Cherry Blossom Roll Cake


Cherry Blossom Roll Cake
March is cherry blossom season and the beginning of spring. We had a snowy winter by Tokyo standards so I was happy to see the close of winter. I was excited to eat something special for the start of spring so rounded up all of the ingredients for making this cake.

The recipe is a basic sponge cake. You can use any filling you like with it. For this occasion I flavored the cream with cherry blossom flavor.


Sponge Cake:
1 egg
5 egg yolks
60 grams flour
10 grams cornstarch
45 grams butter
4 egg whites
95 grams sugar
5 grams cornstarch
Small amount of red food
coloring was added to whipped
 egg whites
1. In a bowl, sift the flour and cornstarch together.
2. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour/cornstarch mixture. Mix with whisk.
3.  Put #2 above into a bowl, add in the 1 egg & the egg yolks (in portions).
4. Whip the egg whites until stiff – add the sugar in portions while mixing. Add the 5 grams cornstarch at the end. Add a small amount of red food coloring.
5. Mix the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture mixture.  
6. Pour into the baking pan. Spread evenly. Tap it on the table to remove air bubbles.
7. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes. Do not over bake or the cake will not be soft enough to roll.


I found these cherry blossoms that were soaked in a syrup. I put them at the bottom of the pan and poured the batter on top.
These may be difficult to find outside of Japan so apologies for that.
The container on the left side had the cherry blossom pieces which had been soaked in a sweet syrup.

Custard Filling: 
Milk 300 grams
Egg yolks 4
Granular sugar 75 grams
Flour 20 grams
Cornstarch 9 grams
Butter 20 grams
Gelatin 3 grams (soften in water and drain the water)
Cherry blossom flavoring
Fresh cream 120 grams
1. Heat the milk in small saucepan until just boiling.
2. Combine the egg yolks & granular sugar in a bowl and mix well.  Sift the flour/cornstarch and add to the egg yolk mixture.
3. Pour the warm milk into the egg mixture. Pour back into the pan and strain while pouring.
4. Heat until it becomes thickened. Use a whisk to mix
5. Remove the milk mixture from the heat and add the gelatin then the butter.  Mix well to remove any lumps.
6. Pour into a bowl and cool. Add the cherry  blossom flavoring.
7. Whip the fresh cream until a little stiff and add to the cream (#6 above).
 To save time, you can use powdered custard cream.
Putting Together:
1. Remove the cake from the cooking pan and remove the parchment paper. Use a clean sheet of parchment paper and put the cake on it.
2. Spread the cream on the sponge cake evenly with a palette knife.
3. Start from one end & roll the cake carefully to keep a good shape. Put in plastic wrap and refrigerator for about 1 
hour before serving
.



Kathy
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Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies


 Still hot, the chocolate is melting.
Late again for postings. Apologies I have not
been sharing my recent bakings.

This recipe has many of the great tastes I love together - chocolate and coconut. There are two items to make for this one. The traditional brownie at the bottom and another cookie topping for the top.

Total time to put everything together was about 30 minutes and it is quite easy. This is another good recipe to keep on hand when you need a delicious dessert to impress guests.

Recipe

Brownie (bottom)
80 grams butter
2 eggs
75 grams dark chocolate
8 tablespoons coconut milk
80 grams sugar
100 grams flour (sifted)

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl of over simmering warm water. Cut the butter into pieces and to the chocolate several pieces at a time. Use a small whisk to mix.
2. Take the bowl off the warm water and add the coconut milk and mix with a whisk.
3. Mix the eggs and sugar together with a whisk. Add to the chocolate above in portions. Mix in each portion with a whisk before adding more.
4. Add in the sifted flour and mix with a spatula.

Cookie topping
70 grams butter (room temperature)
100 grams powdered sugar (sifted)
1 egg
100 grams flour (sifted with baking powder)
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons grated coconut
100 grams dark chocolate chopped

1. Mix together the butter and powdered sugar with a small whisk. Add in the egg and mix.
2. Mix in the flour and mix with a spatula. Add in the chopped chocolate

In a square pan (about 18 cm x 18 cm), pour the brownie mixture and spread evenly. Pour the cookie topping on top and spread evenly. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes.

Coconut and chocolate !!






Kathy
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