This week you are making a decorate Swiss roll.
Food Science: the ‘whisked’ method
This method of cake making is used for a fatless sponge, using the whisking method. Therefore, all of the aeration comes from the whisked eggs. You must use an electric whisk for maximum volume. Air is the raising agent, as it is trapped in the mix and expands to produce a very light cake. You should add flavours/fillings to a whisked sponge as they can taste ‘eggy’. You must whisk the eggs to the ‘ribbon stage’ where you can see a number 8 drawn into the mix.
Aeration is the process of putting (and trapping) air into a mixture, to increase volume and make the product light.
You will also make a coloured paste to decorate the Swiss roll. You will need to think of a pattern and pipe in onto the tray before making the Swiss roll mixture. Freezing this pattern sets the mixture and allows it to remain visible on the surface of the Swiss roll.