little twin stars swiss roll

I was clearing up the study room when i came across this little twin stars folder… i really love kiki and lala… they are one of my favourite Sanrio characters… and yes, I confess I spend alot of time thinking how to incorporate Sanrio characters into my bakes….

How this was created (this is going to sound complicated but if you illustrate this, it will be easier to comprehend):
– first, I xeroxed the pattern off the folder, cut out the characters and then placed it in the middle of a 25 x 25cm baking pan. Then, grease and line the pan with parchment paper. Kiki and Lala were on top of each other so they are both in the middle of the pan

Swiss roll recipe (adapted and translated from 彩绘蛋糕卷2）
4 eggs (separated into 1 egg white, 3 egg whites, and 3 egg yolks. There will be an unused egg yolk)
65g castor sugar
60ml water
40ml canola/salad oil
Vanilla extract (recipe stated as appropriate. I added 1tsp vanilla extract and 3/4 tsp of chestnut flavour extract)
80g cake flour (for cake)
1 tsp corn starch

Painting of picture
Red (for pink hair and ribbon), yellow (for star), sky blue (for blue hair), ivory (for face and hand) food colouring
1/4 tsp cocoa powder (mixed with around 3/4 tsp water) (for outline of pattern, eyes and mouth)
1 3/4tsp cake flour

Sugar syrup
10g granulated sugar
20ml hot water
1/2 tbsp Kirschwasser

Filling
150ml whipping cream
14g castor sugar

Directions
– whisk egg yolks and 35g of the castor sugar till pale and bubbly. Add water, salad oil and vanilla extract, and mix well. Sift cake flour into mixture and whisk till ribbon stage
– in a clean mixer bowl, beat ONE egg white till frothy. Then add in a pinch of the corn starch, and continue beating till you achieve stiff peak
– prepare 6 small bowls (A, B, C, D, E and F).
– add 2tsp of egg yolk mixture into bowl A and E, and 1tsp of egg yolk mixture into bowls B, C, D and F (cover the rest of egg yolk mixture with cling wrap and set aside)
– in bowl A, add cocoa powder mixture  and 2 tbsp of egg white meringue as prepared above. Mix well (for outline of pattern)
– bowl B, add 1/4 tsp of cake flour, 1 tbsp of egg white meringue and tint with a bit of ivory colour (for face and hands)
– bowl C, add 1/4 tsp of cake flour, 1 tbsp of egg white meringue and tint with sky blue (for kiki’s hair)
– bowl D, add 1/4 tsp of cake flour, 1 tbsp of egg white meringue and tint with yellow (for star)
– bowl E, add 1 tsp of cake flour, 2 tbsp of egg white meringue and tint with a little red to achieve pink (for lala’s hair)
– bowl F, add 1/4 tsp of cake flour and 2 tbsp of egg white meringue (for dresses)
– Fill piping bags with prepared mixture and start by piping the outline, eyes and mouth. Bake in preheated oven of 170 degrees C for 1 min
– remove tray, and pipe hands, legs, face, neck with ivory colour, star (with yellow) and little pink ribbon on kiki’s body (basically, rule of thumb is to pipe and prebake the smallest part first). Bake for a minute
– remove tray and pipe dresses and hair colours. Bake for 1.5 mins
– meantime, beat 3 egg whites and before you achieve soft peak stage (i.e. between frothy and soft peak stage), add in the remaining egg white from the earlier process. Continue beating till you achieve slightly stiff peak. Add in the remaining 30g castor sugar. Beat till you achieve a shiny texture and add in the remaining corn starch and continue beating till stiff peak
– fold in meringue in 3 additions to egg yolk mixture (I tinted the entire mixture with a bit of red)
– carefully spread the cake mix onto baking tray
– bake for 14 mins (I baked for 20mins this time)
– remove tray from oven, and flip the cake over carefully onto a clean baking paper (so that the designs are facing the top). Remove the parchment paper from the design very very carefully
– after removing, leave the paper on top of the design and leave cake to cool

Assembly
– after cake has cooled, slice off the sides and spread whip cream onto cake (fill free to add fruits if desired)
– roll and chill before serving

This cake takes a bit of time and patience but the result is very rewarding. The patterns on your swiss roll is really limited to your very own creativity 🙂 I once saw an Obama swiss roll! oh well… I’m not skilled yet but it will be a challenge to try a portrait swiss roll… someday soon… when I have completed all my sanrio characters bake 😀

Pollution index: 172 (unhealthy)