Thursday, May 14, 2009

Mini cupcakes and chocolate swiss roll

My little ones has been asking me for something yummy to eat. And since for the past week I did not really bake anything to satisfy their sweet tooth, I decided to be a good mommy and get down to work. But the dilemma came when both of my girls asked for different things! I'm sure that happens to all you mommies out there that has more then 1 child. My elder girl wants mini butter cupcakes with flower icing. My younger girl ask for chocolate cake with chocolate chips. I really cannot think of any recipe that can satisfy both, so I ended up making both!For the mini butter cupcakes, I used a butter cake recipe from Reesekitchen. The texture of the cake is really good, light and fluffy, not at all dense and furthermore the rich butter taste was very evident. ;) Excellent!
For the flora icing, I merely use basic butter cream and tinted it with different colors. The best part is, watching my girl downing these cuppies 4 in a row! ;) Yippee!
And since I did not want to make cupcakes again, I ended up making a chocolate swiss roll with whipped cream topped with chocolate rice. This recipe is adapted from one of my favorite bloggers, Corner Cafe again. Thanks for sharing! However I modified her recipe to create a chocoalate sponge cake. Here'is my recipe for easy reference in future.

Ingredients for Chocolate Sponge cake:
50g butter
40g plain flour
15g cocoa powder
40ml fresh milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
80g caster sugar
Filling:
125ml whipping cream (whipped)
2 tbsp confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Topping:
~1/4 cup chocolate rice

Method:
  • In a large heat proof bowl, microwave the butter till it all melts, about 1 minute on high. Add flour and cocoa powder into melted butter and whisk to form thick paste.
  • Add the whole egg and stir to combine. Add vanilla extract and stir again.
  • To the mixture, add the egg yolks, stir well after each yolk has been added. Set aside
  • Preheat oven to 180°C. Butter a baking tray of about 10cm by 14cm. Line with parchment paper and butter the top of the parchment paper.
  • Beat egg whites with salt until foamy. Continue to beat the egg whites and slowly add the sugar to it. Beat till mixture is stiff peaks.
  • Gently fold in the egg whites to the flour mixture in 3 portions. Making sure most of the white is not visible after folding.
  • Pour cake batter into prepared tray and bake at 180°C for 15 mins. Then lower the temperature to 170°C and bake for another 5 mins.
  • When done, remove cake from oven and immediately remove from baking tray. Let cool on rack for 5 mins. Then using another parchment or clean kitchen towel, flip the cake over and peel off the parchment paper. Continue to let cool for another 15 minutes.
  • In the meantime, prepare the filling. Whipped the cream with the confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract till firm peaks.
  • Spread 1/2 of the whipping cream on the cooled cake and roll up from short side. Kept it roll up in the parchmant / kitchen towel till the cake is "stable".
  • Spread the remainding cream on the log and sprinkle chocolate rice all over. Slice and serve! ;)
All packed to be brought over to a gathering. Thought I share with my friends since they like swiss rolls like me and my girl. ;)

Some how when I look at it, it gives me such nostalgic feelings! I remember when I was young, it was such a treat for me when my mom would buy these chocolate rice swiss roll cakes for us! I wish my girls can remember these delicious treats and think of their mommy(me) next time whenever they come upon it by chance. ;)

6 comments:

Kitchen Corner said...

Pretty cupcakes and delicious swiss roll. It's really tempting! :)

Para i familiaku said...

SO NICE... i have tried to make swiss roll but the cake just sort of deflates and comes out uneven. It is not as thick. I think it is when I am folding the mixture together. Do you have any more tips?

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Thanks Grace! I try my best...even just to please my little girls. :) But I might be just asking for trouble when their sugar rush comes, haha!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Hi Para,
I suggest you try making this new swiss roll recipe above. It's actually using a chiffon method, much more foolproof then the usual swiss roll method. In fact I just taught a friend this method of making swiss roll and she totally agreed!(she had several failed attempts too)
If you want plain vanilla cake, just remove the cocoa powder, and add 2 tbsp of plain flour. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Your chocolate sponge cake looks amazing. We've made many of these rolled cakes, and they're always a hit!

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Totally agree with you duodishes! These swiss rolls has been my family favorite for the longest time too. Now I'm thinking of making other new exciting flavors!;D