Mia Bakes: Maccha Roll Cake & Cloud Bread

Yup, and it's another baking session with the girls!

This time we're challenging the impossible, the ROLL CAKE.

With tons of fresh strawberries! HAH, kidding. These were eaten in the course of baking the cake, but none actually went into the cake (we used another packet of korean strawberries instead).

So, let's get started with the ingredients!

for the sponge cake:

4 eggs, yolks and whites separated.

170g caster sugar (about 3/4 cup)

70g cake flour (about 3/4 cup)

2 tbsp fresh milk

2 tbsp bakeable green tea powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

16" by 12" baking tray

(try not to go any smaller or your cake might be too thick)

for the filling:

250ml whipping cream (cold)

2 tbsp icing sugar 

1 tbsp bakeable green tea powder

fresh/canned fruits, sliced/chopped. 

(we used sliced korean strawbrries & cut canned peaches)

First up, mix all the dry ingredients together and pass them through a sieve. You may repeat for up to 3 times, but just once will do if you're really that lazy. 

Then, separate out the yolks and egg whites carefully. Make sure there's absolutely no traces of yolk in the whites, else you won't get your meringue. 

Beat the egg whites on high using a mixer (you may your hand-held whisk, but be prepared for some serious aching arms) until it turns foamy and then gradually add in half of your sugars, beating until you achieve stiff peaks and a glossy finish. 

Stop once you achieve that, do not overbeat!

In a separate bowl, beat the yolks and remaining sugar until it turns pale and creamy. If you're using the same mixer, remember to get your meringue done before you beat your yolks (by doing so you won't need to wash them). 

Add in milk and beat until well mixed before adding in the sifted dry ingredients and mix well. 

Then, add in 1/3 of the meringue to temper the yolk mixture (you may use your whisk to mix at this point). 

After the mixture turns more or less homogenous, add them into the rest of the meringue (depends on which bowl is bigger, you may add the meringue to the yolk mixture too) and fold gently using a spatula until there's no more big lumps of meringue. 

Do not over mix, else you'll deflate your meringue and your sponge cake won't turn out fluffy. 

Once done, pour the mixture into a greased, lined baking tray and bake at 220 degree Celsius for 10 to 12 minutes, until the top brown slightly and is springy to touch.

And while the cake is still warm roll it up in the parchment paper and cover with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave it to cool like that while you prepare the filling.

Making the filling is simple, for you just need to pour the cold whipping cream into a mixing bowl, add in the icing sugar and green tea powder and beat till stiff peak is achieved.

When the cake has cooled completely, unroll and peel back the parchment paper. It doesn't matter that the cake is crinkly and ugly as this will be rolled inside while the pretty side on the parchment paper will be outside. 

Spread your whipped cream onto the cake and pop in cut fruit of your choice. Remember to leave at least half an inch space on the sides and 2 inches at the end. Else, you'll just waste all the cream as they ooze out while you roll the cake back. 

And since the cake was pre-rolled while it's warm, rolling it back will be a breeze!

Wrapping it back in the parchment paper, pop the entire roll into the fridge for it to set for at least 30 minutes. 

And of course, we split the cake evenly between ourselves!

I'll say that the choice of strawberries with canned peaches is a great combination for the syrupy sweet peaches not only even out the bitterness of the green tea flavour, but also neutralises the tangy-ness of the strawberries. 

YUMS!

Next up, it's something I'll advise that you do not waste ingredients and time trying it out. These no carbs, gluten-free "cloud bread".

Ingredients can't be any simpler, for you only need 3 eggs, 3 tbsps of cream cheese and 1/4 tsp of baking powder (or cream of tartar). 

Optional ingredients for flavour can be honey or your favourite herbs. We wanted to use rosemary but couldn't find any, so settled for oregano instead. 

Separate the yolks and whites and beat the egg whites with baking powder until stiff peaks form. In the other bowl, mix the yolks and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Temper the yolk mixture with 1/3 of the meringue before folding in the remaining 2/3 until you see no more lumps of egg whites. 

Drop the mixture freely onto a parchment paper lined baking tray and sprinkle your choice of herb over it before baking at 160 degree Celsius for 17 to 20 minutes and then broiling for 1 minute to brown the surface. If you do not have a broiler, just baking them for the full 20 minutes will work, too.

These are hardly like bread at all being all flat and tasting extremely eggy. They'll pass off as pancakes with no issue though. Perhaps we've deflates too much of the meringue during mixing which is why the flatness. But just judging on the taste itself, it's a definite NAY from me.

Till then,

Mia Foo