kitchen skills
Roulade Don’t be fooled by its impressive looks—this cake couldn’t be easier. BY JASON ROSS
R
olled cake, jellyroll, roulade—a cake by any other name wouldn’t taste as sweet. Part baking science and part art, the spiraled layers of icing and cake don’t require much fuss but make a big visual impact. Fill these thin sponge cakes with almost anything: simple whipped cream, jelly, or creamy chocolate icing.
Tricks of the Trade How to Fold Cake Batter Folding helps keep batter light and filled with air, while overworking can deflate a batter, leaving the cake flat and dense. Using a rubber spatula, add one-third of the lighter batter (the egg whites) into a bowl of thicker batter (the egg yolks) and mix together. This will temper the weight of the yolks and make it easier to fold together the batters. Next, pour the lightened mixture into the remaining lighter batter. To fold together, cut down through the batter in the center of the bowl and pull the batter up and over along the side of the bowl. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat until batters are completely combined with no streaks. For this recipe, add flour and repeat the same folding process until incorporated. How to Roll a Roulade Cake Rolling a sheet cake is the fun part, if there are kids around you might even let them help a bit. The most important thing is to start with a tight curve at the beginning of the roll. Using your fingertips, fold the sheet cake into a tight roll, rolling up the frosting as you go. The tight curve will end up as the center of the spiral, as the frosting and cake roll around each other. As you roll try to keep the cake straight, checking the edges to feel if you’re straying. It’s like rolling up a rug—just more fun!
PHOTOS BY TERRY BRENNAN; FOOD STYLED BY LARA MIKLASEVICS
6 real food winter 2014