Nutella Swiss Roll

It was a rare occasion that I was blessed with so much free time that I felt asleep on a weekday afternoon. I guess I was not feeling well (yes, I'm trying to make myself feel less guilty) or it was just pure laziness that I didn't wake up until 2 hours later! As a result, I had to abandon my earlier plan to bake a loaf of bread as there wasn't much time left before I had to start preparing dinner.

After flipping through my stack of recipes, I thought I should make a Swiss roll. In the past, I always relied on a sponge cake recipe to make a Swiss roll. It was the first time I was going to follow a proper Swiss roll recipe. I didn't bother to use any whipping cream for the filling, as first of all, I was running out of time and secondly I am doubtful whether I'll be able to roll the cake without cracking it . Hence, to make things easy, I decided to use nutella spread to fill the roll.

The making of the sponge cake layer was rather straight forward, as there were only 5 ingredients used. There was little washing up as well, since everything was done with a mixing bowl. I was able to get the cake out from the oven in no time. While the cake was cooling on the rack, I got on with the tedious chore of cooking dinner :(


As with all my past attempts with Swiss rolls, I felt a little nervous when it was time to fill and roll the cake. I almost let off a whistle when the cake didn't crack upon rolling!


I am not sure it was just pure luck, or was it the technique outline in this recipe that made the rolling so easy. I guess I would have to try this again to verify. Some Swiss roll recipes that I have come across would recommend that the cake be rolled up while it is still warm. The cake would then be unrolled upon cooling, filled and re-rolled again. Whereas for this recipe, the cake is left to cool off before filling and rolling. According to the recipe, once the cake is out of the oven, it has to be removed from the tray and placed in a big plastic bag to cool off. This way, the cake will stay soft and moist for easy rolling. Since I do not have a large enough plastic bag, I left the cake in the baking tray and placed the tray on a cooling rack. To retain the moisture, I covered the top with another Swiss roll tray. Upon cooling, I was surprised that the sponge layer was not soggy or damp. I moved on to remove the parchment paper and turned the sponge layer onto a clean sheet of parchment paper. It was a little tricky trying to spread the nutella as it was rather thick, I had to be extra gentle to avoid scraping the crumbs as I worked along.

Besides retaining moisture when the sponge layer is cooling off, I think it is also important not to over bake the cake, otherwise it would be too dry and would crack easily. As usual, my unreliable oven took a little longer than the recommended time to get the sponge layer baked, and I had to turn the tray closer to the end of the baking time to ensure even browning.

In order to make a nice clean roll, another seemingly minor point to watch out for, would be the kind of paper used for rolling. I remembered using those greaseproof papers (or tracing papers which I used to call them when I was young!) when I first attempted to make a Swiss roll. The cake got stuck to the paper, as a result, the 'skin' got peeled off upon rolling/unrolling. I also used to wonder why my cookies would stick to this type of greaseproof paper upon baking. Until much later, I discovered those are not the right type of paper for baking. I have since switched to using proper parchment paper or baking paper which has got a layer of wax making them greaseproof and non-stick as well.


I was very satisfied with how well the sponge layer turned out, it was soft and moist, and what can I say about nutella? You will never go wrong with it ;)


Ingredients:
3 eggs, bring to room temperature
65g sugar (updated: use caster sugar)
80g cake flour
20g unsalted butter, melted
2~3 drops vanilla extract

Method:

1. Sift cake flour, set aside. Line a 9" x 12" (23 x 30cm) Swiss roll tray with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat oven to 180 degC.
2. With an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar on HIGH speed for about 5 to 7 mins, until the batter double in volume and is ribbon-like (the batter should leave a ribbon-like texture when the beater is lifted up). Turn to LOW speed and whisk for another 1 to 2 mins. Whisking at low speed helps to stabilise the air bubbles in the batter.
3. Add sifted cake flour into the batter in 3 separate addition. With each addition, use a spatula, gently fold in the flour until well blended. Take care not to deflate the batter.
4. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract, fold with spatula until well blended.
5. Pour the batter into the tray. Spread and smooth out the batter evenly. Bake for 10~15 mins*, until the surface turns golden browned or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Remove tray from oven. Remove sponge layer from tray (with parchment paper still in tack), place it in a plastic bag**. Tie the plastic bag and leave it to cool. (Instead of using a plastic bag, I cover the sponge layer with another Swiss roll tray.)
7. Upon cooling, remove the parchment paper, and turn the sponge layer with the 'skin' side down on a sheet of clean parchment paper. Spread with nutella (or any filling as desired) and roll up the sponge layer by lifting it up with the parchment paper. Place the rolled cake seam side down.

NOTE:
*Do not over bake the sponge layer, otherwise it will turn dry and may crack upon rolling.
** The reason for doing so is to keep the sponge layer moist for easy rolling.

Recipe source: 点心达人, 轻松学 / 小川智美著