Log cake project of year 2019 and for my sister’s birthday! I really ended up liking this brown sugar swiss roll cake form Okashi Treats. There are many recipes out there, but I remember that my log cake last year was a tad too flat (it didn’t contain butter in the cake so ended up a bit dry – it was ok for a Tiramisu log cake, but probably not for this). In general I trust Okashi’s recipe for Japanese textured cakes! Tips for it stand for any log cake or sponge cake – make sure the meringue is well whipped and don’t overfold the flour. For a safety net I like to roll up the cake while its hot, so it cools in a “fixed” position – this reduces the chances of cracks during the final assembly. I added some cinnamon to the dark brown sugar swiss roll as well.
The homemade speculoos cookie butter was an awesome surprise. Originally made it for a filling for a chocolate speculoos cake, and I fell in love with how easy it is to make. The actual recipe had some butter and heavy cream, but I went without and it turned out fine. Evaporated milk made it very smooth and creamy, and added in extra spices and salt to taste. Couldn’t stop eating the pure cookie butter, and it’s very versatile in pastry creams or buttercream.
The sloth was inspired by… I don’t even know, sloths are cute and reminded me of my sister when she’s nua-ing at home. I piped it on using a Swiss Meringiue Buttercream, which is more stable in Singapore Heat. The actual coating of the cake was an American-based buttercream, which I can flavor using pure dark cocoa. It’s also less sweet, less buttery with a nice bite. All of the decorations were swiss meringue buttercream based – colored with charcoal powder for the black parts! I used a round piping tip as well as a small star tip for the feathers.
Enjoy! Keep chilled, then leave outside for ~10 min out of the fridge before serving to let the buttercream soften just so slightly before eating! 🙂
9 x 13 inch sheet pan
| Dark Brown Sugar Swiss Roll cake adapted from Okashi Treats: Sweet Treats Made with Love
40g cake flour Homemade Speculoos / Biscoff Cookie Butter adapted from Wander Cooks 150 g Lotus Biscoff speculoos biscuits Speculoos Cookie Butter Frosting adapted from Tough Cookie 40g unsalted butter, softened at room temperature Chocolate Buttercream Frosting 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter |
To make Dark Brown Sugar Swiss Roll
Preheat oven to 200C. Line swiss roll tray (9x13inch) with parchment paper. Make meringue. Place egg whites in a mixing bowl, beat until foamy. Add Castor sugar and one third brown sugar mixture and continue beating for a few mins, then add remaining brown sugar mixture and beat until egg whites are glossy and stiff peaks form. Add egg yolks, fold lightly. Add flour and fold gently with a spatula, then add hot melted butter and fold through (a tip is to pour in some batter into the hot oil first to lighten it, then pour that back in the original mixture). Pour batter into prepared baking tray and spread evenly with scraper. Tap the pan down a few times to get rid of big bubbles. Bake for 10-13 mins. When cake is done, lift cake from baking tray, let it cool completely while rolled up To make Homemade Speculoos / Biscoff Cookie Butter Place speculoos biscuits in a food processor until well crushed and blended. Drizzle in Evaporated milk until desired consistency. Add spices to taste. To make Speculoos Cookie Butter frosting In a medium-sized bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter and sugar until pale in colored. Beat Biscoff spread together until fluffy and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Assembly Unroll swiss roll that has been resting rolled up. Spread a generous amount of speculoos cookie butter buttercream on swiss roll and roll. Pipe on a core of cookie butter for extra burst of surprise. Roll up. Slice diagonally using Chef John’s method here, and cover the whole cake with chocolate buttercream. Pipe on sloths on the cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream (recipe from my old post here), which is more stable than usual American buttercream! |
My Dose of Sugar 