These few days trying out something new in my Swiss Roll making. I added spinach juice to my Heart Patterned/decorated Swiss Roll. It makes me feel happy to know my family is taking some vegetable juice while munching on a sweet dessert.
You hardly notice the taste of spinach in the Swiss Roll. For this kind of decorative Swiss Roll making, my advice is be patient while doing the heart patterned drawing, I nearly gave up as there were too many little hearts to draw! But the end result is so charming, my son is happy to see the Heart Patterned/Decorated Swiss Roll! As usual I freeze the Swiss Roll to form its shape before cutting. Let the Swiss Roll sit 20 to 30 mins at room temperature before consume will restore the Swiss Roll to soft and fluffy chiffon texture.
Happy Easter!
Recipe: (12" x 12" square baking tray)
Spinach juice:
3 cups of chopped spinach
300ml water
Heart patterned batter:
50g butter, cut into cubes
50g icing sugar
50g egg whites
50g plain flour
a drop of food colouring
Chocolate Sponge batter:
4 egg Yolks
30g fine sugar
30g dark cocoa powder
70g cake flour
40ml corn oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
75ml spinach juice
Meringue:
4 egg whites
45g fine sugar
Filling :
300ml thickening cream
2 tbsp fine sugar
Method:
1. Prepare the spinach juice: Blend the chopped spinach with water, filter the spinach juice to separate the fibre from the vegetable juice. Set aside the vegetable juice for later use. (I used the spinach fibre to cook my pasta)
2. Prepare the heart patterned batter: Cream the butter with icing sugar using electric mixer until creamy. Add egg whites, mix well. Then stir in the flour. Mix until it turned into thick paste, add food colouring. Place the batter into pipping bag, pipe out the heart shape pattern on a lined baking tray. Freeze the pattern together with its tray for at least an hour.
3. Prepare Chocolate Sponge batter: In a mixing bowl, add 4 egg yolks and sugar. Using a hand whisk, whisk the egg sugar mixture until light. Add vanilla essence, oil and 75ml spinach juice. Mix well. Then add the dark cocoa powder and cake flour. Mix well until there is no flour lump in the mixture. Set aside.
4. Prepare the meringue: Place 4 egg whites in a bowl, using electric mixer medium speed mix until the egg whites starts shown bubbles, add in half of the sugar. Change the electric mixer speed to high, mix until it double its volume. Add in another half of the sugar, mix until stiff peak form.
5. Scoop out 1/3 of the meringue and place it into the chocolate sponge batter mixture, stir well until it combined. Then FOLD in the remaining meringue to the chocolate sponge batter mixture in TWO batches. FOLD well.
6. Take out the baking tray with heart patterned from the freezer, pour the chocolate batter on the baking tray. Level the batter and knock the baking tray on the worktop twice to release the air bubbles trap in the batter. Bake in preheat oven at 170C for 14 mins (lower rack).
7. Once the sponge is done. Take it out from the oven, pull the cake sponge out from the baking tray and let it cool down on a wire rack for 2 mins before flipping the cake sponge heart patterned side up. Peel away the parchment paper, and let it cool down. Cover the cake sponge with parchment paper to keep the cake sponge moist. Set aside.
8. Prepare the filling: In a clean bowl, using electric mixer mix the thickening cream with sugar using until stiff peak.
9. Assemble the Swiss Roll: Flip the cake sponge with heart patterned side down, apply a thick layer of thickening cream on the cake sponge, roll it up Swiss Roll style. Wrap with parchment paper and keep in freezer for a few hours before cutting. Let the cake sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 mins before serving.