Butterscotch Cream Roll-Up

You must be thinking, roll-up?! Roll what up? Haha, I think this is Julie Richardson's light-hearted way of calling this cake. For us on this side of the world, we fondly know this as a swiss roll (ok, let's not get there today as to why 'swiss').

This is our last bake with Julie Richardson's "Vintage cakes". For our last bake, I'm already so late with it as I was still recuperating and not allowed to do complicated bakes (as Mr G says). I hope to work better on the timeline for future and many more months to come. Anyhow, this recipe from Julie can also be seen here.

Have you ever tasted butterscotch? Honestly, I have only tasted it once or twice. Not for the fact that I didn't like it, but for the mere fact that it is rare here. It could possibly be such that our Asian ancestors ain't fond of such sweet-toothed stuff like butter and brown sugar. Ar, utter rubbish I say!! If we wouldn't like such things then why do we love our usual toast for breakfast or tea with slabs of butter and kaya or even sprinkled with sugar all over? 

Anyhow, we are here today for butterscotch and not butter-kaya hehe. But if you are curious as to what is kaya, kaya is commonly known in Southeast Asia as coconut jam in malay. Generally, it is a type of fruit jam that is made from the base of coconut and sugar. I will definitely attempt making my own kaya very soon since the Dad is extremely fond of it :)

Pray tell, what does butterscotch taste like to you? To me, it is creamy and velvety smooth with butter, sugar and a nutty taste. Yes, it is indeed YUMS. Ok, enough of all these foreplay, let's get to the real thing.

Since this cake is a lovely chiffon roll, I would strongly advise you to bake it with gentle care that you would normally do with a chiffon cake.

Butterscotch sauce:

75g unsalted butter
200g brown sugar
232g heavy cream
1 tbsp whisky
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fine salt

To make the butterscotch sauce:

1. Melt butter over medium heat in a large heavy-bottom saucepan.
2. Dump in the brown sugar all at once and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
3. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to simmer and changes from a wet sand consistency to a liquid that gives off a lovely molasses smell and looks like taffy, about 3 minutes from the time it comes to a simmer.
4. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the cream into the mixture and vigorously blend the cream into the sugar and whisk in the remaining cream. 
5. Turn the heat up to medium high and allow the sauce to boil, whisking occasionally, until it has darkened, about 8 minutes. 
6. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the sauce to cool for a few minutes before adding the whisky, vanilla extract and salt. 
7. Refrigerate until cold.

Cake:

100g sifted cake flour
225g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fine salt
118g canola oil
4 egg yolks, room temperature
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

To make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and 3/4 cup 1/4 cup (50g) sugar in a large bowl, then whisk the ingredients by hand.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, yolks, water and vanilla extract.
4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and briskly stir with a rubber spatula until just smooth.
5. In the clean bowl of a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and gradually increase the speed to high, whipping until the whites just form a soft peak. With the mixer on medium speed, gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup 3/4 cup (150g) of sugar in a slow stream. Return the mixer to high and continue whipping until the whites just begin to hold firm, shiny peaks.
6. With a rubber spatula, fold a third of the whites into the batter, using as few strokes as possible. 
7. Add the remaining whites, folding until totally incorporated. Take gentle care not to overmix.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula.
9. Bake this for about 16 to 20 minutes until the cake springs back when lightly touched and is barely golden.

Filling:

348g heavy cream, cold
heaping 1/2 cup natural sliced almonds (toasted)
1 cup butterscotch sauce (see above)

To make the filling:

1. Place the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for 5 minutes.
2. Fit the cold bowl and the whisk and whip heavy cream and butterscotch sauce together on medium-low speed until the ingredients are blended.
3. Gradually turn the mixer up to high speed and whip just until the cream holds soft peaks but is not yet stiff.

For assembly of the cake, you may use Julie Richardson's method as per her book. It is definitely a fanciful alternative of how to roll up your cake.

As a person who is not always a risk-taker, I will do it the traditional swiss-rolling method of simply spreading the filling with heaps of toasted sliced almonds and then, slowly rolling it tightly. Yes, I'm scared of my swiss roll cracking up! Haha no pun intended but if the roll cracks whilst I'm doing it fancifully, I'll be really sad :(

Tadah!!! My very simple and naked swiss roll which is just the way I like it. If I had to eat it with the cream all over the whole swiss roll, seriously I doubt I can even take a mouthful. 

Honestly, as a person who is not too much into cream, I think the cream filling in this swiss roll is a tad too much for me to take. By adding butterscotch sauce into this filling brings the filling up to another level, I love this brilliance from Julie. It was awesome to me. However, I cannot palate too much of this roll at one go whereas if I were to have a jam roll, I could have 2 or 3 slices at one go. To me, this is a can-make item but I wouldn't go all out with that cream filling. I might even go with just the butterscotch sauce as the filling ;)

Most importantly, Mr G says it's very nice. It's very encouraging although I would like it to look and taste much better the next time. I will try Okashi's version very soon based on the very good reviews many of her followers have given.

Personal Notes:

• You may wish to make this butterscotch sauce in advance since it takes time to cool in the refrigerator. It is just what I did. If it hardens, allow it to turn liquid by putting the container with the butterscotch sauce in hot water. This will bring it back to liquid form in no time.
• Before sifting the cake flour with the other ingredients, do remember to sift it once and measure it. This is not a technical error in the recipe. A trick would be to put your sieve over your measuring bowl before you weigh your flour. This way, you can sift while you measure and also, ensure accuracy of the sifted flour.
• In step 5 of making the cake, remember that neither your mixing bowl nor your whisk attachment should get into contact with any oil or egg yolk at all. If you are feeling anal, wash your bowl and attachment with hot water and clean dry. Also, your egg whites should also steer clear or any oil or egg yolk. If your egg whites had been slightly tainted with egg yolks, use an egg shell to scoop out the egg yolk.
• To obtain a soft and fluffy texture for chiffon cakes, I would usually add the higher content of sugar whilst whisking egg whites instead of to egg yolk mixture. If you like, you may stick to the original recipe.
• If you are unsure of how your peaks are like ;) do check out this link. It should give you a clearer idea of what type of peaks you usually get.
• I used a 11 inch by 14 inch rectangular cake tin whereas Julie's recommended a 12 inch by 16 inch cake tin. The remaining cake batter I baked cupcakes with them.

Source - Julie Richardson's Vintage Cakes

I'm sharing this recipe with Cook-Your-Books #4 by Joyce from kitchen flavours.