Earl Gray Cardamom Cake TO TRY

Since I didn't get to make a Buche de Noel this Christmas I decided to make a roll cake for New Year's Eve.  Originally I wanted to try this Lemon Roulade recipe by David Tanis which appeared in the NEw York Times.  

Here is that recipe and the picture that seduced me:













For the Lemon Curd

• 1teaspoon orange zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• ¾cup/150 grams sugar
• ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter  
• ¾cup/180 milliliters lemon juice (from 5 or 6 large lemons)
• ¼cup/60 milliliters orange juice (from 2 large oranges)
• 4large eggs, at room temperature

For the Sponge Cake

• Softened butter, for greasing the pan
• 4large eggs, at room temperature
• ⅔cup/130 grams sugar
• ½teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1cup/130 grams all-purpose flour or cake flour
• 1teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt

For Frosting

• 1cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
• 2teaspoons sugar
• ½teaspoon vanilla extract

  Preparation

1. Step 1

   Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the lemon curd: Put lemon zest, orange zest, sugar, butter, lemon juice and orange juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until mixture steams, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn heat to low.

2. Step 2

   Beat eggs in a small mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of the lemon mixture into eggs to temper them, then add everything to the saucepan, whisking.

3. Step 3

   Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to thicken and resembles a milkshake consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

4. Step 4

   Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until completely cold. The mixture will thicken more when cold.

5. Step 5

   Prepare the cake: Butter a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan. Lay a piece of parchment paper cut to size on the buttered pan and butter the parchment.

6. Step 6

   In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk (or using hand-held electric beaters and a mixing bowl), combine eggs and sugar. Beat mixture at medium-high speed until thick and doubled in volume, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract.

7. Step 7

   In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. At low speed, gradually incorporate into egg mixture. Setting bowl aside, use a rubber spatula to fold batter to ensure everything is well mixed.

8. Step 8

   Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread to the edges. (Batter should be about ½-inch thick.)

9. Step 9

   Bake until firm and barely browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Do not overbake or cake will be dry and difficult to roll.

10. Step 10

    Let cake cool until just warm to the touch, about 15 minutes. (If necessary, run a small knife around the edge of the pan to separate the cake from the edges.) Beginning at the short end of the pan, roll cake and parchment into a tube shape, and let sit. Unroll when completely cool. This helps the cake achieve the correct shape.

11. Step 11

    With a spatula, spread lemon curd over the surface of the cake, leaving a 1-inch border at the edges, and roll it all without the parchment back into a tube shape. Carefully transfer to a platter, seam-side-down, wiping away any extra curd. Refrigerate for about 2 hours before frosting, then trim off about 1 inch at both ends of cake for a neat presentation.

12. Step 12

    Prepare the frosting: Beat together cream, sugar and vanilla in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip just until cream is fluffy and soft, not stiff, about 5 minutes.

13. Step 13

    Dollop cream along top of cake, then use a metal spatula or soup spoon to spread over sides and ends of cake. The frosting should look like a fluffy cloud, not like a plastered wall. Return cake to the refrigerator for 2 hours and up to overnight. To serve, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices.

But the recipe comments were discouraging, most people didn't care for this roll.

So, I found a recipe on a trusted website, Style Sweet. Here is that recipe:

Ingredients

or the Swiss Roll Cake

• 4 large eggs separated
• ½ cup granulated sugar divided
• 3 tbsp canola or avocado oil
• 2 tablespoon milk
• ½ cup (63g) all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• powdered sugar for dusting

For the Lemon Cream Filling

• 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream divided
• ⅔ cup lemon curd
• 3 tablespoon granulated sugar divided
• lemon zest for sprinkling
• ​

  Instructions

  To Make the Swiss Roll Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9 x 13-inch rimmed baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ¼ cup sugar, oil, and milk until smooth. Add the flour and baking powder. Stir until combined
  • In a clean, dry bowl, begin whipping the egg whites along with the cream of tartar with a whisk attachment on low speed. One a bunch of tiny bubbles appear, it's time to start adding the sugar while slowly increasing the speed. Keep whipping on medium-high speed until thick and they egg whites can hold medium-stiff peaks.
  • In two batches, add the egg whites to the cake batter. Use a rubber spatula to scoop the batter from the bottom of the bowl and flip it up to the top. Continue to fold together without deflating the egg whites.
  • Scrape the batter into a lined 9 X 13-inch pan. Use an offset spatula to smooth it out. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes, or until the surface of the cake springs back when touched.
  • When the cake comes out of the oven, dust the top with powdered sugar. Set a clean kitchen or tea towel on top, followed by a cutting board. Carefully flip everything upside down. Remove the baking pan and peal off the parchment. Dust the bottom with powdered sugar. Starting with the short end, carefully roll up the warm cake within the towel. Set aside to cool.

  To Make the Filling and Assemble

  • • Using an electric whisk, whip 1 cup of the cream with 2 tablespoons sugar until thick, medium-stiff peaks. Fold in ⅓ cup of the lemon curd. Swirl the fillings, but do not completely combine.
    • Unroll the cake and remove the towel. Spread the filling on the cake. Dollop the remaining lemon curd over the top of the cake and swirl around with the back of a spoon or offset spatula. Carefully roll up the cake. Set seam-side down on a plate. Lastly, chill the cake in the refrigerator before serving.
    • To decorate, whip the remaining cream with 1 tablespoon sugar until medium-stiff peaks. Use a petal tip to pipe soft zig-zags on top of the cake roll. Finish with fresh lemon zest.
    • 
      

I was all set to make this when I realized I don't have that size baking sheet. That is a pretty small one!  I do have a baking dish that size, but it's pretty deep with almost 3-inch sides. I wasn't sure the top would cook at the same rate as the rest of the cake, so I pivoted to this recipe from King Arthur Baking. It had two advantages: I could use a jelly roll pan that I already have, and I didn't have to separate the eggs. Win/win!

I followed the recipe to the letter, but in my new oven 400F is far too hot. Already after 5 minutes the cake was pulling away from the sides of the pan. I did wait until between 10 and 11 minutes in the oven, and when I inverted it I saw a burned corner and ended having to trim all four sides of the cake because they were crunchy.

After the cake cooled I went ahead and used the filling recipe from the Style Sweet recipe. I had already made the lemon curd, and I wanted to use it.  This makes for a surprising amount of filling, and was a lot for this bigger cake from King Arthur. I can't imagine how all this filling would fit in the smaller cake Style Sweet's recipe makes, but I do see why in their picture there is only one turn or roll of the cake. The filling won't let you do more!

As per the recipe, I combined the whipped cream with 1/3 cup of lemon curd and spread that on the cake. Then I spread another 1/3 cup of lemon curd on top of that.  I would not do that again!  The lemon curd doesn't attach to the sponge the way the whipped cream does, so it was hard to roll the cake tight because it was slippery and there was lemon curd oozing from everywhere. Next time, maybe I would just combine 1/2 cup of lemon curd into the whipped cream.

I put the cake onto plastic wrap but it was slippery as an eel and somehow I couldn't get it seam side down. So, the cake took on a bit of a wonky shape.d