TWD-Vanilla Chiffon Roll

Before I even thought about starting this recipe, I looked for the PBS video of Julia and contributing baker, Mary Bergin, making this roll.  I always like watching the contributing bakers make the recipe, so I can understand the recipe better.  Occasionally (which sounds better than 'a lot of times'), I find the recipes in this book a bit hard to understand.  Watching the video generally (which sounds better than 'sometimes') clears up any confusion incurred during reading of said recipe.  Here is the link for the video.

This really is a beautiful cake.  I am a little intimidated with the process of rolling the chiffon cake (without cracking it).  But I'll worry about that later.  (Just  kidding, I will continue to worry until I actually get to the rolling stage.)

Set your phasers to worry.

I have measured my baking sheet, and it is the perfect size for this chiffon cake.  Yippy!  I'm kind of excited to be making this cake.  It looks so darn elegant, yet seems so simple to make.  And I am curious about the filling, which is walnuts and chocolate.

Had to pull out the warmer apron today.  (Scarf and mitts included!)















Step 1-Making the Chiffon Cake

Ingredients have been assembled (for the cake portion of the recipe).  Rather than safflower or vegetable oil, I substituted coconut oil.  I've been using that a lot, in place of other oils.

The dry ingredients get sifted together.

What do you get, when your cross dry ingredients with a droll baker??
I don't know either...am now re-thinking comedic aspirations...but I bet a snare drum would have helped (and maybe a punch line). ba-dum-tsh!
Back to the Baking board.







Egg yolks, oil, water and vanilla get whisked together.

Dry ingredients get whisked (by droll baker) into the egg mixture.

Will come back to this in a bit.

Egg whites need to get whisked.

Egg whites have been sufficiently whisked.  Blood splattered spatula works like a charm. 

The egg whites need to get folded into the egg mixture.  Carefully...ever so carefully so as not to deflate the beautifully whisked whites.  (Breathing at this point is optional.)

And breathe.....whew.

The batter is then poured into the baking sheet.  It is recommended to use an offset spatula to smooth out the batter.  I decided against that, as that would have involved going down to the storage room (where all my baking tools reside...well not all, but definitely my offset spatula).  Lazy much?  No!  I just like using my blood splattered spatula for everything!  The air bubbles in the batter were a smidge alarming.  I tried tapping the baking sheet on the counter, but there were still air bubbles. 

The recipe says to bake for 12 minutes or so.  Can I get a Guffaw!  There was no way 12 minutes was enough time.  Baking time was 20 minutes.  Guffaw indeed.










Step 2-Making the mousse (Chocolate Walnut Mousse) 

Arrr...me nuts are lightly toasted.  (Walnuts that is.)

Nuts have been crushed.

Oh the humanity...

Chocolate will make everything better.

Yep, chocolate is soothing. (Unless of course you are allergic to nuts and eat this.)

Egg yolks need to be whisked.

Sugar and water need to boil.

Things on the stove top.


The sugar and water came to a boil and was then slowly whisked into the egg yolks. (Don't want to cook that yolkers.)  But it doesn't end there, folks.  Next, that mixture is heated over some simmering water.

Yep, the thrills never end here.  This is the egg mixture being whisked over simmering water. 

Here it is all foamy and hot.  (And in this case, foamy and hot is a good thing.)

Had to cool things down in the kitchenaid.

The chocolate walnut mixture gets added to the mix.

Okay, the mousse is ready to go.

That is a total lie.  I still need to add the heavy cream. 

But first I need to whip that heavy cream!

Crack that whip...licorice whip!

Folding happens here.  Everyone be cool.

Now this looks like some good mousse.














Step 3-Assembling the cake

Confectioner's sugar gets sifted over the cake.  This helped to lessen any sticking issues when I flipped it out of the original baking sheet and then flipped it upright again. 

First flip onto the back of another baking sheet (covered with parchment).

The original parchment paper is peeled off and flipped over to put the clean side against the cake.  And then I flipped it again.

Final flip.  So much flipping, flipping!

The edges need to be trimmed.  Oh darn, yummy edge trimmings to eat.  :o)  Yummy indeed!  I think I could have stopped here and just eaten the cake.  I could envision making this cake again, and cutting it into three even strips and making a layered cake instead of a rolled cake.  (Sort of like a Sara Lee cake.) 

The mousse gets ceremoniously dumped...on top of the cake.

The mousse gets spread out with an offset spatula (if I did indeed go down to the storage room) or the blood splattered spatula. Hey!  Don't judge my laziness! 

Let's roll this baby.

Maybe too much mousse...what do you think?  I will just smoosh it all in and hope for the best.  (Generally my philosophy on life and getting dressed...just sayin'.) 

Gratuitous shot of side cake. (Please tell me I'm not the only one thinking of Family Guy.)


This needs to get wrapped up in saran and then put in the fridge for a few hours.






Now comes the fun of decorating. 

The recipes says to cut strips of parchment paper to make designs.  I'm not so good with the cutting (in straight lines) so I improvised with chopsticks.  (Calgon isn't the only one with a secret.)

I feel pretty...oh so pretty.  But wouldn't some nuts be good about now?

Caramelized nuts!  And some free form caramel. (Which I think kinda looks like a squirrel...looking for his nuts.)  Those are my nuts!!











Step 4-Eating the Cake (most important step)

How about a slice? 

Mmm Mmm Good!

This was an easy recipe.  It really didn't take a lot of time to create a beautiful dessert.  The chiffon cake itself was very good on its own and was easy to roll.  The mousse was very tasty and I would be interested in replacing the walnuts with pistachios.  I would will definitely make this again!