Cakes & Cupcakes
Black Forest Swiss roll
A slightly different take on the classic Black Forest cake.
Cherry season is almost over and I had to make at least one dessert with cherries. This Black Forest Swiss roll is chocolaty, and fruity, but balanced with the lightly sweetened whipped cream.
The recipe
Black Forest Swiss roll
adventureswithsugar.com/black-forest-swiss-roll/
Method
Method: Black Forest Swiss roll
- Preheat the oven and prepare the tin: Preheat the oven to 180˚ Celsius. Line the base of a 23cm by 38cm Swiss roll tin, with baking paper. Do not grease or line the sides.
- Sift the dry ingredients: Sift the cornflour, cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside. (I emphasise "large" here, as you are going to add the whipped eggs to this bowl eventually, so want it to be large enough to hold the entire batter).
- Make the meringue: In another bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form, then slowly add in 70g of the sugar, a teaspoon at a time, and continue to whip. You should end up with a stiff and glossy meringue. This will take about 5 minutes. Set this whipped meringue aside.
- Beat the yolks and sugar: In another bowl, add the remaining 70g of the sugar to the egg yolks and beat until pale and lightened. This should take about 3 minutes. Then add in the oil, coffee and vanilla essence and mix until well combined.
- Add the yolks to the dry ingredients: Add the whipped egg yolk mixture to the sifted dry ingredients and give a few folds. The mixture will feel fairly "taut" at this point.
- Loosen with a third of the meringue: Add one third of the egg white mixture to this, and mix in. You do not have to worry about being too gentle here, it is just to loosen the mixture.
- Fold in the rest of the meringue: Then add the rest of the egg white mixture and gently fold, being careful not to knock out too much air.
- Bake: Pour into the Swiss roll tin and bake for 15 minutes. The cake is done when it springs back, when pressed with a finger.
- Roll in a tea towel: In the meantime, dust a clean tea towel with cocoa. When the Swiss roll comes out of the oven, let it cool for five minutes. Then run a knife around the edges to loosen it from the tin. Flip the cake onto the tea towel and peel away the baking paper. Beginning at the short end, roll the Swiss roll in the tea towel and let stand until cool.
Method: whipped cream filling and topping
- Whip the cream: Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then add the icing sugar and continue to whip.
- Unroll the sponge: Unroll the Swiss roll from the tea towel.
- Brush with cherry syrup: Brush about two tablespoons of cherry syrup onto the roll.
- Spread the cream: Spread the cream on the Swiss roll. Set aside about a quarter cup to pipe on the top.
- Add the cherries: Add the pitted cherries randomly around the sponge.
- Roll up: Then re-roll the Swiss roll, like you did previously, but without the tea towel.
- Pipe the cream: Use the remaining cream to pipe on top of the Swiss roll.
- Decorate: Finish off with cherries and chocolate shavings.
What should I know about making the Swiss roll?
Why do you whip the egg whites separately?
The whipped egg whites help to give the Swiss roll its spongy texture, which helps to make the sponge flexible. This helps facilitate an easier roll, without the cake cracking or breaking.
How do I prevent the Swiss roll from cracking?
The reality is that even if you do everything correctly, sometimes your Swiss roll can crack. It is like macarons, sometimes the science of baking does not work. I have found that "training" the Swiss roll however is useful in reducing the likelihood of cracks. This requires you to roll up the cake whilst still warm, so that when it cools, it has the flexibility to be coiled into a roll.
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