Rhubarb and Custard Swiss Roll - a swoonworthy summery dessert!

Even though my Swiss Roll ended up looking more like a Swiss Fold it tasted just as heavenly as it looks - light, luscious and a perfect summer delight. How could a combination of Genoise Cake, Rhubarb Curd, Pastry Cream and Whipped Cream really be anything but?? 

I made this with my spindly rhubarb which needs thinning and  moving desperately but if it's too late for rhubarb in your area you can use any curd - lemon, lemon and apple, blueberry - there are links to my other curd recipes below. 

I adapted this recipe from one over at Great British Chefs - here is the LINK to their recipe grandly called a roulade because they did their roll right, maybe because they did a longer narrower cake than mine - you can do that too but you just need a small sheet pan for my size recipe - maybe a 9 x 13 :) 

This is a time consuming recipe but if you make enough curd and custard you can use them to great advantage elsewhere - rhubarb curd on buttered toast, custard as a dollop on another dessert - or both just spooned from the reused Bonne Maman jars!!

Get me a spoon and quickly!!

 So let's make the Rhubarb Curd and Pastry Cream first to allow them to cool completely.

THE RHUBARB CURD - you could also make this cake with Blueberry,  Lemon and Apple or any store bought Lemon or other flavour curd - click on the bold type flavours to go to my recipes for these!

This is enough for this recipe plus a bit extra but feel free to make double so you have plenty on hand!
 

1 cup of rhubarb cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons of sugar

 
2 tablespoons of water
 

2 teaspoons of lemon juice

 
Combine these four ingredients in a saucepan, preferably stainless steel, and boil together at med-high until rhubarb goes completely mushy...let it cool then liquidize in a blender or food processor (if you blend when it is hot it could blow the top off the blender and burn you...I have had this happen before so be cautious and let it cool!!)

2 egg yolks
 
6 tablespoons sugar
 
2 ozs butter...again I use salted, if you use unsalted add a pinch of salt
  
Whisk the yolks and sugar together in the top part of a double boiler with simmering water in the bottom pan. 

Add the cooled rhubarb and the butter in pieces and stir, stir, stir until it is all combined and starts to thicken...it should already be quite thick because of the blended rhubarb...but let it thicken up some more. 

Cool completely and again it will thicken some more...this curd tastes infinitely better when it is cold so don't judge the flavour or texture if you taste it when it is warm...when cold it is creamy, a bit caramelly and quite tangy at the end...YUMMY!!!...you can use it for a multitude of things...especially on hot, buttered toast with a spot of tea!!!


Now for THE CUSTARD or Creme Pat, Pastry Cream, Creme Patissiere - ie stiff custard gleaned from Martha Stewart - you have to pay close attention to this recipe as it is easy to curdle the pastry cream if you cook the mix too long or don't stir continually.

3 large egg yolks

2 1/2oz/ heaped 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup of whole milk

a good pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla essence/extract

2 tablespoons of white flour

1 teaspoon of soft butter

1. Whisk the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons sugar together until mixture has the consistency of light ribbons when you lift the whisk from the mix.

 

2. Add the flour and whisk thoroughly to combine. 

3. In a medium saucepan heat the milk with remaining sugar and vanilla essence/extract until it comes just to a boil.

 

4. Remove from heat and slowly pour into the whisked egg yolks and sugar mix then transfer back to the saucepan.

 

5. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly and allow to bubble for 2 minutes.

 

6. Transfer to a medium bowl and dot the surface with small pieces of butter to prevent a skin from forming. Allow to cool completely before using in the cake.

 

Finally make the GENOISE CAKE - I have learned a great trick to making this rise really well, it can be tricky to make and more than once in the past I have ended up with a pancake instead of spongecake.

HAVE ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS AT ROOM TEMPERATURE AND BAKE ON A DRY DAY.

  This Swiss Roll serves 4 portions for genteel people or for James and I, who like our puddings most enthusiastically, it serves 2!

THE CAKE:

2 large eggs separated

1/2 cup/ scant 4 ozs sugar 

1/2 cup/ 2 ozs white flour sifted 

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F

2. Butter and line a 10" square x 1" deep baking pan - do not butter the parchment again - the butter underneath is to anchor it to the pan.

3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks then gradually add half the sugar until peaks are stiff but not dry.

4. Whisk the egg yolks with the other half of the sugar until light and fluffy (that's THE trick - don't just whisk the whites, whisk the yolks too and the sugar helps with the volume!!! TA DAH!!!!) 

5. Fold the yolks in to the whites very gingerly until just combined.

6. Gently fold the flour into the egg mixture and mix very very delicately until blended.

7. Gently spread into your prepared pan and smooth the top - the batter doesn't spread during baking so if you want a smooth top you need to do that before it goes in the oven.

8. Bake for about 10-12 minutes until golden in colour, springy to the touch and sightly coming away from the side of the pan as below. 

9. Have a fresh sheet of parchment paper underneath the cooling rack - I snipped a lot of holes in the sheet so as to let the steam out of the cake and not have it go soggy - you'll see what all this oddness if for very shortly! 

10. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan - then invert onto the cooling rack and peel off the paper - don't worry if some of the sponge surface comes off with the paper - the cosmetic look of the sponge is irrelevant in the final pudding.

The next bit is the tricky part - only allow to cool slightly you need to work as quickly as possible whilst the cake is still warm and flexible...invert the cake onto the fresh parchment and roll gently - this is to help the cake roll again when the curd and cream have been applied to the cake - somehow the cake keeps the memory of the roll as it cools - but beware it can still crack or end up looking folded instead of rolled as mine did - I think you have to do this a lot to get the rolling part perfect!

Allow the cake to cool and when you ready to assemble unroll and cover with the rhubarb curd and then the pastry cream/whipped cream mixture:
 

Before you assemble the cake whip 3/4 cup/ 6 fl. oz heavy/double cream to stiff and fold in an equal amount of the patsry cream - mix well together

A MISTAKE I made which you can see in this pic above was that I spread the curd and cream too close to the bottom of the cake...leave more room at the bottom and when you roll your cake less of the filling will fall out thus:

I used extra whipped cream and pastry cream mix to pipes rosettes hither and yon - to cover any cracks etc and to make people think you really worked hard on this cake - the addition of piped rosettes always make a dessert look ever so special don't you think? 

FINALLY sprinkle with confectioner's/icing sugar and TA DAH!!! your glorious Rhubarb Curd and Pastry Cream Swiss Roll is ready for the eating.

***If you at all intrigued by the simple, watercolour Blue Gingham fabric in these pics. (also available in wallpaper and wrapping paper) - you can find it in two different sizes in my Spoonflower shop***
One inch HERE
Half inch HERE

HAPPY BAKING!!!

On a design note - for as you know I bake for fun and design for my career - I am thrilled to announce the recent addition of fantastic, large, beautifully printed and fabulously priced Chiffon Scarves to the coterie of offerings in my online shops. 

Westminster Mandala on Black - available HERE

Gilding the Lily Scarf - on a windy day - available HERE

My next blogpost will be about all the wonderful, recent new item additions to my Society6
(there's free worldwide shipping there right now, on most of my items, until midnight West Coast June 7th 2015) and Redbubble online print on demand shops. Stay tuned! 

Thanks for reading and please be in touch

Patricia