Chinese Swiss Roll Recipe

The Swiss Roll is one of my all-time favourite cakes and I usually buy them from the Chinatown supermarket or bakery shop!  The recipe that I love is where the sponge is always very light and thick which makes it so tasty.  Since earlier this year, I have been trying different recipes, watching YouTube channels for inspiration and after a few attempts, I think I have found a great recipe that bakes a great sponge.

This is an Asian recipe where they used milk and oil instead of butter.  By using milk, it gives a very nice fragrance and the oil keeps the sponge moist so when you roll the sponge, it doesn’t crack too easily.

You will need:

• 6 large eggs
• 60ml milk
• 60ml oil (I use sunflower oil)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
• 120g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 120g caster sugar
• Optional: 200ml double cream & 100g icing sugar or jam or peanut butter etc.

Method:

1. Separate the egg white and egg yolk into separate bowls. Mix the egg yolks with milk, oil, salt and vanilla essence together.  Then add the flour until it combines.
2. To make the meringue, add vinegar into the egg whites and mix it. Then divide the sugar into three batches and add it into the meringue.  Beat it until there are soft peaks.
3. Take 1/3 of meringue and add to the mixture. Once it is well combined, pour the mixture into the rest of the meringue and mix well.
4. This is optional: to make the chocolate strip as in the photo, you can take a small portion of the mixture and mix it with cocoa powder. Then put it into the piping bag and pipe it.
5. Pour the mixture onto the rectangle tray. I bought this 11 by 14 by 1 inch metal tray from Singapore which can also be easily bought it from any good online stores.  Make sure you lay the baking sheet on the tray.
6. Bake the mixture at 120°C for 20 minutes on the lower rack and turn up to 150°C for 10 minutes.
7. Once baked, take it out of the oven and pull the sheets off the sides. Leave it to cool. If you immediately roll the sponge, it will take off the top layer of skin even if you sprinkle icing sugar. I always leave it to cool and am still able to roll it without cracking.
8. For the filling: Beat the double cream and icing sugar until it is spreadable. Spread the cream onto the sponge. I have also used it with peanut butter to make it more savoury. When rolling the sponge, keep pulling the baking paper tightly.  I watched a few videos where they sliced off the end to have it slanting.  For this sponge, I find that there is no need to do it.  The sponge will sit very well after rolling.
9. Wrap the sponge and place it into the fridge before decorating.
10. Optional: For this cake, I spread the cream on the outside of the sponge and sprinkled with sprinkles. Then I put it back into the fridge again to chill before cutting.

I really enjoy using this recipe and this has made it into my hall of fame.  I love that it makes a very good sponge that does not crack.