Saturday, December 28, 2013

Christmas Log Cake


I usually do 1 log cake a year and this year is no exception. I made my first and only log cake order for X'mas and maaan, I intend to keep it that way. It's way too stressful trying to roll up the cake carefully and without cracking. My first cake broke totally into pieces as I was rolling it up, together with my heart! Rolled up my sleeves abit further, wiped my cold sweat and started all over again, with a different recipe though. This time I used a japanese recipe and I was a little hesitant at its call for baking at 200C. Phew, thankfully it turned out smooth, spongy and soft. After a short cool down period, I was able to roll up the cake slowly, steadily and with just 1 teeny weeny small crack that was easily sealed up by the ganache. Since it was for an order I didn't get to try the cake with the whole bananas wrapped in it but I did try the cut-away corners of the roll which I dipped generously in the chocolate ganache. I must say it's pretty good, soft and bouncy, with a hint of honey fragrance. Yum!


Swiss Roll Recipe:
Ingredients:
50g AP Flour
15g Cocoa Powder (I used Hershey's)
6 eggs, separated
100g sugar
30ml honey (I used Australia honey)
20g Unsalted butter
30ml milk (I used Meiji Skimmed Milk)

Oven temp 200C.

1. Sift the flour and cocoa powder together 3 times and set aside
2. Place the egg yolks, 40g sugar and honey into a mixer bowl and over a bain-marie, stirring constantly until the mixture is warm to the touch.
3. Immediately beat the yolk mixture until it turns creamy and pale. (Ribbon stage)
4. Set the yolk mixture aside and beat the egg white until frothy.
5. Add 60g sugar to the egg white and beat until stiff peaks.
6. Fold in half of the stiff egg white into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in all the sifted flour mix.
7. Add the remaining egg white and fold in lightly.
8. Warm the butter and milk in the microwave for 20seconds, add into the mixture and fold in completely, scooping from the bottom of the bowl to ensure a thorough mix. Be careful not to deflate the mixture.
9. Pour mixture into a rectangular pan lined with baking paper. (I used the pan that comes with the oven) Smooth the top and bake in pre-heated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. (mine took 11minutes) The top of the roll should not have a crust and feels bouncy to the touch.
10. Remove from oven and taking the roll from the pan, drop it onto the tabletop to release the steam and prevent a wet cake. Let the cake cool to almost room temperature.

Filling - I used a chocolate swiss meringue buttercream, refer here for the recipe, and 2 big ripe bananas.

Frosting - Chocolate Ganache
Bring 200ml thickened cream to almost a boil, where there are little bubbles but it has not reached a boiling state. Immediately pour this over 200g chopped dark chocolate pieces and stir until it has become a thick chocolate liquid mix. Let it cool until it's just warm, stir occasionally so that the surface would not harden.

Assembly:
1. Flip the cake so that its facing top-down on a new piece of parchment paper. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake and gently roll the cake up without squeezing it too tight.
2. Unroll the cake and spread the chocolate swiss meringue buttercream evenly across the cake (the bottom side which is now the side facing up). Place the whole bananas across the length of the cake and roll up the cake again, making it tight this time. Ensure that the cake sits on the sealed part.
3. Place the cake into the fridge to set for an hour.
4. Remove from the fridge, and place parchment paper around the exposed cake board to collect spillover frosting. Cut away a small section from the 2 ends of the cake to make it even at the sides.
5. Pour the ganache generously across the whole roll, covering every part of the cake. Cut out 1 section from one of the ends to create the broken log effect and place this side-ways up on top of the cake. Cover this section and the 2 ends of the roll with more ganache. Place X'mas decor as desired and place it back in the fridge to chill.
6. Once the ganache has set on the cake and is pretty stiff, use a fork to draw little lines across the whole log to create the bark look.
7. Serve slightly chilled but not straight cold from the fridge. (This is to ensure the cake has soften slightly)

Submitting this to:
"Baby Sumo's Christmas Recipes Collection 2013", hosted by Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out
and 
"Bake Along", hosted by Joyce from Kitchen FlavoursLena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids



8 comments:

  1. Hi Corrine,
    Your cake is beautiful! I do agree, that rolling swiss roll up can be very heart-pacing! Haha!
    For every roll that we make, we are keeping "all the fingers" crossed, every second!
    You have done a great job and your cake looks really beautiful!
    Thank you for baking along with us!
    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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  2. Thanks so much for your kind comments, Joyce! Yours is gorgeous as well and I totally agree with you on the photo styling part. I usually have no energy to think about decor placement after a day of baking and am usually too eager to dig into the cake asap. ha ha.
    Great blog and fantastic instructions that you give! Thank you and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. =)

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  3. I think you did a brilliant job with the decorating. When I made my yule log, there was also a slight crack but the recipe say not to worry as it is common and u can always cover it up with the frosting ;)

    Thx for linking this to my Christmas event and Happy New Year! :) -Yen

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  4. Thanks Yen! Yours is beautiful, looks like a real rustic log! Love your detailed instructions =) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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  5. hi corrine, nice to know you! this must be yummy with swiss meringue buttercream and bananas..i'm sure the recipient must have enjoyed eating this a lot and it's so pretty and neat too! thx for joining our bake along and here's wishing you a wonderful new year 2014!

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  6. Thank you, Lena! Your blog is my constant source of inspiration, thanks for sharing and I really admire your passion! Hope to join in more bake alongs in 2014, Happy New Year to you! =)

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  7. Hi Corrine,

    I can't imagine making more than one log cake each Christmas... Good that you can earn $$$ from your extra log cake so why not???!!!... hee hee

    Nice to know you via bake-along and blogging. Happy to be your followers too :D

    Zoe

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  8. Hi Zoe, Nice to know you too! You are also one with great instructions on your blog, thanks!! =)

    Happy New Year!

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