Thursday, July 7, 2011

HoneyBee Swiss Roll Cake

I have finally did it! Something I have been wanting to do for awhile...another Swiss roll cake decoration!
 Doesn't this picture just cheer you up a little? It almost seems like a little kid doing a new kind of art work, lol! Since my last couple of attempts with the Pikachu Mango Swiss Roll and my MIL's birthday cake, I promised myself that I must do it again. :) I knew I had to do a picture with a bee in it, heehee.
This time I followed the recipe given in my cookbook. And mind you, its in Japanese and I am half guessing the words and trying to translate it online, lol! And the best part is I actually modified the recipe and so as to increase the volume to fit my bigger baking tray...scary right, lol! :P Anyway, the recipe calls for a simple vanilla cake using egg separation method, almost like chiffon cake technique. Here is my recipe, translated by yours truly (use it at your own risk, heehee) :

Ingredients for Vanilla Swiss Roll ( 10 inches by 14 inches cake tray) :
Egg Yolk Batter:
4 egg yolks
40g caster usgar
75ml water
50ml vegetable oil
1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
100g Cake flour

For decorations and drawings
  • (A) Four separate small bowls with 1tsp of above batter placed in it(for red, pink, yellow & brown food coloring) Note that I use 1 tsp of cocoa powder instead of brown coloring
  • Add 1/4 tsp of cake flour into each bowl and mix well (Next time I will omit this as I find it hardens the batter a little and thus separating the decoration from the Swiss roll)
  • (B) Another bowl with 2 tsp worth of above batter place in it (for green food coloring) Note that original recipe calls for green tea powder but I used green food coloring.
  • Add 1/2 tsp of cake flour to the bowl and mix well.
  • 1 egg white beaten with a pinch of cream of tartar & 10g caster sugar till stiff peaks. Take 1/3 of this egg white and mix in (B) mixture while the remaining 2/3 is divided equally among the 4 bowls in (A) and mix well.
  • Place your desired picture on the baking tray and place a greased parchment over it and grease it again. Preheat the oven to 165C.
  • Pipe the decorations on the parchment as required and bake in the preheated oven for a minute. Repeat till the whole picture has been piped out and baked except for some of the outlines which will require black food coloring later.
Egg White Batter:
5 egg whites
40g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • Beat egg white till foamy, add cream of tartar and continue to whip. Gradually add in the sugar and continue to beat at high speed till it reaches stiff peaks.
  • Fold white into the reserved main egg yolk batter gently in 3 separate portions till all is incorporated.
  • Pour batter over the baked decoration and filled up the baking tray. Level it nicely and then place in preheated oven to bake for about 12 to 14minutes till the top is golden brown.
  • Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from tray and peeling off the parchment.
This is how it looks like once all the decoration has been baked on to the cake and yet to be rolled up and outlined. Note that outlining the picture should only be done after you have filled and rolled up the Swiss roll. Simply just use some food coloring with 1/2 tsp of water and a fine tip brush will do.
Please pardon some of the "untidiness" you can spot from the Swiss roll. It can be really hard to control the cake batter to make it perfectly the way you want it to look like. I'm sure those bloggers that have attempted this will know what I mean. :P There were a few mistakes I made while making this, biggest one was forgetting to grease the parchment and causing some of the batter to stick! *sigh* Anyway, I am still happy with the end result...even thought it took me a whole 3 hours to complete it! ;P
I have filled the cake with simple whipped cream and fresh sliced strawberries, plus a thin layer of chocolate ganache...which explains why there's this brownish color on the inside. :P

My kids loved the cake...taste wise that is, they don't really fancy much of mummy's "art" work. :P The cake is indeed very soft...and no cracks when rolled. Shall make it again with other flavors next time.

Thanks for staying and reading my long post. And hope my explanation is clear enough for those who wants to try out. :P

Needless to say, I'll be submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #9 - Swiss Rolling Good Times hosted by Obsessedly Involved with Food.

Have a good weekend folks!

31 comments:

  1. Kawaii!!!! This is really really pretty, beyond words!!! Well done...

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  2. bee!! i'm so impressed with your swiss roll!!i dont think i have the skills and patience that you got here! the designs look so colourful, so lively and a happy bee! I;m already seeing so many swiss rolls with amazing designs all around, cant wait to see the round up of the AB challenge!

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  3. Cool man! I love the lifely & cheerful design on your swissroll, you are indeed very creative. Great job!

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  4. "Kawaii neh!" I'm speechless on your artwork. Very pretty :)

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  5. So pretty and too beautiful to eat. Theresa

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  6. 很有个人风格哩。给我的感觉是很多功夫,你做的真好。

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  7. Wow, everyone is good so at swiss roll! This is so pretty and very creative!

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  8. wow.. too cute to be eaten! kekeke :)

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  9. So pretty! I must say, you're getting more and more professional! Correction...professionals don't bake this way. You're better than the Pros! I like it very much!

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  10. You are soo..good in decorate your swiss roll. Impressive!

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  11. Beautiful!! Actually I've prepared a Hello Kitty drawing for the roll but it was kept in the cupboard until now..hehe!

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  12. U're "cute"ing me to death, LOL.
    Very nice. Ask ur daughters to draw themselves if they say urs is not nice, haha.

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  13. 这个高难度,很多颜色,不容易耶 ^_^
    属于 Bee 的独家蛋糕卷,漂亮!

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  14. Bee Bee, I'm speechless, this is so awesome job! beautiful drawing on swiss roll cake, don't think i going to eat this beautiful swiss roll, hahaha..Hope one day i can make this too.

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  15. Very creative, beautiful swiss roll

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  16. wow what a creativ cake & what wonderful pictures! wow it looks soooooooo good and tasty now im hungry^^ But it is to preciously to eat :-(

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  17. You are a genius! This is so cute!

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  18. OMG, are you sure it is a swiss roll. It looks like a patterned fluffy towel. It is absolutely gorgeous ... way too pretty to eat too!

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  19. Congratulations! You've got your signature roll!

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  20. Bee Bee...I can see how much you have enjoyed making this beautiful picture in your swiss roll...hahaha I love it and it makes me smile just gazing at it what more I drools over my kyeboard :p Well done !!!

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  21. Thanks hanushi! :)

    Lena, it's actually not that difficult to make it, just needs proper planning. :) It is some what tedious with all that colors & piping involved. :P Yes, can't wait to see all the wonderful swiss rolls. :)

    Thanks Doris! I feel like I'm a little kids doodling with my bake goods, lol!

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  22. Thanks Ann. :)

    Thanks Theresa. :) And hope to see you around again!

    谢谢茄子。 我也想不出什么好点子, 哈哈!老爱用蜜蜂来做设计。

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  23. Thanks Small small baker. :)

    Thanks Cathy! Actually my girls have finished the whole roll in 2 days...couldn't care much about the design on it if you ask them. :P

    Jane...no pro lah, so far from it, lol! The reason why pro doesn't bake like this is because it's too time consuming for just a swiss roll cake.

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  24. Thanks for dropping by Vivian. :) Thanks for your encouragement.

    Reese...I'm still waiting for your submission my friend!

    Hahaha, thanks Wendy!

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  25. 谢谢neyeeloh! 我还嫌有点没状忆, 而且有些部份都做得不好。 还要多加练习。

    Sonia, thanks so much for your encouragement. :) I'm so sure you can do it too.

    Thanks Amelia. Welcome to my blog and hope to see you around here again soon.

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  26. Thanks Manja!Welcome to my blog! Oh no, a cake is meant to be eaten for sure. If it is not eaten and gone bad, it's definitely a waste! So always enjoy the cake to the fullest, both sight and taste. :)

    Thanks Zoe!

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  27. Hahaha, thanks Jo! It sure does looks like a towel...hope someone won't accidentally took it and press it right on to their face!

    Oh Shirley...I'm not sure if I can replicate this roll again, lol!

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  28. Wow ... am so impressed with your creativity! So pretty and am lost for words too!

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  29. Hi, Love your cake!

    Can you tell me why mine came out of the tin a bit sticky on the bottom? And when peeling of the parchmentpaper the pattern came away from the cake! Ugh I'm so frustrated right now!

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  30. Hi anonymous, pls leave a google account identity or openID when leaving a comment.

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  31. wow!!so amazing...love ur cake as well...how u do that??=)

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