21 November 2008
Swiss Roll with Pistachio Cream
Posted by sharon under: Cakes & Tarts; Thanksgiving .
This dessert tops off your Thanksgiving meal in the most delightful way. The secret in achieving a light-textured and ultimately successful cake lies in how well the eggs and sugar are beaten, so resist the temptation to shortcut on this vital step.
To save time, you may prepare the simple syrup the day before you bake the cake. You may also substitute the pistachios in the filling with any nut of your choice. The salted pistachios in this recipe are a pleasant foil for the sweetness in the simple syrup. If you decide to use unsalted nuts, just add salt to taste. A word of advice: The filled cake is rich; you may want to start out with just one slice.
Serves 6
Batter
4 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
1/3 + 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling
1 cup regular whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
2 cups roasted and salted shelled pistachios
Simple syrup (see recipe below)
Simple Syrup
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup granulated sugar
TO MAKE THE SIMPLE SYRUP
In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar and stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium-high and bring mixture to a boil; let syrup boil for 1 minute, without stirring. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
TO MAKE THE CAKE
Generously grease with butter or line with parchment paper a 9 x 13-inch baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt (for an accurate measurement, fluff flour with a spoon to loosen and aerate, then scoop into a measuring cup; level off with the blunt part of the knife).
In a separate large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes with beaters on high speed). Add sugar and vanilla bean paste or extract and continue beating on high speed for another 5 minutes, or until mixture leaves a trail when beaters are lifted out of the bowl; see photo below.
Add the whisked flour and salt to the egg mixture and gently FOLD (do not stir) until all the flour has been incorporated. Stirring deflates air from the mixture; you spent at least 10 minutes beating air (which is essential for the cake to rise in the oven) into the eggs, so you definitely do not want to undo all your efforts. To properly fold the flour, start from one side of the bowl and in a scooping motion, bring the spoon all the way around as though you are completing the letter “o” (it’s all one smooth motion). Continue the technique, remembering to scrape the bottom of the bowl, which is where most of the flour will settle. The egg mixture is ready for baking once you no longer detect any flour and all of it has been incorporated.
Pour batter into the prepared baking sheet and with a spatula, gently even out the batter (see photo below).
Bake for 7-10 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. While the cake is baking, dampen a tea towel and set it aside. Prepare the area where the cake will be rolled by laying a pastry board on the counter. Remove the cake from the oven, loosen the sides with a blunt knife and firmly stretch the dampened tea towel over the baking sheet. With oven mitts, flip baking sheet with the cake over onto the pastry board (the taut tea towel will prevent the cake from splitting). Remove the parchment paper if you used any.
Starting from the shortest end and using the tea towel as a guide to get started (see photo below, left), roll the cake all the way, with the end facing down (see photo below, right). Cover with the damp cloth and allow to cool.
TO MAKE THE FILLING
In a food processor, finely chop the nuts. Add half of the cold simple syrup to the nuts and process until blended. Add the remaining syrup and continue to process until mixture becomes a thick paste. Set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, beat the whipping cream and vanilla until thick, but do not overbeat, otherwise you may end up with butter rather than a nice thick cream. The cream should not slide at all when the bowl is tilted on its side and should form stiff peaks when beaters are lifted out of the bowl. Gently fold the nuts into the cream until incorporated.
Uncover and gently unroll the cooled cake. Spread the pistachio filling onto the cake, making sure that the filling entends all the way to only 3 sides; leave about a 1/2-inch of unfilled cake at the shortest end that will be facing down.
Roll up the filled cake and cover the outside with the pistachio filling. Cover and refrigerate any remaining filling for another use; it will keep for up to 3 days.
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