I Made a Mess, but It Tastes Good

… and I fixed it.
Let me tell you what happened.

When I have 14 egg whites in the freezer (leftover from recipes that use egg yolks), it means only one thing – it is time to bake a chocolate roulade.
Last time I made this cake, I tried a new variation on a recipe I had and I turned it into a Black Forest Chocolate Roulade. Today I made another variation and turned it into a birthday cake because today is my little girl’s birthday. She is 1 years old! Yay! Time sure flies fast. And we’re going to have a party. Yippie!

I was baking all morning; 2 batches of cupcakes, a butternut squash galette for dinner – that I didn’t have time to assemble and bake yesterday because I spent 1 ½ hours at the grocery store with the kiddies having an afternoon snack there and shopping for the party (recipe will be posted soon) – and, of course, I made the birthday cake.

It’s a chocolate roulade with whipped cream filling. I also wanted to use strawberries. I see them at the store and they look so perfect and gloriously red and so tempting. But I know that since they are not in season they look good, but taste only 'ehh', and they are a bit expensive. So I thought of a solution. I used strawberry jam. This is why they make jams, so we can eat the fruit when it is out of season.
But first, I have to send you to see the original recipe – click here – so you’ll know what I’m talking about.

And now to the birthday cake…

Chocolate Roulade – Birthday Cake Variation

* Mix ½ cup strawberry jam with 1 tablespoon of raspberry liquor. If you want, blend it with a hand blender for a smoother texture. Then, spread it on the baked and cooled cake.
* Next, spread the whipped cream.

Messing up & fixing it:

Problem #1

I was so busy this morning and I have so much on my mind lately so, just like last time, I overbeat the egg white. AGAIN.

The solution – instead of folding the whipped egg whites with the melted chocolate using a spatula, I used a whisk and gently combined them. It worked and the cake baked nicely and evenly. As I said before, I think it’s a very forgiving recipe. So don’t be afraid if you don’t have much experience with whipping eggs, OK?
Also, the best thing is that you can hide the parts you have messed up.

Problem #2

Maybe it has to do with over whipping the eggs because the cake did break a bit when I rolled it, and a bit more when I moved it to a serving platter.
Usually I roll it from the long side so I get a longer cake which yields more, but smaller in size, servings. Today I rolled it from the short side, which made the cake shorter, with less servings, but each slice is bigger.

The solution – I messed up pretty good this time, so to cover the mess, I made more cream for the topping by whipping 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon sugar and 3 tablespoons vanilla pudding. Well, it is a birthday cake after all, isn’t it?
And on top, of course, colorful sprinkles.

You see how pretty it looks? And my baby was very happy.

I only hope that our guests for the party tomorrow are not reading this post and this will be our little secret. Can you keep a secret?

Tomorrow we party, but coming up next… cupcakes with pesto frosting and butternut squash galette.

Have a wonderful wonderful weekend,

Nurit

More cakes:

Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake
Cocoa-Marzipan Pound Cake
Rose-orange cheesecake
Babbo Modenese Crumbly Cake
Sour Cream Coffee Cake

UPDATE:
With the second cake that I made – I had 14 egg whites, remember? – I watched the mixer closely and whipped the egg whites perfectly as the recipe says. The texture was perfect and the cake did not “break” when I rolled it.
I chilled it in the fridge, covered with the parchment paper, for a few hours before I transferred it to a serving platter. It was firm and I could lift it to the platter with my hands, without using my large spatula for help, and nothing happened to it.
The guests LOVED the cake. There were no leftovers.

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