‘Reparations’ Strawberry Swiss Roll Cake
July 4, 2020
Art meets dessert meets activism. The technique used to create the design on this swiss roll cake is super versatile. You can create just about any colorful design or message you can imagine.
I chose to write the word “reparations” - something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, or if it sounds totally radical to you, I highly recommend reading Ta-Nehisi Coates ‘The Case for Reparations’ - I can’t put it any better than he did:
“What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal. Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage. Reparations would mean the end of yelling “patriotism” while waving a Confederate flag. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history.”
recipe
Adapted from Love and Olive Oil’s Spring Strawberry Cake Roll
Quantity: One roll cake, approximately 10 slices
Time: ~2 hours, plus chilling time
Ingredients:
“Cake” Flour
107 g (1 ⅓ cup) flour
10 g (1.5 tablespoons) cornstarch
Decorative Paste
1 large egg white
16 g (2 tablespoons) powdered sugar
50 g (1/2 cup) “cake” flour (see note below)
15g (1 tablespoon) vegetable oil
food coloring
Cake
3 large eggs, separated
75 g (¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar, divided
15 g (1 tablespoon) vegetable oil
23 g (1 ½ tablespoons) whole milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
67 g (⅔ cup) “cake” flour (see note below)
food coloring (if desired)
Filling
288 g (1 ¼ cup) heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin
1 tablespoon water
28 g (3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
16 g (2 tablespoons) freeze-dried strawberry powder
⅔ cup fresh strawberries, thinly sliced (if desired)
Process:
Cake Flour
Add flour to a bowl, then remove 10 g (1.5 tablespoons) of flour. Add 10 g (1.5 tablespoons) of cornstarch and combine with a whisk.
Decorative Paste
To make decorative paste, combine egg white, powdered sugar, “cake” flour and vegetable oil in a bowl, stirring until completely smooth and no lumps remain. You can thin out the mixture with a little milk to make it easier to pipe but then you’ll lose the detail.
Divide paste into 3 bowls (how you divide it will depend on your design) and add food coloring as desired. I used a smaller amount for the lighter blue dots and then divided the rest equally for the red and dark blue.
Transfer pastes into piping bags or plastic squeeze bottles fitted with small round piping tips (I used ziploc bags with piping tips). For the lettering, I highly recommend a piping tip or squeeze bottle since precision is important. But if you are doing a more abstract design, you can just snip the end of a piping bag or ziploc bag.
Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 15 by 10-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. If using a design template, place the printed template underneath the parchment paper, or trace it onto the back side of the parchment with thick pencil lines. REMEMBER: if you are writing a word, you have to write it as a mirror image.
Pipe design onto parchment. Place the pan in the freezer to allow the design to set while you prepare the rest of the batter.
Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Add 50g (1/4 cup) sugar and whisk until sugar is dissolved and yolks are lightened in color. Drizzle in vegetable oil, whisking constantly, until incorporated. Whisk in milk, almond extract and salt. Add food coloring if desired (I left mine white).
Sprinkle “cake” flour over batter and fold until incorporated.
In a clean mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until frothy. Add remaining sugar (~2 tablespoons) and beat on high speed until whites hold medium peaks.
Fold a third of egg whites into batter to lighten it, then add the remaining egg whites and fold until just incorporated.
Pour batter over top of frozen design, spreading the batter into an even layer using an offset spatula. Bang the pan a few times on the countertop to remove any air bubbles and level out the top.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until the top is springy and edges are just barely starting to brown.
Remove from the oven.
Carefully invert warm cake onto a piece of parchment backed by a solid surface like a large baking sheet. Peel off parchment paper backing, revealing the design. Lay a new piece of parchment paper over the top of the cake and flip again (design facing down).
Starting with the side of the cake without the design you want to feature, carefully roll up the warm cake in the parchment paper. Doing this while the cake is still warm will help prevent cracking, since the cake will have cooled in a rounded shape.
Let the rolled cake cool for about 1 hour or until completely cool to the touch.
Filling
Meanwhile, to make the filling, in a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1 tablespoon cool water and let soften for 5 minutes. Microwave the mixture in short, 5 second increments until the gelatin is completely dissolved and liquefied. Let cool slightly (but don’t let it firm up, if it does, microwave it again).
Place whipping cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until frothy, then increase to medium high and beat until the whisk starts to leave trails in the cream.
Mix a spoonful of the partially-whipped cream into the bowl with the melted gelatin until completely incorporated, then, with the mixer running on low, add this back to the bowl with the rest of the cream. Add strawberry powder, and increase speed to medium high, beating until cream holds medium-stiff peaks (take care not to overbeat).
Assembly
Carefully unroll cake and remove parchment paper. Spread filling into a thin even layer over the whole cake, leaving about 1/2 inch bare at the far end. You may not need all of the filling, depending on how thick a layer you want. Add the sliced strawberries over the top of the filling.
Gently roll up the cake, taking care not to use too much pressure lest the filling squeeze out the sides. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight, until filling is set.
Serve
To serve, cut into slices with a sharp serrated knife (the design bits are crispier than the cake itself so try to cut between the design bits or cut them very carefully). The slices will look best if you cut using a sharp serrated knife.
TIPS:
If you can’t find freeze dried strawberry powder, you can make your own with freeze dried strawberries (Trader Joe’s carries these in their stores). In a food processor or clean coffee/spice grinder, grind freeze dried strawberries together with powdered sugar until very finely ground.
1 tablespoon (8g) powdered sugar
½ ounce (14g) freeze-dried strawberries
Be sure to thinly slice your strawberries so that the cake rolls easily.
If you are writing a word, you have to write it as a mirror image.
Lindsay and Taylor of Love & Olive Oil are geniuses and chilled the cake in a large cardboard mailing tube (about 3.25″ in diameter), to keep the roll from slumping into an oval.
Special equipment: jelly roll pan.