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CHOCOLATE & MARZIPAN SWISS ROLL

A deliciously chocolatey Swiss roll, sprinkled with marzipan and filled with silky almond buttercream – topped with a triple chocolate drizzle and crushed mini eggs (because, well, why not!).

Course Cake

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

FOR THE SWISS ROLL

• 65 g Magical plain flour blend
• 25 g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant espresso powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 100 g caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1 tbsp milk

FOR THE FILLING

• 80 g butter
• 200 g icing sugar (sifted)
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 1-2 tsp water (to loosen, if needed)
• 20 g marzipan, grated (frozen)

FOR THE DECORATION (OPTIONAL)

• 1 small amount chocolate, melted
• 1 handful mini eggs, crushed

Instructions

FOR THE SPONGE

• Grease and line a Swiss roll tin.
• Preheat your oven to 190c / 170 fan / gas 5.
• Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on a high speed for eight minutes until the mixture is pale and creamy and leaves a trail when you lift up the beater.;
• Add in the almond extract and then whisk for another minute.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, coffee and salt until completely blended and then gently fold into the egg mixture along with the milk using a metal spoon. Be as careful as you can when you are folding in the flour because you want to keep as much air as possible in the mixture.
• Pour the cake mixture into your tin ensuring it reaches the sides and edges. Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top of the sponge springs back when you press lightly on it. Be careful not to over bake your sponge as this will make it more susceptible to cracking when you roll it.
• Roll up your sponge while it is still warm.

FOR THE FILLING

• To make the buttercream filling, put the butter and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attached and beat for a good few minutes until much paler in colour.
• Add in the sifted icing sugar and beat to combine. 
• Whisk in the water, if necessary, to loosen the buttercream so that it is a nice, spreadable consistency.

TO ASSEMBLE

• Once your rolled sponge is completely cool, carefully unroll it so that you can add the filling.
• Grate your frozen marzipan over the top of the sponge.
• Now spread an even layer of buttercream over the sponge using a palette knife if you have one. The secret here is to use sweeping motions across the sponge with your knife and *not* to lift the knife up off the sponge or you may well pull chunks of sponge with it! Don’t spread the buttercream to the ends of the sponge – leave a gap round the edges so that it doesn’t ooze out when you roll up the sponge!
• Time to complete your Swiss roll by rolling it back up again. Your sponge should have ‘retained a memory’ of the roll you put in earlier and so shouldn’t be too difficult to manoeuvre. Be firm with your rolling but try not to push down too hard or you’ll squeeze out the filling!
• Melt a small amount of white, milk and dark chocolate and liberally drizzle each over the top of your Swiss roll. 
• Scatter some crushed mini eggs over the top.;Putting your finished Swiss roll in the fridge for five minutes to firm up slightly will make it easier to cut.
• Enjoy! xx Millie, Marcus and Me xx

AN ADAPTABLE RECIPE!

I originally created this chocolate and marzipan Swiss roll for a feature in The Evening Standard on Easter baking – hence the marzipan and the mini eggs.

If you’re not a marzipan fan you can omit it from the filling and take out the almond extract from the recipe for a plain chocolate gluten-free Swiss roll.

You could give it an orangey twist by adding orange extract and zest to the sponge and orange juice/extract to the buttercream and spreading a layer of orange marmalade over the sponge before rolling it up.

And if you’re a lover of Black Forest gateau but don’t have time to make one, you could spread lashings of cherry jam over the sponge and add a splash of Kirsch to the buttercream

Happy baking!

The post RECIPE: GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE AND MARZIPAN SWISS ROLL appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.

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GLUTEN-FREE VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE

The Victoria sandwich cake is a classic cake in the repertoire of any home baker. Get it right and you'll delight your friends and family and will be fighting them off for that extra slice!

My gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake recipe is the one I included with my Magical Gluten-Free Plain Flour Blend when I entered it into The Great Taste Awards back in 2017.

The judges used it to test the flour and said: "The cake came out perfectly, with a golden top, and had a particularly delicious taste. It was at least as good as a standard recipe, perhaps more moist, and it remained good and moist for several days." My flour was awarded a Gold Star

I have since scaled the recipe up to make a deeper cake (because who doesn't like more cake?) and am now sharing the recipe with you so that you can make this knockout gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake for yourself.

Happy baking!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 0

Ingredients

• 285 g Stork for baking (tub)
• 335 g caster sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 350 g Magical Gluten-free Plain Flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 50 ml milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (not essence)

Instructions

• Heat your oven to 180c /160c fan and grease and bottom line two 8" round cake tins (not sandwich tins as they will be too shallow).
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
• Weigh the Stork into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for two minutes.
• Add in the caster sugar and vanilla extract and beat for a further three minutes.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, each with 1tbsp (heaped) of the flour mix you sifted earlier. Beat between each addition.
• Add the remaining flour and beat until smooth.
• Finally, add the milk and beat to combine.
• Divide your cake batter between the two tins, smoothing the tops. Bake for around 30mins (it may take a few minutes more or less depending on how true to temperature your oven runs) until the tops are golden and spring back when pressed.
• Leave the cakes in the tins for 10mins then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• While the cake is cooling, whip 250ml of double cream until thick and spreadable. Set aside.
• When your cakes are cold, place one layer of it on a plate or cake stand and spread liberally with your favourite flavour of jam (I always use blackcurrant).
• With the side of the second layer that was face down on the wire racking facing upwards, spread the double cream all over the cake. (You want it this way up so that you have the smooth base of the cake facing upwards when stacked.)
• Carefully lift this layer up and flip it over and down on top of the jammy layer on your plate/cake stand.
• Liberally dust the top of your cake with icing sugar, pop the kettle on and get stuck in!

  xx Millie, Marcus, Milo, Maddy and Me xx

THE ORIGINS OF THE VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE

I would like to tell you that the Victoria sandwich cake was named in my honour. But that would be a hoofing great lie. And anyway, the cake has been around for a very long time and while I’m old, I’m not *that* old!

The Victoria sandwich cake (which you may also hear being called a Victoria sponge) is actually named after Queen Victoria. She was rather partial to a bit of tea and cake of an afternoon (a woman of exceptional taste, clearly).

The Victoria sandwich cake is traditionally baked with fat, sugar, flour and eggs in two layers. These layers are then sandwiched together with jam and freshly whipped cream and finished with a light dusting of icing sugar. Simple, elegant, light and delicate, it is a truly delicious cake.

A GOOD CAKE RECIPE

Having a good Victoria sandwich cake recipe in your repertoire is essential for the budding home baker. If you’re just starting out on your home baking journey, you can’t go wrong with mastering a good Victoria sandwich cake recipe!

So can you still bake and enjoy a Victoria sandwich cake when you are following a gluten-free diet? You bet you can!

A GREAT TASTE(ING) GLUTEN-FREE VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE RECIPE

My gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake recipe is the recipe I used when I was developing my gluten-free flour blend. By keeping the cake recipe constant (and picking a classic, no-place-to-hide recipe), I was able to see the effects that different flours had on the end bake – both good and bad. And it’s how I eventually settled on the mix and quantities of flours in my Magical Gluten-Free Plain Flour Blend.

And when a set of Great Taste Awards judges describe your gluten-free Victoria sandwich cake as every inch as good as a ‘standard’ (gluteny) recipe…yeah, that’s a pretty special moment in my gluten-free baking career

You can probably now see why this recipe is so special to me. I hope when you bake it that it makes you every inch as happy as it makes me every time I bake it (and, of course, eat it, too!) I’m delighted to be sharing it with you

The post RECIPE: GLUTEN-FREE CLASSIC VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE appeared first on The Little Bakery of Happiness.