Baker Street

This girl needs no introduction. Deeba Rajpal is easily one of the most talented bakers I’ve met (virtually of course).

With all the moving and traveling over the last month, baking and blogging both took a backseat. Something I’d like to get back on track as soon as I can. There’s just so much to share, but everything else sort of has taken over. So in the meantime, I’ve asked some of my dear friends to stop by and showcase their talent and keep you engaged and entertained.

I was flattered when Deeba agreed to do a guest post for me. This post should be considered really special for it was written through storms, lightening, power cuts and other disasters. After much contemplation she baked this in a jiffy. See, what I mean. She churns out swiss rolls in her sleep, her magic in the kitchen comes across gorgeously on her charming blog.

When I received her post, I almost wanted run over to her house, (she lives a couple of hours away from me if you take the aerial route). The roulade looks stunning and I love how she’s adapted and made it gluten free. So while I’m running over to pick up the treat from her house, you can drool over her pictures or go one step further and bake some for yourself.

Take it away Deeba,

This post has been a long time coming. I was honoured to be asked to guest post for Bakers Street { love the name of Anuradhas blog; I would love to live here}. Fate however had different plans… the house was hit by lightning, the motherboard got fried {twice}, the modem too, the net cables got cut. Then when I thought things couldn’t possibly get worse, my poor little blog got hacked! All is well again, and I’m back to doing what I love best … ?BAKE?!! What do I love about baking & food? Textures, colours, fruit, seasons, pantry staples … everything inspires me. Adding a hint of a healthy almond meal to a dessert, swapping butter for olive oil, using a hint of fruit to decrease the sugar, you’ll see all of this in my recipes. I’ve been obsessed with using fruit in desserts for a long time; the options are infinite and fun!My choice for Bakers Street wasn’t an easy one, given the deliciousness the blog churns out week after week. Muffins, cheesecakes, pound cakes and much more. I had in mind an orange olive oil variant of my favourite Buttermilk Pound Cake but found a great collection of pound cakes here already.I then did a chocolate version of my latest cookie craze, the Anzacs. Sadly networking issues came to the forefront and the pictures got lost. This roulade was something I did on fast-track for my dessert starved family and it seems a good one to share here. IMHO, it’s simple yet special!I really enjoy the charm of swiss rolls and have a Red Velvet Swiss Roll, Mango Ice Cream Swiss Roll and a Star Anise Roll with Marmalade Sauce. The recipe below is infinitely adaptable, a basic one that I often use. I experimented with it this time and was quite happy with the result! I knocked off the plain flour and substituted it with almond meal. It delivered a nice crumb and a beautiful marriage of flavours.You can always use plain flour if you like, else half almond meal/half flour, or maybe 1/4 ground walnuts and 3/4 flour. I used strawberries and cream within, and you can use pretty much whichever seasonal fruit you have. Summer berries would fit in beautifully, or peaches in cream. If you want to go a different way, try nutella, or then simply a fruit jam or preserve.It’s a basic recipe, an idea that you can use as a springboard. Customise it to your taste, pipe some graffiti all over the top to dress it up a little {this piping used to be my signature style a few years ago}, else just sift some icing sugar over it. Just pretties it up a bit, and hides the few cracks that might be visible.

Recipe: Strawberry & Cream Swiss Roll

Summary: A gluten free sponge roll with a classic strawberry & cream filling. Light, refreshing, healthy!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:

• Sponge:
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup almond meal, sifted
  
• 1/4 tsp almond essence
• Strawberry & Cream Filling:
• 150ml low fat cream, chilled
  
• 100gm strawberries, chopped
• 2tbsp powdered sugar {as per taste}
  

Method:

1. Sponge:
2. Line a Swiss roll pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 190C.
3. Beat the eggs, almond extract and sugar over a bowl of warm simmering water until tripled in volume and thick and mousse like. Take off the water and continue to beat until cool.
4. Gently fold in the almond meal, and pour batter into prepared tray.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is light golden brown.
6. While this is baking, lay out a clean kitchen towel, bigger than the size of the tray, and sift sugar evenly over it.
7. Once the roll is baked {might look uneven but don’t worry. Mine was uneven, but came together quite fine}, overturn immediately {very carefully} onto the sugar sifted towel, and gently peel parchment off. Trim the edges if required.
8. Now roll with the towel lengthwise, and leave to cool completely. {The longer side will be the length of the roll}
9. Strawberry & Cream Filling:
10. Beat the cream and sugar until soft/medium peaks form. Fold the chopped strawberries through gently. Taste and adjust sweetness as required.
11. Assembling:
12. Unroll the cooled cake, place on a sheet of parchment, spread the filling over it, leaving a little border right around to avoid the filling oozing out.
13. Now with the help of the parchment paper, roll it right back into a roll, pulling the paper slightly to make a tight roll.
14. Place seam down on your serving platter, and chill for about an hour or two at least. {I placed it in the freezer for 30 minutes to help it set and hold shape initially as I was short on time.
15. Pipe over some left over cream, else sift icing sugar over it, slice with a sharp serrated knife and serve!