[Elise] Not-So-Rolled Swiss Roll

This weekend I tried to make a Swiss Roll from a recipe I translated from the Food and Drink section of DN.se. I think it is safe to say some things may have been lost in translation, mainly dealing with eggs. So while the result was still a scrumptious pastry, it was not a Swiss Roll. Instead it was something more like those strange layered pastries that show up in a lot of European bakeries. So I will share the recipe how I made it along with where I may have gone wrong.

Cake

4 eggs
2/3 c sugar
1 1/3 c all purpose flour
1 T vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 T baking powder

The instructions were to beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until white and puffy; sift the dry ingredients together then fold into the wet mixture.

Now... this is what I did, skeptical, but trusting, but no matter how long you beat them, unseparated eggs will never become white and fluffy. Despite that, when I mixed in the flour the eggs made lots of nice air pockets.

The next step is to spread the batter out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. This should be as thin as possible. I don't think I got mine thin enough, but it was sort of like spreading out rice-krispy bars (well, not that bad) I would try either adding more liquid of some sort or else using a little less flour (1 1/4 or so).

Finally this was baked at 475 F for 6 minutes. I think this may have been what made the roll so stiff, I would try 350 F until golder brown next time. When this is done, take it out, sprinkle it with powdered sugar, and flip it over to cool on another piece of parchment.


Lemon Curd


Juice from 2 lemons
1 egg + 2 yolks
5/6 c sugar (approximately)
1 stick of butter in cm cubes

Lemon curd was fun to make. You start by whisking together the eggs and sugar in a saucepan  (heavy bottomed is best, but I was able to not burn it with a regular stainless steel pan by stirring frequently bordering on constantly). Then you put this on low heat and mix in the lemon juice (the recipe also called for the zest, but then to strain it when you're done, and that seemed messy, which I think was fine, it still tasted overwhelmingly lemony). Stir this until it thickens. It took longer than I thought it would, so be patient. It will be thick enough around a minute after it starts to get nice big bubbles (you have to stop stirring for a few seconds to see this) When its thick, take it off the heat and stir in the butter cubes until it's all dissolved. Put this in the fridge to let it cool.






Whipped Cream


1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup of raspberry jam

Whip the cream and jam until it is just past the nice soft peaks, when everything starts to look a little bit sticky.

Assembly!


So, you're supposed to spread the lemon curd and the whipped cream (and fresh raspberries, but let's be realistic... it's February) and then roll the whole thing up. But the final cake, on top of being an inch thick, would have broken all over if it had been roller. Being more bread-like, I treated the whole thing like a giant sandwich. I carefully slicked it into a top and bottom half, spread the lemon curd on the bottom side, whipped cream on the top side, and put the whole thing back together pb&j style. Tasty!