Sunday, July 31, 2016

Swiss Roll with lime curd and whipped cream

I first learned how to make a swiss roll using these two recipes. Since then I have gotten fairly good at making them.

Here is my latest variation: Swiss Roll with lime curd and whipped cream


Tips before starting: Gather all of the ingredients for both the sponge and the curd, measure them and do what preparation is needed so they are ready to go right into the mixture once you start. If you are using the optional whipped cream, put the mixing bowl, whisk, and leftover storage container in the fridge before you start on the rest of the preparations.


Start the sponge first and work on the curd while the sponge is baking. Save whipping the cream until after the sponge and curd have cooled and are ready for assembly.


Ingredients


For the sponge (cake layer)

  • parchment paper
  • 4 eggs, three whole eggs plus an egg yolk (reserve the extra white for the curd)
  • 160g caster sugar, plus extra for rolling
  • 160g all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt 

For the lime curd

  • 55g unsalted butter
  • 55g caster sugar
  • 2 limes, zest and juice
  • 1 egg + 1 egg white beaten

Optional: whipped cream


Instructions 

For the sponge:

  • preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
  • line a 10½x16in (26x40cm) baking tray with baking parchment. If possible use a tray with raised edges. If you don't have one, use a slightly larger cookie sheet so the batter won't expand over the edges.
  • place a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. 
  • add the eggs and sugar to the bowl and whisk until lukewarm (~100F/38C). 
  • remove bowl and whisk until the mixture is very thick and leaves trails when the whisk is removed. This can take 10-20 minutes by hand.
  • fold in the sifted flour using a spoon with a slim profile (metal or silicone, not thick wood)
  • the batter will be about the consistency of crepe batter but with more air in it
  • spread the mixture thinly onto the prepared baking tray. I find pouring it from the bowl into the shape I want works best-- it is difficult to spread once poured. 
  • place on the middle shelf in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until it springs back when touched. Don't overtake or it will be difficult to roll.
  • lay a large piece of baking parchment over a tea towel and  dust the parchment with sugar. 

For the curd (while the sponge is baking)
  • set a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water
  • put the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice into the bowl
  • stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved 
  • once the sugar is dissolved, add the beaten eggs
  • stir occasionally, until the mixture shows signs of thickening
  • stir more regularly until the entire mixture has thickened
  • transfer to a clean bowl to cool (this speeds the cooling process)

Final steps for sponge
  • once the sponge is baked, tip it out onto the dusted baking parchment and carefully peel off the baking parchment it was cooked on.
  • roll the sponge while it is still hot. Start from the short end and roll the parchment up with the roll so it will unroll nicely later. Use the towel to help protect your fingers and to hold the final roll together while it cools. Don't roll the towel up inside the roll. 
  • set the sponge aside to cool with the curd-- approximately 30 minutes

Assembly

  • if using whipped cream, whip it up now
  • un-roll the sponge and spread the lime curd thinly and evenly over it
  • spread a slightly thicker layer of whipped cream over the curd
  • re-roll the sponge, note that some of the whipping cream will squeeze out as you roll
  • trim the ends of the roll to create a neat finish and give yourself a little treat
  • dust with icing sugar or pipe some of the extra cream on as a decoration or leave plain

Store in the fridge in an air tight container or wrapped in clingfilm when not serving. There will be left over cream and lime curd. Store both in airtight containers in the fridge as well.


Previous variation: Swiss roll with cinnamon, coffee, and hazelnut

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Madeira Cake - Modifed

Inspired by this recipe, I tried my hand at making Madeira cake. The first time I forgot to add the baking powder as the recipe called for self-rising flour and I used regular all purpose flour. 

The second time I made it I didn't read the recipe carefully as I was working and added the juice of an entire lemon along with the zest and forgot completely to add the sugar. It was awful.

The third time was the charm and it came out exactly right-- sweet and tasty and a delicious recipe.

That said, it was pretty sweet.  Also I've been working on ways to help my vegetarian housemate get more Omega3s in her diet and one of the ways has been to add ground flax seed to dishes she eats. The flax seed can add a nice nutty taste to things which I thought would go nicely with this cake.

I changed the almonds in the original to walnuts, again to improve the Omega3 content and also because I thought they might meld nicely with the flax seed and with the banana that I swapped in for some of the sugar and some of the butter.

This may be drifting closer to banana bread, but it came out tasting better than any banana bread I have ever tried to make.

Ingredients
  • 115g softened butter
  • 1 (~95g) banana, peeled, very ripe
  • 115g caster sugar
  • 30 g flax seed, ground/milled
  • 225g all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 50g ground walnuts
  • 4 large free-range eggs
  • 1 med unwaxed lemon, zest only
  • (Optional: 2 tsp Grand Marnier)
Instructions
  • Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. 
  • Line a bread loaf pan with baking parchment
  • Warm the butter until soft and set aside (melted butter also works).
  • Grind the walnuts in food processor or chop very fine with a knife
  • Zest the lemon
  • Add the eggs to the lemon zest and whisk until the eggs are throughly beaten
  • Mix the banana, sugar, flax seed, flour, baking powder and walnuts together until well combined
  • Add the egg/lemon mixture and butter and stir until just mixed
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for a total of 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Leave to set in the pan for a further 15 minutes
  • Move to a wire rack to cool completely
Variations:
  1. Swap the lemon zest for orange zest.
  2. Use a combination of 65 g avocado, 50 g butter and bake at 320F for 60-70 minutes



Monday, July 11, 2016

Waffles

The base of my waffle recipe came from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian but I've tweaked it to get it where I want it and now it is very yummy.

Ingredients

  • 200g all purpose flour
  • 50 g milled flaxseed
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 330 ml sour cream
  • 110 ml milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp molasses
  • Grapeseed or other neutral oil for the waffle iron


Instructions

  • Brush oil on the waffle iron and start it heating
  • Melt the butter and set aside to cool
  • Separate the eggs and whisk the whites to soft peaks (if you have a stand mixer the mixer can do this for you while you work on the rest of the recipe)
  • Sift the flour into a mixing bowl
  • Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir until well combined
  • In a separate bowl stir together the sour cream, milk, egg yolks, melted butter (should still be liquid-- just not hot), vanilla, and molasses
  • Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir gently until well mixed
  • Gently fold in the egg whites
  • Open the waffle iron to let the smoke out and close it to reheat it to the proper temperature
  • Spoon the batter into the waffle iron and let cook (I set a timer for 4 minutes)
  • The waffles are done when they are golden brown and release from the top and bottom irons easily. It may take some experimentation to figure out the best time to leave them in for.


Serve with your favorite toppings.

If you don't have flaxseed you can replace it with flour. If you don't have molasses it can be left out.

Leftover waffles can be frozen and eaten later. I find that defrosting them in the microwave and then popping them in the toaster works well.