Black Sesame Seeds Swiss Roll

   

   

 

We can make many versions of Swiss roll - pandan, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, orange, matcha, etc and fill it with whatever filling that we like - chocolate ganache, cream cheese, fresh cream, strawberry jam, kaya (egg custard), red bean paste, marmalade and many more. Whatever flavour or fillings that we use, the Swiss roll which is a type of sponge cake is light, soft and moist. It is good especially for tea time.

This round I decided to experiment with black sesame seeds in the batter. While baking the smell was fantastic and permeated my whole house. The Swiss roll turned out as expected - light, soft and moist. I filled it with whipped cream and a bit of sugar. 

Ingredients:

For the Meringue
4 egg whites (Size - Grade B / Weight of egg is 65 g with shell)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
60 g castor sugar

For the Batter:
4 egg yolks
20 g castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
45 g oil (I use corn oil)
40 g whole milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
65 g cake flour
7 g milk powder

15 g black sesame seed

For the Filling:
120 g whipping cream
20 g powdered sugar


Method:

Making the Swiss Roll Batter:

• Put a tray of hot water (for steam bath) into the oven (below the rack on which you put your baking tray). Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Centigrade. (Adjust according to your oven.)

• Line a rectangular pan (10 inch x 14 inch) with a good quality parchment paper. (This is to ensure that the cake will not stick to the parchment paper.)

• Wash the sesame seeds and toast them in a pan without oil. Let them cool down. Then grind them, the fineness according to your preference. Set aside.

• In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg white with a hand mixer over low speed. (Please ensure that your bowl and beaters are dry and have no traces of oil otherwise the egg white will not rise.)

• Once large bubbles are formed, add the cream of tartar.

• Whisk till small bubbles are formed.

• Add sugar gradually in 3 batches.

• Whisk the egg white till stiff peak.

• Once stiff peak is achieved, set the meringue aside.

• In another mixing bowl, add in the egg yolks, sugar and salt. Whisk until they are creamy.

• Add the oil and continue to mix until they are well combined.

• Add the whole milk and vanilla essence. Whisk to mix them well.

• Sieve the cake flour and milk powder.

• Mix the ground sesame seeds with the cake flour and milk powder. Mix till they are evenly combined.

• Add the flour, milk powder and ground sesame seeds to the egg yolk mixture.

• Mix until they are well combined and the batter is smooth.

• Take 1/3 of the meringue and add to the batter. Use the whisk to mix the meringue with the batter gently, taking care not to deflate the meringue.

• Add another third of the meringue into the batter. Gently mix it with the batter.

• Add the remaining meringue and gently fold it into the batter using a spatula.

• Pour the batter into the baking pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.

• Drop the pan onto the counter-top from about 1 foot high to break out any large bubbles. Repeat this 2 to 3 times.

• Bake in the oven at 160 deg C for 20 minutes until the cake surface is golden brown. Do not over bake or the cake will crack when you roll it later.

• Once the cake has baked, remove the pan from the oven.

• Drop the pan from 1 foot high onto the counter-top to prevent shrinkage of the cake.

• Remove the cake from the pan onto a wire rack.

• Put another sheet of parchment paper on the cake and invert it to remove the parchment paper below.

• Let the cake cool down completely on the wire rack.

• While waiting for the cake to cool down, whip the cream with the powdered sugar till it is stiff. (Test for sweetness. Add more sugar if the cream is not sweet enough for you.)

Filling and Rolling Up the Swiss Roll:

• Cut 3 shallow slits (about 1 foot apart) at an angle across the cake at the end from which you will start rolling the cake. (This is to aid in the rolling of the cake i.e. to ensure that it does not crack when you start rolling it.)

• Spread the cream evenly on the cake.

• Roll the cake and wrap it in the parchment paper. Put the roll into a plastic bag or cling wrap it to prevent dryness.

• Keep the roll in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

• After 3 hours, remove cake from the refrigerator.

• Remove the plastic bag or cling wrap and parchment paper and slice the roll.

• Serve chilled.