Rich Chocolate Swiss Roll

Swiss Roll is nothing new to me too :P…..though you might think it is as you actually don't see any of my post here are related to Swiss Roll, right? Ok, to tell you the truth, I have attempted Swiss Roll a few good times, if I'm not mistaken, this should be my 3^rd time. The last two times failed and were forced to end up as a Sponge Sandwich Cake instead……..so as not to end up in the waste bin when I frustrated, LOL.This is my 3^rd attempt, as I would never give up on what I failed, but it does take me quite some time to go back and give it another try…….well, at least some cooling off period, haha. The reason why I attempted this Swiss Roll project again is because I'm having a 'Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake' challenge from The Daring Bakers for July month and I was left with only less than a week to complete it and post it up……oh oh!!....die or try, LOL…….of course I'm choosing the later (just kidding), there's no life sentence in Daring Bakers, but as I have missed two of their challenge already, I wouldn't want to miss any again if possible as I still have another 5 months before the year-ends.
I decided to try the recipe that was chosen by the Sunita, the Daring Bakers Challenge theme host for July. She has posted a Swiss Roll recipe which I'm quite confident to do as it's very straight forward and easy to understand with all the 'step-by-step' picture instruction (really good)!! Thanks Sunita, with your guided instructions, my Swiss roll finally made it to the serving table looking nice and neat…..no cracks and messy filling, spilling or seeping out from the sides of the seams. It's so tempting to see it that it actually made a few of my friends wanting to make it right away after seeing the photographs that I posted in Facebook……^-^
If you are feeling the same too…….roll it up……it's as easy as it looks ;)

Rich Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake
(Recipe adapted from Taste of Home)

For the cake:
6 medium sized eggs
225gm castor sugar and some extra for rolling (I used only 160gm)
45gm plain flour + 40gm unsweetened cocoa powder, sift together
2 Tbsp boiling water
A little oil for brushing the pans
For the filling:
500ml whipping c
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (I used 1 tsp vanilla extract)
70gm castor sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius. Greased the baking pans (2 pans of 11x9 inches) with a little oil and line the greaseproof paper. If you are using one pan to bake at a time, then let the pan cool completely before using it to bake again for the next cake.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs and sugar and beat till very thick for about 10 seconds. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
3. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly into the corners of the pans. Place a pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the centre is springy to the touch.
4. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle some sugar over it. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
5. Starting from the shorter side, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, the seam side facing down. Repeat the same for the next cake.
6. For the filling: If using vanilla pods, grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processor till nicely mixed together. If using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own, and then add sugar and extract to the cream.
7. In a large bowl,
   add the cream and vanilla –sugar mixture and beat till very thick. Divide the cream between the two completely cooled cakes.
8. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, spreading it evenly and leave at least ½ an inch on all the edges. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Cut and serve.

Happy Swiss Roll baking !