A happy new year once again – I must warn you to avert your eyes if the diet resolution is still intact. The following contains everything you want but can’t have – chocolate, cake, sugar, and of course a big dose of alcohol! I made this for a dinner New Years Eve, a great start to a wine-filled evening
Actually without the filling swiss roll is quite a healthy dessert, especially if you fill it with jam, as it doesn’t contain any fat or dairy. My Simple Strawberry Jam Swiss Roll is by far the most popular post on the blog! But as per my Christmas Chocolate Yule Log post – the recipe is easily adapted for different flavours and occasions. The cake recipe is taken exactly from that post.
I am completely baffled by the loss of my Tala swiss roll tin that featured in the Yule Log post. Granted it’s not something I use often, and we moved house a few months ago, but how many places can their possibly be to use a big shiny tin! Nevertheless, I was happy to cope with a normal baking tray on this occasion as this swiss roll was one of the christening bakes for my absolutely amazing present from Santa (Rob) – drum roll please… – a beautiful, shiny black, KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer.
I’ve only had time for a few uses so far this year but am already utterly enamored. It beats, whips, kneads and mixes quietly and methodically to fantastic results. Watch this space for more KitchenAid cooks coming soon!
Adoration over – back to the cake
Recipe
4 medium eggs
125g caster sugar
30g cocoa powder
95g self raising flour
Baileys Cream filling:
50g butter
150g icing sugar
2 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream
Additional 2 tablespoons Baileys to brush the cake (optional) – this will of course give a much more alcoholic dessert, richer and extra decadent
Method
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light, pale, fluffy, and about double their original volume (this can take up to 10 minutes, even with an electric mixer)
- Sieve the cocoa powder and flour, and gently fold into the egg mixture
- Take a swiss roll tin (or ordinary baking tray with ridged sides), line, grease well, and coat with a layer of sugar and flour
- Pour in the batter, and smooth out very carefully using a spatula, making sure to get into all the corners, and flatten out
- Bake in a hot oven (220 degrees) for 7-8 minutes, until the sponge is light springy to the touch
- Whilst the cake is baking, prepare another sheet of greaseproof paper, a little bigger than your tray. Lay it on a damp tea towel, and cover all over with a good sprinkling of caster sugar
- As soon as the cake is cooked, run a knife lightly round the edges, and flip out onto the sugared greaseproof paper
- Keeping the original sheet of greaseproof paper on top (the one it was baked with), quickly but carefully, start at one end and roll the whole tea towel, cake and paper stack up tightly
- Tuck the end underneath so the roll is held tightly, and allow to cool
- Once the cake is completely cool (check by turning the tea towel roll over and gently pressing with your hands), beat together the butter, baileys and icing sugar to form a smooth buttercream. Use your judgement and add more icing sugar if too runny or baileys if too stiff – it needs to be spreadable but not runny
- Carefully unroll the cake and remove the top layer of greaseproof paper. If the cake doesn’t want to lie completely flat, don’t force it or you risk cracking the outside
- If using, brush the additional 2 tablespoons of neat baileys lightly and evenly all over the cake
- Spread the Baileys buttercream all over the cake, leaving a gap of a few millimetres at each side, and thinning out slightly towards the outside edge
- Carefully re-roll, gently but firmly and tightly, to ensure a neat roll without squishing the buttercream out of the sides. An oozy edge is great, overflow much less so.
- Set onto your plate, seam side down. Sprinkle with caster sugar or dust with icing sugar. The cake is ready to serve immediately but can be made up to a day before (keep in a sealed container in the fridge if doing this)
Serve in small slices (you can always go back for more!) as it’s a very rich filling. But well worth breaking the resolutions for!
