Those of you that know me will be aware of my love of cake, both eating and making. Here’s a story about my adventures making Swiss Rolls
Once upon a time (2014 to be exact) to give my brain a rest whilst teaching I was inspired to try out the technical challenges that are given to the participants of the Great British Bake Off. In addition to testing my baking skills I thought I would use this as a way of getting into the habit of writing blog posts.
The technical challenges were as follows:
- Swiss Roll
- Florentines
- Ciabatta
- Tiramisu Cake
- Mini Pear Pies
- Prinsesstarta
- Kouign-Amann
- Povitica
- Schichttorte
- Victoria Sandwiches, Tarte au Cirton, Scones
I tried a couple of the recipes but work got busy and I never got round to finishing this challenge – maybe I will this year?
The start of my adventures making Swiss Rolls
Week One of the Great British Bake Off was cake week and the technical challenge was swiss roll. So the first thing to do was to find a recipe – my mother has always had a copy of Mrs Beatons Household Management in her cupboard as her go to book if she needs a recipe so I thought I would start with that.
The recipe is very minimal. Just mix the eggs and sugar together over hot water. So I tried this using a balloon whisk – this did not produce much. Hubby suggested to use the electric whisk which produced more success. It got light and fluffy but did not look too appetising. Still every thing is worth baking.
So into the oven till springy to the touch (the chocolate one took 5 minutes longer than the plain) then out of the oven and rolled up whilst still warm.
They looked good – but the taste. OMG absolutely rubbish – I have never cooked a cake that tasted that bad. So off to the bin for them.
My second attempt
After the first attempt of my adventures making Swiss Rolls, I thought I would try again. This time I documented the process using photos. Here are the pictures of my second attempt at a vanilla and a chocolate swiss roll.
[Aside – this was in 2014 pre Canva and instagram reels so not pretty portarit video here]
Usually the cake doen’t look too good but tastes good – this time it looked ok and rolled well but it tasted all rubbery. So I tried again and it worked!
Here is a video I made of the process:
