Swiss White Chocolate Cake Roll with Rhubarb Whipped Cream

Holy spumoni do I have a gem of a dessert to share with you today.  I can’t wait to chat your ear off about this amazing Swiss roll cake, but before we do I have a small bit of blog business to take care of.

I’m excited to announce that Mommie Cooks is entering into a new partnership with Cooking Light Magazine and Cookinglight.com.  Twice a month I will be sharing content and recipes that are relevant to you and your family.  We’ll look into everything from the latest food trends to healthy menu items to individual ingredient features such as what to do with the pile of spring asparagus that’s taking up residence in your fridge’s crisper drawer.  Hopefully we can all come away a bit more informed and whole lot more inspired to head back into our kitchens and get cooking!

Alright, back to the business of dessert.  A flippin’ amazing dessert that is.  This Swiss cake roll was dreamed up as I sat eyeballing a pile of rhubarb that was leftover from an earlier attempt at making dessert crepes.  My original thought was a rhubarb souffle, but I’ve heard that they are notoriously picky and flop at the drop of a hat (literally), so I decided to head in a bit of a different direction.  A cake roll has actually been on my list of desires since Christmas when I had planned on making a buche de noel.  The Christmas log never made it out of conception but, hey, I’m flexible.  How about an Easter log instead?

This version is made with white chocolate and rhubarb.  It has a luscious, light flavor that makes it a perfect finish to your flavorful Easter dinner spread.

Start out by separating the eggs.  Set the whites to the side and grab the yolks.  Drop them into a mixer along with a small amount of sugar and a splash of vanilla.  Spin until they lighten in color and turn foamy.

Now, grab up a bit of olive oil and some sweetened condensed milk.  Pour it in and stir to combine.  In a separate bowl you’ll sift together a little flour, salt and baking powder.  Add that in batches to the yolks, stirring gently after each addition until combined.

Melt up a little white chocolate, either through the use of a double boiler or by microwaving for 30 second intervals and stirring until no solid pieces remain.  Let it cool back down for a minute or two and then add into the cake batter.

For the final step, grab up the reserved egg whites and begin to whisk them quickly, preferably in a mixer if you know what’s good for you.  When the egg whites begin to bubble, you’ll drop in a couple tablespoons of sugar.  We add this to help create stability for the egg foam we’re about to produce.

Continue to beat the whites at a high speed until stiff peaks form.

Being very gentle, slowly fold the egg whites into the cake batter until just incorporated.  I folded about a third of the whites in at a time.  Spread a piece of parchment across the bottom of a jelly roll pan and spray it with a little cooking spray.  Pour the finished batter over the top.

Slide that gorgeous pan into the oven and let the cake cook through.  Once out of the oven, let sit for a minute or two to set and then flip onto a kitchen towel that has been dusted with sugar and roll up for the remainder of the cooling time.

Here’s a shot of my rolled up cooling cake.  It’s truly a thing of beauty.

Of course a cake roll just isn’t complete without a tasty cream filling so let’s concoct a batch, shall we?  Grab up a few handfuls of chopped rhubarb, drop it into a 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle a half cup of sugar over the top.  Cover tightly with foil and let cook in a heated oven for about a half hour.  Here’s what you’ll end up with:

Your rhubarb should be soft and have just a hint of sweet in it from the sugar.  Let the mixture cool to room temp and then strain the juice out of the fruit.  To a mixer add a cup of cream, a pour of sugar, a splash of vanilla and the pilfered rhubarb juice.  Whisk it up until you have thick and frothy whipped cream.  Last but certainly not least, pick up the reserved fruit and drop it into the cream.  Using a spatula or a spoon, gently incorporate the fruit.

Let’s finish this so we can get to the fun part of eating shall we?  Unroll your cooled cake, spread the whipped cream over the top and roll ‘er back up.

Dust with a little powdered sugar if desired and you’re ready to indulge.  My kids had the idea to cut out a few flowers for decoration on the top.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

It’s amazing what can result from a little leftover fruit and a creative culinary imagination.

I hope you enjoy your Easter!  The boys and I are strapping on our sandals and heading to Florida for a week of surf and sun.  I’m hoping to get an Easter round up posted sometime next week, but other than that I will be offline for most of the holiday.   Have a wonderful week and a blessed Easter.  We’ll see you after the holiday!