Rolling a spongecake

rolled spongecakes cooling

 

One of my favorite things to make is a roulade.  I make them all summer long.  I make them all winter long.  They are great desserts no matter what the season.  Someone recently asked about rolling them so here's a quick post tonight on that subject. I've done a post on making roulades before, but I'm going to try to explain the rolling a bit better here.

A roulade is a rolled spongecake with filling.  I make mine typically with either blueberry cream filling or raspberry cream.  But they can filled with all sorts of things.  The cake has to be made in such a way that is soft enough to meet the expectations of a cake, and firm enough yet flexible enough to withstand rolling and unrolling.

I take a half dozen eggs and separate the yolks from the whites.  Then I whip the whites into a firm meringue, adding sugar along the way.  The meringue is put aside, and I turn my attention to the yolks.  These are whisked for just a short time, and while they are whisking in the mixer, I prepare a dry mix of all-purpose flour and corn starch.  Then I add a portion of the meringue to the egg yolks, enough to lighten them in order to make it easier to combine them with the rest of the meringue.  I add the lightened yolks to the meringue and also add the dry mixture on top of that.  Then, very gently, with a silicone spatula, I fold all the ingredients together.  Slowly, bit by bit, it is all combined while preserving the air that has been whipped into the the whites to create the meringue.  All of this is carefully spread into a rimmed baking sheet line with parchment paper.  It cooks very quickly, only about 9 minutes.  And when it comes out, it is hot and spongy and already looks delicious.  And it all comes from just four ingredients.  The ratios of these four ingredients are part of what gives it enough structure to roll while being delectably soft.

completing the roll

Now I spread out a towel over the still-hot pan containing the sponge cake.  This is not any old towel.  This is a lint-free flour-sack-cloth towel.  It is very thin and is perfect for these sorts of food tasks.  I then flip over the pan and the cake and towel, and the cake is released from the pan, exposing the parchment paper which is then carefully peeled off. 

Now comes the fun part.  Take the long edge of the cake along with the towel and start rolling across the width of the cake.  The towel is rolled up with the cake so that by the time you have finished, you have this cake rolled into a fairly tight spiral with the towel inside the spiral so that no part of the cake is touching another.  And now you let it sit until it cools to room temperature.  Since it's sealed in the towel it won't dry out at all.  I tuck the ends of the towel under the spiral cylinder to ensure that even the end edges stay moist and soft.  This rolling process must be done while the cake is still warm.

unrolling and preparing to fill

Now that it's at room temperature, you prepare your filling and unroll the cake.  It unrolls easily and without breaking.  The first turn in the roll is rather tight as you can see in the picture above.  But it will expand just enough to allow for the spreading of the filling over the entire surface of the cake.

adding the filling

Usually I only add and spread the filling over the nearest two thirds of the cake.  Then as I roll it up again, the filling is forced outwards towards the uncovered third.  No matter what, when the rolling is finished there is going to be a little filling that squeezes out along the long edge.  The same thing goes for the ends of the roll.  But that's OK.  Spoon that off into a bowl and eat it by itself when you're finished rolling the cake.  I suppose you could always put it back into the roll, but it's more fun to eat that excess filling.

ready for cutting

Once it is completely rolled with the filling, wrap it up in the towel by rolling again, only this time the towel is not inside the spiral, of course.  Then put it in the fridge to chill.  With it wrapped up completely inside the towel, the outside will remain soft and will not dry out.  When you're ready, unroll it, and slice it up into whatever portions are desired.  A serrated knife works best for this, such as a bread knife.  I always cut off a half inch or so on each end so that there is a neat and tidy edge.  Guess what I do with that edge cut?  Eat it, of course!

voila!

So rolling a spongecake is not all that hard.  With the right cake made the right way with the right ingredients, you're all set.  It takes a bit of practice and patience.    

Care for a slice?