Chocolate Swiss Roll

2 minute read

Updated:

I used Sally’s Baking recipe but didn’t like the texture. It was a sticky top, which can be caused by:

  • too much sugar
  • too much cocoa
  • too much liquid
  • underbaking

Next time, I want to try the more basic BBC recipe, which is a leaner cake and more like a sponge cake.

Or the kitchen tigress recipe, which uses more egg white and water. The author acknowledges the that the introduction of cocoa makes the recipe trickier and mentions causes for stickiness.

I used BraveTart’s swiss buttercream as the filling. It’s light and airy but I think there needs to be more to balance the cake. Either combined with fruit jam or swap to cream cheese frosting.

Recipe

The recipe is scaled to a quarter sheet (9”x13”) but I feel like this was a little on the thin side. It could use about 10-15% more volume but that’s my preference for a thicker slice.

Ingredient Baker’s Percentage Amount for Quarter Sheet (g)
Flour 100% 30
Cocoa 33% 10
Salt 2% 1/8 tsp (0.5 g)
Baking Powder 8% 1/2 tsp (2.5 g)
     
Egg White 220% 2 egg whites, 66 g
Sugar 100% 30
     
Egg Yolk 110% 2 yolks, 33 g
Sugar 100% 30
Strong Coffee 25% 8
Melted Butter 100% 30

The things to note are:

  • Use of baking powder, for a sponge cake
  • Melted butter, instead of oil. Or omitting oil entirely.

I think this recipe is more akin to a yellow cake, than sponge cake.

Technique

Baking the Cake

  1. Line a quarter sheet with parchment and grease the pan.
  2. Separate egg whites and yolk.
  3. Beat egg white and white sugar until stiff peaks.
  4. Beat yolks, brown sugar, and vanilla until foamy (ribbon stage).
  5. Prepare and sift dry ingredients in large bowl.
  6. Add melted butter, coffee, and yolk mixture. Beat until well combined.
  7. Fold in egg whites. Fold 1/3 of egg white at first, as it will take a lot of mixing initially. The remaining egg white can then be gently folded in.
  8. Spread into sheet pan and spread out evenly. Tap the pan several times, the mixture will not spread a lot on its own.
  9. Bake at 350F (175F) for 10 minutes. Cake will be done when it springs back slightly. This is no different to other cakes but is trickier to gauge as the cake is very thin.

Rolling the Cake

  1. Line parchment sheet with powdered sugar or cocoa powder.
  2. Flip the warm cake onto the sheet.
  3. Remove original parchment.
  4. Roll up the cake, including the parchment between the rolls.
  5. Let cool to room temperature.
  6. Unroll the cake and spread on filling.
  7. Roll the cake back up.
  8. Put in fridge to let filling set, if needed.

Notes

  • It’s important not to overbake. Otherwise the cake will be too stiff to roll.
  • Roll the cake while warm and pliable. It’ll curve the cake so it will roll back up easily once filled.
  • Be sure to dust the parchment well. The warm cake will release moisture and will stick, ruining the surface of final presentation.