cake.
Chocolate mousse with cocoa puffs.
Last layer of cake.
All coated with a thin layer of lemon mousse.

this happened.



Being the resourceful me and seeing the bagful of fresh lemons my uncle gave me, I decided to change my direction a bit and do a lemon cake instead. Since my mom loves the lighter chiffon cakes, and this is HER birthday cake after all.. I shall do a lemon chiffon!

Then, my thought process was as follow:
lemon curd!! --> yum --> lemon mousse! --> even yummier! --> lemon goes with chocolate --> chocolate mousse --> oh, and we got cocoa puffs --> why not throw a couple in there for the crunch --> lemon mousse and lemon chiffon --> mm, maybe a regular sponge will do!

Haha.. I totally went adventurous on this cake. (My chocolate mousse was actually made from the espresso ganache I had from the macarons. I just whipped up some heavy whipping cream and mixed the two together. I like the mousse a lot actually!! : D)

I was right on the lemon and chocolate pairing but wrong for thinking that the cocoa puff would still be crunchy after mixing it with the mousse. Overall, I think it lives up to my expectation. I just wish the cake layers were thicker. Next time, I shall double the cake base recipe and make a taller cake.




Japanese Shortcake (sponge cake)
recipe from La Fuji Mama
- makes one 7" or 8" layered cake

4 large eggs, white and yolks separated
4.2 ounces (120 grams, 9.5 tablespoons) granulated sugar, sifted once
3 tablespoons milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4.2 ounces (120 grams, 14 tablespoons) cake flour, sifted 3 times
1.2 ounces (22 grams, 2.3 tablespoons) butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (170 to 180 degrees Celsius). Line a 7 (18cm) or 8-inch circular cake pan with parchment paper, or grease the cake pan with butter, then lightly coat the pan with flour.
2. Add the sugar to the egg whites, and beat the egg whites until they are stiff and glossy.
3. Add the egg yolks to the egg white mixture, and gently whisk until the yolks are incorporated.
4. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and flour (in that order) to the batter and gently fold them into the batter with a spatula. Fold in the melted butter until it is well combined.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan, and get rid of any air bubbles in the batter by dropping the pan on a counter once or twice. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes. The cake is done when it is golden brown and springs back when pressed lightly. Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack. Run a blade around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and remove.

(Lemon Mousse recipe will be updated later)


Lemon mousse taste: 3 stars out of 5 (refreshing and spring- like, slightly overpowering)
Chocolate mousse taste: 4.5 stars out of 5 (delicious!!)
Mousse texture: 4 stars out of 5 (as good as I can make it)
Cake taste: 4 stars out of 5 (firm enough to use for layered cakes)
Cake texture: 4 stars out of 5 (my layers were pretty thin.. I think it was on the fluffier side)

First Attempt@ Swiss Roll = Semi- Failed

I was debating whether I should post this. But hmph.. I guess this blog is about keeping track of how I have progressed over the years so this needs to be a part of it-- my semi-failed and messy attempt at swiss roll. Ehh.. it just wasn't a good day for me to bake (my attempt at bread that day failed as well).

My fiasco..
First, this recipe called for 1 whole egg and 3 separated eggs and I mindlessly separated all the eggs. Well, no big deal right? I just had to scoop a yolk and some egg whites out of the bowls to get back my whole egg. Then! Given my mishap with over beating the egg whites last time, this time I "under- beated" it. The batter came out really runny and thin and there was no way it could be piped like the recipe asked for. I skipped the pipping step and just scooped the cocoa mixture in and baked the batter anyways. The cake came out ..... Before I get to that, let me also mention that I messed up on evening the batter on the pan. (After baking) The corners of the cake were noticeably thinner than the center and some were thin to the point that they just cracked off. Major fail.



While the cake was in the process of baking, I was bothered by the watery batter and decided to you-tube some swiss roll tutorial. As expected, their batter were definitely not as thin as mine. Most of them were thick enough so that you can scrap and even them on the pan.. At this point, I was still hoping for some miracles to happen to my sponge cake.



The top of the cake came out looking alright.. nicely browned. However, the bottom side (the side attached to parchment paper) was a tragedy. It was wet and moist looking. It was glossy and sheen. Absolutely no visible pores like that of a sponge cake.

I think I unconsciously gave up on the cake when I know the batter was way too thin to begin with. RIGHT after I took it out of the oven, I flipped the cake onto a parchment paper and attempted to cream it. Oh boy.. what was I thinking? The whipped cream melted instantly. I quickly scraped the melting whipped cream off and wiped the cream liquid left on the cake with some paper towels.. This was when it became super messy. The melting whipped cream got onto everywhere, so I decided to put the cake onto a new parchment paper. UH-oh. The top was... ruined.



FAILED FAILED FAILED! I transferred the sponge cake onto a cooling rack after and let it cool for a good amount of time before I creamed and rolled again. A good explanation to my absurd action is the lack of planning. I am not yet experienced enough to act on common baking sense and impulses. I thought the cake needed to be pre-roll immediately after taken out of the oven. I should have known better to at least slightly cool it first. ):


The ultimate question: how did it taste? (Taste> Look!!)
EGG-y. egg-y bad.

It would be fine if it was egg-y AND fluffy! The texture was nothing like a sponge cake. It was extremely firm and tight? Not fluffy and airy at all.

FINAL PRODUCT:


It's not a complete fail because I still got my dad to finish this cake off for me. Hehe. He said it wasn't too bad and it was still edible. I am going to go with a chiffon cake based swiss roll next time.

---update!
I gave the cake another try after it has been chilled in the fridge for a day. It's not too bad actually. The egg-y taste was less prominent.


^not pretty ): The cake broke as I was rolling it.. that's why the center is one whole chunk instead of a nice swirl.

Most Valued Birthday Cake

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this cake!! ♥♥♥

The one thing I always wanted to bake well is a sponge cake. Any combination of fruits and flavor will make a good cake as long as the base is done right. With that said, I think I have just achieved an impressive feat this weekend-- just in time for my Dad's birthday! Hurray!

The taste and texture of this sponge cake was everything I looked for. Egg-y and fluffy (even overnight!!). It closely resembles the ones you would get at an Asian bakery. My dad claimed that it was up to par with the professional bakeries out there!(;

Foolproof Sponge Cake
recipe from Fresh from the Oven
-makes 1 9-inch round cake (cut in half for 2 layer)
or 2 9-inch round cake (evenly divide batter into 2 pans)

Softened unsalted butter for the pans
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Grease a 9" cake pan and cover pan bottom with round of parchment paper.

Whisk/sieve the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Take the sauce pan off the heat and add in vanilla extract; keep the mixture covered and warm.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a medium mixing bowl and reserving the yolks in a large mixing bowl (you will be adding the whites and flour mixture on top of the foamy yolk later).
With hand mixer, beat the whites on high speed until foamy. (Tips: start beating on medium-low speed for a minute first then slowly increase speed to high-- this will create stronger and more stable foam)
Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites to soft, moist peaks.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar on medium-high speed until the mixture is very thick and turns a pale lemon color, about 5 minutes.
Add in the beaten egg whites to the yolks, but do not mix.

Sprinkle/sieve the flour mixture over the egg whites and mix on low speed for 10 seconds. (I had to mix for about 25 seconds to get the flour well incorporated)
Remove the bowl from the mixer, make a well in one side of the batter and pour the melted butter mixture into the bowl.
Fold gently with a large rubber spatula until the batter shows no trace of flour and the whites and yolks are evenly mixed, about 8 strokes.
Make sure that you have incorporated the butter into the mixture. There should not be visible grease/oil as you pour the mixture into the cake pans.

Immediately pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake for about 16 to 18 minutes or until the cake tops are light brown and feel firm and spring back when touched. (Since I only made 1 9-inch, I baked for about 30 minutes)

Cool completely on rack.
Run a thin knife around the inside of the cake pan.
Invert the cake onto a rack or cardboard to release the cake from the pan. (A spring form pan makes this easier.)
Remove the parchment paper.

Strawberry Cream filling/ topping
plenty of strawberries, chopped and drained excess water
1 cup of heavy cream
sugar, to taste

Beat heavy cream until medium peaks form.
Lightly fold heavy cream into chopped strawberries.
Add and mix sugar into strawberry cream until desired sweetness.

To assemble
Cut sponge cake into 2 layers.
Spread cream on the bottom layer.
Layer thin slices of strawberries on top of cream.
Put top layer on.
Spread cream again.
Sprinkle sliced almonds around the edges of the cream
Garnish with whole/ halved strawberries and chocolate curls*!

*I followed The Pioneer Woman Cooks's tutorial in making the chocolate curls. (Do not add water to the chocolate mixture if you find it too thick to spread! The curls will not harden if done so. Just reheat the chocolate if it gets too cool or hard to spread.)
_________________________________


result: collapsed but still mucho delicious.
(note to self: bake for a longer time!)


(cut in half) mmm, look at that texture(:


(filled with cream) nom nom nom.

Here! Have a slice! : D