Of course, it didn't take me long to recall Sunday's latest cookie recipe in short-form video. Her formula for a Soft Chewy Cookie was one that I regarded with initial skepticism, for adding honey/glucose to most recipes renders them softer, diminishing the textural contrast as a consequence.
- 140 g unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g dark brown sugar
- 50 g granulated sugar
- ̶5̶ ̶g̶ ̶v̶a̶n̶i̶l̶l̶a̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶c̶t̶ → 1 tsp homemade vanilla extract (868)
- 10 g honey or corn syrup → 17 g honey (by accident)
- 1 large egg
- 215 g AP flour
- 2 g baking soda
- 1 g baking powder
- pinch of salt
- ̶1̶4̶0̶ ̶g̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶c̶o̶l̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶p̶s̶ → 80 g mini chocolate chips *
- ̶6̶0̶ ̶g̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶c̶o̶l̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶p̶s̶ → 75 g chocolate couverture for topping *
- Flaky salt for topping (optional)
Yield: 22 cookies, 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop
The addition of an "XL chocolate chip" in the form of couverture, lent a thumbprint cookie appearance, replacing jam with a centre of chocolate whose state of matter would be dependent on the consumption temperature.
Utilizing honey (or glucose/corn syrup) in a cookie recipe is rather innovative. Interestingly, the addition causes crisper cookies in my household; of course, it's uncertain whether constantly fluctuating oven temperature is the culprit for this excess evaporation.
Roasting was another tedious process, for the batch would need to be flipped halfway and infused with a lemon juice-chicken broth solution in the final fifteen minutes of roasting.
Without a doubt, the amount of lemon could be halved. The zest and juice of two lemons would have provided more than enough for a pound cake, let alone roasted potatoes. Given that SK had taken to a similar quantity of potatoes (2 pounds), I was led to believe that SK's lemons were simply microscopic.
The following day, the acidity appeared to dissipate slightly. Consuming the side as a cold salad also increased palatability significantly.
Baking trials frequently arise from desires to:
- Test a new tool or pan
- Taste a specific flavour/texture
- Utilize soon-to-expire or forgotten ingredients
- Practice a technique
This roll cake answered to every single element above.
The sponge cake was adapted from Sunday Baking's "Edible Flower Pot Green Tea Cake". Her original ingredient list is as follows:
Ingredients:
- 2 egg yolks / 40g
- 12 g honey
- 2 egg whites / 70g
- 35 g granulated sugar
- 30 g cake flour
- 4 g matcha powder
- 12 g canola oil
Ingredients:
- 3 egg yolks / 60 g *
- 18 g honey
- 3 egg whites / 105 g *
- 53 g granulated sugar
- 45 g AP flour *
- 6 g matcha
- 18 g canola oil
- Yolk: 60 g theoretical; 56 g actual
- White: 105 g theoretical; 96 g actual
On average, the standard egg weighs about 50-53 g, aligning with the 152-156 g range above.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Whip egg whites until medium peaks, beating sugar in three additions.
- Whip egg yolks with honey until pale yellow and noticeably thicker in consistency.
- Fold yolk mixture into meringue and beat to combine. The resulting mixture should be homogeneous and keep medium-firm peaks.
- Sift in dry ingredients, then fold gently to combine. If using AP flour, such as myself, use extra caution to prevent formation of gluten.
- Drizzle oil over spatula. Fold gently to incorporate without knocking air out of the batter.
- Distribute evenly in a parchment-lined aluminum baking tray, smoothing the batter to the corners of the pan as best as possible.
- Bake at 375 F for 10-11 minutes, until the edges golden and peel away from the parchment. The surface should also brown slightly, adopting a shimmery beige hue as opposed to vibrant green (from the matcha).
- Let cool for a minimum of 7 minutes. Flip over carefully by placing a flat surface, such as a cooling rack or another tray, on top of the cake. Remove the parchment liner and discard.
- Set aside while preparing the cream filling. To prevent the cake from drying out, cover with a fresh sheet of parchment and inverted sheet pan to insulate.
- This latest trial saw a swap from my usual nonstick jelly roll pan with tapered edges to a large (read: commercial-sized) aluminum-coated pan with straight edges. While my batter only filled two-thirds of the pan, its shift from the centre did not deter the sheet from cooking - and rising! - evenly. The increased surface are and straight edges also enabled my large offset to smooth out any mountainous sections with ease. In short, my previous hypothesis was proven true: aluminum indeed rectifies the issue of uneven sponge! Had I filled the entire pan, I'd have even more perfect straight edges, nixing the need to trim the sheet in the end.
- Sunday instructs whipping the yolks prior to the whites. This is a reasonable approach, given that whipping the yolks to pale yellow ribbons takes significantly longer (3-5 minutes) than creating meringue with soft peaks (30 seconds - 1 minute). Moreover, allowing yolks to sit with sugar can risk "cooking" them. With that said, I did not wish to wash my beaters twice for one sponge and instead opted to work quickly: beating the whites first, rinsing the beaters, then beating the yolks. Swift maneuvers ensured that my meringue would not deflate as I tended to the yolks. I would not recommend swapping these steps unless you are confident that time is not a concern.
- Using Hokusan Niju matcha once again, I noticed the batter resembled a cream of broccoli soup of sorts with obvious specks of dark green against a pale green backdrop. After baking, however, the slab became harmonious in terms of both appearance and flavour. Well, go figure! Hokusan had a use after all.
When contemplating the components of my cake, I considered compatible pairings. With the base chosen to be matcha (with flexibility to switch to genmaicha, if desired), the filling would need to be mild enough to not compete for attention (ie. not chocolate) and creamy enough to adequately accentuate the floral grassiness. Red bean and black sesame were predictable inserts, as they hailed from the same geographic region. Chestnuts weren't traditionally combined with matcha, in spite of being present in a plethora of East Asian offerings, both sweet and savoury. I was convinced of this duo, and set to work with my new packs of deshelled chestnut from Loblaws.
- The classic Swiss Roll, with chestnut folded within the cream filling
- The half circle roll, which would be assembled in my new roll pan from Japan and comprise of a chestnut paste enravelled in a tunnel of whipped cream.
The format would be confirmed following evaluation of the resulting chestnut paste's consistency.
Unfortunately, the heavy cream soon evaporated, placing the chestnut pieces at risk of burning on the bottom of my saucepot. A splash of water was mandatory to continue the process, and prevent rigid pieces from flying across the stove and counter under the impact of an immersion blender.
i) Chestnut Paste
- 120 g chestnuts, shells removed
- ̶1̶0̶0̶ ̶g̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶k̶ → 100 g heavy cream
- splash of water (~ 50 g)
ii) Chestnut Cream
- 310 g heavy cream
- 64 g icing sugar
- 197 g i) Chestnut Paste
- 21 g sweetened condensed milk
- Combine chestnuts and heavy cream in a saucepot over medium heat. Allow the cream to come to a simmer, softening the chestnuts.
- Using an immersion blender, blitz the chestnuts until a paste forms. Exercise caution during this step, as the relatively low proportion of liquid may incite splatters across the stove and countertop. If the mixture is too dry, add in a splash of water to continue the cooking process. Blitz until a homogenous paste is formed; a few small chunks are acceptable.
- Transfer the chestnut paste to a heatproof bowl and cover tightly with cling film. Set in fridge until at least room temperature, about 60-90 minutes.
- Once the chestnut paste is ready to use, mix in sweetened condensed milk and set aside.
- Combine heavy cream and icing sugar in a large bowl; no need to sift the icing sugar. Beat until medium-stiff peaks, then fold in chestnut paste.
- Set chestnut cream filling aside and retrieve cake sponge for frosting and assembly.
One could argue that I used an extravagant amount of whipping cream for the filling, for even a sponge using 4 eggs used only 100 g of whipping cream. Even Sunday's Chestnut Tiramisu used just 160 g of whipping cream.
Truthfully, I believed that it was better to make more than less. At the same time, I was looking to obtain a reasonable ratio of chestnut paste to cream. 310 g was the precise amount left in my carton. Though, in hindsight, I ought to have left 40-50 g for decorating purposes. (Spoiler: I bought a new carton the following day to finish the final touches.)
Given that my sponge had been left on the stove while I engaged in other kitchen happenings, certain sections began to show signs of drying out. Rolling the cake would involve meticulous swiftness as to prevent cracking.
Directions
- Check for uniformity along the length (or width) of the sponge and trim ends accordingly to achieve a slab of uniform thickness.
- Smooth b) Chestnut Cream across the entire underside of the sponge (coloured side up) using a spatula or long offset spatula, leaving about 1 inch of sponge at one end. Roll the cake towards the exposed section, tightly tucking the cake with the parchment paper it resided on. Upon reaching the end of the roll, ensure the cake is seam side down. Tuck the roll with a ruler. Transfer to fridge to set for at least 8 hours, but ideally overnight.
- Garnish as desired. For my purposes, I used swirls of whipped cream stabilized with 3 teaspoons of icing sugar, whole pieces of chestnut, and a light dusting of icing sugar to finish.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Use an aluminium baking pan for best results (ie. cake sponges of uniform thickness), especially when aiming to make roll cakes.
- Always beat heavy cream in a large bowl, ideally one enabling double - or even triple - the volume of its liquid form.
- When using the immersion blend, blitz to form a homogenous paste but not one that is completely smooth. Small chunks of softened chestnut should remain, contributing a pleasant textural contrast to the airy whipped cream and fluffy matcha sponge.
- Hokusan Niju fares much better in baked goods than beverages.
- Use a ruler to assist with rolling cakes for Swiss Rolls: the straight edge makes tight tucks and straight lines easier.
- Chestnut paste and icing sugar (which contains cornstarch) was enough to stabilize the cream, eliminating the need for gelatin as insurance.
- As predicted, matcha and chestnut is a splendid, complementary duo embracing the daintiness of East Asian fusion desserts.
- For those less fond of cream, feel free to halve the Chestnut Cream described above. Personally, I found the amount appropriate in terms of solidifying the presence of chestnut, though wouldn't mind a slightly thicker sponge (4 eggs?) either.