A Rolling Good Time

I had a rolling good time the last two days as I tried my hands at making a swissroll. I have never been really successful at doing it. My previous tries resulted in once, a cracked roll and on another occasion, a sponge that was ultra dry. I had followed the instructions to a T. I just could not understand why I had failed so badly. I recall that I had been more successful during my school days making the humble swissroll with a layer of strawberry jam. I wouldn't say I am very successful this round but well at least I am getting somewhere.

Chicken Floss Swissroll. Not too bad ~ the roll was soft, the mayonnaise-buttercream paired well with the floss. However, I had envisaged something even tastier. Perhaps using a spicy meat floss would perk it up further.

The second roll I tried was the Black Forest Swissroll. I have seen these rolls oozing with whipped cream and I shudder at that very thought. Although I have a weakness for desserts, I decide to put in less cream than normal. My mistake was that I did not brush the cake with enough cherry-Kirsh syrup to compensate for the reduction in cream, otherwise the roll would have been perfect. At least perfect in my eyes.


With just a couple of days to Christmas, it is time to make my favorite Gingerbread Boy. I just love the heavenly smell of ginger and cinnamon wafting through the air and the taste of black molasses. From past experience, I realised that many people do not take to a cookie which is too heavily spiced which is why I left out the ground cloves. If you are thinking of making some gingerbread this Christmas, this is a definitely must try recipe.


Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients:
63g butter, room temperature
85g light brown sugar
180g dark molasses
438g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves (which I omitted)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 180 degree C.
2) Sift flour, soda, salt & spices together.
3) Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add molasses and cream till well mixed.
4) Add in the flour and water alternately and mix till combined.
5) Rest mixture for 10-15 minutes.
6) Roll dough on a very lightly floured surface or waxed paper and cut into your desired design. Decorate with currants or chocolate chips (or decorate with royal icing after cookies have cooled).
7) Bake for between 10 - 12 minutes depending on the thickness of your cookies. Cookie is done when it springs back lightly when pressed.