I've decided to stop apologizing for posting things here months after they happen in real life. Reminder to self: this is not a fancy lifestyle blog; this is a record for myself, and anyone who cares to share in it is welcome.
So, I have a bit of a history of attempting ambitious recipes for the 4th of July. I don't normally make a lot of themed foods, but the 4th of July and Christmas are my weaknesses.
This year, after watching lots of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, I wanted to attempt a roll cake. I found this recipe/pattern over at Sugary Winzy. Her directions were super clear and helpful! (She also has several other great 4th of July treat ideas I want to try in the future.)
When I pulled the roll cake out of the oven, I immediately rolled it up inside a tea towel, per the instructions. But I think I left it a little longer than I was supposed to (because I have a toddler), and when I unrolled the towel, my cake was in 6 pieces! However, I decided to not give up, and when I rolled it up with the cream, it all stuck together. The cake still has huge cracks, but I'm not in a baking competition here. I really like how the colors turned out.
As for flavor, it was good, but not great. My family and I are kind of cake snobs, because we have such good recipes that we usually make. But you can't make just any recipe for a roll cake.
If I made this again, I would try to get the colored portions much thinner. I'm not a fan of food coloring; besides the ingredients list, I think it adds a funny flavor. In a cake this thin, that flavor was more noticeable to me. You can see below that the colored portion is probably a little unnecessarily thick.
Here's a picture of a slice of it. It had been sitting out for several hours at this point, so most of the cream had soaked into the cake.
I also made my own puff pastry to make pizza pinwheels. I used the puff pastry recipe from Mastering the Art of Baking by Anneka Manning.
Of course, these aren't 4th of July themed at all, but they were still very delicious. You can find a recipe for this sort of thing all over the internet.
As for anyone who tells you puff pastry is hard to make, they are probably misspeaking. Unless you live somewhere incredibly hot, like the Equator or the Sun, it's not hard to make - but it is time-consuming. I made this in July in Michigan, which, granted, is not the hottest place in the world, but it was in the 80s. Just keep putting your pastry back in the fridge between turns to keep your butter from melting. The recipe said to refrigerate for 20 minutes between turns, but I let it go 30 minutes because of the heat.
Once I had the pastry ready, I rolled it out on parchment, then quickly put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then I applied the sauce and toppings, quickly rolled it up, then put it back in the fridge for a bit while I got the next step ready. I brushed the whole outside of the log with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkled with Italian spices and then - you guessed it - put it back in the fridge for a while. After that, I sliced them, and then put them back in the fridge one last time while I preheated the oven.
These were amazing, and lasted about 20 minutes at the party. I also brought semi-homemade pizza sauce for dipping.
I highly recommend making your own puff pastry. It is not difficult; it just requires patience.
Love and Fireworks,
Leah Joy
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