Cakes That You Can Roll!

Happy Tuesday! New year, new resolutions - and hopefully they all involve dessert! Right before the ball dropped and we ran outside to watch fireworks, my husband and I chowed down on some delicious gingerbread buche de Noel and ricotta ice cream (my husband always requests it...). Wrong holiday? Who cares! I was craving a delicious rolled cake. It's not as hard as you think - with gentle hands and a little patience, you can master the jelly roll. Here's a few recipes to get you started (including pics from my New Year's Eve).

A la moi...
Gingerbread Buche de Noel
Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients
Praline:

• 1 cup/120 grams pecan halves or pieces
• ⅓ cup/70 grams granulated sugar

Cake:

• 4 tablespoons/60 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled, more for buttering parchment
• ¾ cup/100 grams all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup/30 grams cornstarch, sifted
• ¾ teaspoon/4 grams ground cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon/4 grams ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon/1 gram fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon/1 gram black pepper
• 6 large eggs
• ¾ cup/150 grams packed light brown sugar
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting and rolling

Filling:

• 8 ounces/225 grams cream cheese, at room temperature
• 8 tablespoons/115 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon/3 grams ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons/10 milliliters vanilla extract

Frosting:

• ½ cup/120 milliliters egg whites (from about 4 large eggs)
• 1 cup/200 grams granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon/3 grams cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon/15 milliliters vanilla extract

Directions

Praline:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in center. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Spread pecans on sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Stir and set aside in a warm spot.
2. In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1/4 cup/60 milliliters water. Place over medium-high heat. Cook sugar, washing down sides of pan if needed with a pastry brush dipped in cold water, until sugar turns a medium amber color.
3. Remove pan from heat and add nuts. Stir with heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to coat nuts with syrup. Spread nuts on baking sheet and cool completely. (Praline can be made up to a day ahead; store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.) Finely chop 1/2 cup praline; coarsely chop the remainder.

Cake:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12- by 17-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Butter the paper, dust with flour and tap out excess.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, salt and pepper.
3. Have a wide skillet about 1/3 full of simmering water on the stove. Using a stand mixer, whisk together eggs and brown sugar. Set the mixer bowl in the pan of simmering water. Whisk nonstop until mixture is very warm to the touch, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Using the mixer, beat sugared eggs until they have more than doubled in volume and have reached room temperature, 7 to 10 minutes. Switch to a spatula and fold in flour mixture in two additions. Pour melted butter into a small bowl, scoop a big spoonful of batter over it and stir. Pour butter mixture into batter in bowl and fold it in. Scrape batter out onto prepared baking sheet and spread evenly with an offset spatula.
5. Bake until cake is golden brown, lightly springy to touch and starting to pull away from sides of baking sheet, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to cooling rack for no more than 5 minutes; you want to roll the cake while it’s hot.
6. Lay a cotton or linen kitchen towel (not terry cloth or microfiber) on counter and dust generously with confectioners’ sugar. Run a table knife around sides of cake and invert onto towel. Carefully peel away parchment. Lightly dust cake with confectioners’ sugar. Put parchment back on cake, with the clean side against the cake. Starting at a short end, roll cake into a log; don’t worry about cracks. Return rolled up cake (still in towel) to rack and let cool, seam side down.

Filling:

1. Put cream cheese, butter and salt in bowl and, using electric mixer, beat until smooth. Beat in cinnamon and vanilla. If using immediately, stir in 1/2 cup finely chopped praline. If not, leave praline out, transfer filling to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. (Whisk chilled filling to return it to spreadable consistency, then add praline.)

Log:

1. Unroll log and carefully remove parchment; leave cake on kitchen towel. Beginning with a short end, gently roll up cake, peeling away towel as you go. Unroll cake onto the towel or a clean piece of parchment.
2. Spread filling across surface of the cake, leaving a scant 1-inch border uncovered on the long sides. Starting from short side, roll up cake, trying to get as a tight a roll as you can. Place cake on a parchment-lined cutting board, cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Frosting:

1. Put egg whites in clean, dry bowl of electric mixer with whisk attachment. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cream of tartar and 1 cup/240 milliliters water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, cover and boil for about 3 minutes. Uncover and attach a candy thermometer to pan and cook until it reads 242 degrees. When sugar reaches 235 degrees, begin beating whites on medium speed. If you get to the point where the whites look as if they are about to form stiff peaks and syrup is not at 242 degrees yet, lower mixer speed and keep mixing until sugar is ready.
2. At 242 degrees, with mixer on medium speed, stand back and carefully and steadily pour hot syrup into bowl. Try to get syrup between side of bowl and the whisk. Add vanilla and keep beating until frosting cools to room temperature, about 5 minutes. You will have a shiny marshmallow frosting, which you should spread immediately.
3. Remove cake from refrigerator. Frost on the cutting board and then transfer to a serving platter, or put it on platter now. To keep the platter clean during frosting, tuck strips of parchment under the log, putting just a sliver of the parchment under the cake and leaving the lion’s share to protect your platter.If ends of log look ragged, trim them. Using an offset spatula, table knife or the back of a spoon, swirl frosting all over cake in a thick layer. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to set frosting and firm up filling. Sprinkle cake with coarsely chopped praline before serving.

For the chocolate connoisseur... 

Chocolate-Raspberry Swiss Roll

Maria Helm Sinskey

Ingredients

Cake

• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup plus granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

Chocolate Glaze

• 1/2 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Raspberries, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan and line it with parchment paper, then butter the paper. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar and the vanilla until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the bowl and fold in the flour.
2. In a clean bowl using a clean whisk, beat the egg whites with the salt at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of granulated sugar and beat until the whites are glossy. Using a rubber spatula, fold the whites into the yolk mixture until no streaks remain. Quickly fold in the melted butter. Spread the batter in the pan. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden and puffy. Let cool in the pan on a rack.
3. Run the blade of a knife around the edge of the cake pan. Dust the cake with the confectioners' sugar and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Top with a cutting board and, holding both the board and pan, invert the cake. Rap the board against the table, then remove the pan and carefully peel off the paper.
4. In a large bowl, whip the cream with the granulated sugar, vanilla and salt to stiff peaks. Using an offset metal spatula, spread the raspberry jam on the cake. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the jam. Begin rolling up the cake from the long side, as tightly as possible, using the kitchen towel and plastic wrap to help shape the roll. Wrap the roll tightly in the plastic and transfer to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or, preferably, overnight.
5. Put the chocolate in a bowl. In a saucepan, stir the cream, milk and sugar over moderate heat just until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate; let stand until the chocolate is melted, 3 minutes. Whisk until smooth, then whisk in the butter and let cool slightly.
6. Discard the plastic wrap and transfer the cake to a rack. Pour half of the chocolate glaze all over the top and sides and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. Spread the remaining glaze all over the cake and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Garnish the top with raspberries. Transfer the cake to a platter, cut into slices and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The chocolate-glazed Swiss roll can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before slicing and serving.

For the cans of pumpkin growing dust in your cupboard...

Pumpkin Roll Cake

Saveur

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. butter, softened
• 3⁄4 cup plus 1 tbsp. flour
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• Pinch of fine salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2⁄3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup roughly chopped pecans
• 1 1⁄4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°. Grease a 10" × 15" jelly roll pan with 1 tsp. butter and dust with 1 tbsp. flour; tap pan to remove excess flour; set aside. Sift remaining flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into a bowl; set aside. Beat eggs in a bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy and tripled in size, 4–5 minutes. Add granulated sugar in 3 parts, beating after each addition; beat until thick and creamy, about 2–3 minutes more. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice; gently fold in flour mixture. Pour batter onto prepared pan; spread out to edges; sprinkle pecans over top. Bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle a kitchen towel with 1⁄4 cup confectioners' sugar. Working quickly, loosen edges of still-warm cake and turn out onto towel; roll up snugly like a jelly roll. Set aside, seam side down, to let cool, about 1 hour.
2. 2. Meanwhile, beat together remaining butter and confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl, with an electric mixer, to make a smooth filling. Carefully unroll cake and spread with filling; gently reroll. Transfer cake to a platter, seam side down, cover, and let chill until set. Slice and serve.

Check out my website www.lizzybeesbakery.com and my Facebook: www.facebook.com/LizzyBeesBakery for more photos and discounts. Plan ahead for your next party, big or small! (Sorry, only local delivery to NJ/NYC for now.)

Happy baking!