Black Forest Swiss Roll - Baking Without 'Baby'

So, I'm Baking Without 'Baby' at the mo! Let's be honest, it is easier that way!!

One of my favourite cake recipes that I return to time and again, is this one, by Mary Berry. It is completely foolproof (if you get the chance to make it by yourself), even when substituting gluten free flour for the plain.

I've used it several times for making a Yule Log at Christmas, and often, just as a straightforward chocolate Swiss Roll - partly because it is such an easy recipe, but also because it is popular with both Kiddo and The Hub! 

Recently, I decided to upgrade it slightly - for a 'grown up' afternoon tea with friends, and the result went down so well, that I thought I would share the 'upgraded' version! 

Result!

Step One

First of all you make the basic Swiss Roll, as described by Mary Berry's Recipe (link above). Once out of the oven, I roll it up tight in baking parchment, to help create its form and keep in the moisture.

Plastic clips help hold it together, whilst it cools.

Step Two

Meanwhile, boil a kettle and put two knives suitable for spreading into the water, to warm. Then unroll the Swiss Roll (keeping it on the baking parchment) and place two/three tablespoons of Black Cherry Jam (I used Waitrose jam) at the end that will be rolled last. Spread the jam towards the middle part of the roll, making sure the cherries in the jam end up at the end which will be the middle part of the roll. Try to keep from spreading right to the edge, as jam will squidge that way, anyway, as you roll the sponge.

The warm knife helps the jam spread evenly.

Step Three

Add some blobs of some whipped coconut cream. Top tip: if you're making coconut cream, follow this recipe, BUT start the cream two days before - one day to refrigerate it, then whip it, then leave it in the fridge overnight - it will end up thicker. However, if you bring it back to room temperature it will become a lot looser again, so only spread near the time you are going to consume the Swiss Roll! Then use the second knife to spread the cream over the jam - some mixing may occur, keep dipping your knife back in to the hot water, to help the icing spread more smoothly. 

Given that making the coconut cream takes some thinking about and some preparation, if, (like me, most of the time), you can't be faffed to make the cream, I have found Betty Crocker's Vanilla Style Buttercream Icing (or your own, if you prefer) makes an excellent substitute.

Dotting blobs of icing/cream over the jam makes it easier to spread the icing.

Step Four

Lift the baking parchment under the end of the roll that will end up in the middle, and roll the sponge back into a roll, as tight as you can manage.

Rolling it all back together.

Step Five

Place on platter, cut, serve and enjoy!!

You could embellish the top, but mine never lasts that long!

YUM!

Even yummier with Waitrose Raspberry and Prosecco Jelly and some coconut cream!! :)

Please note: 
This post is not an advert. I have not been paid to write this post. I am not sponsored in any way, even by advertising. I do not receive products free to review, although I have often been offered them. This is to try and maintain an unbiased approach. All views expressed are my own (unless I've asked for The Hub's or Kiddo's).

Baking Dairy Free

Loyal long-term followers of this blog will know full well that I've never claimed to be Nigella - in fact quite the opposite! And, if the newer followers among you take time to flick through the few recipes on this blog, I'm sure it won't take you very long to agree. However, I can actually follow a recipe (well, usually, anyway) and in the few years that I've been doing this dairy free thing, I've learned a thing or two that might help out those of you who are completely new to this game and want to do some baking.

I love the philosophy on this tin

I wonder if, when you were first faced with the prospect of going dairy free you felt the same way as I did?

I was devastated. 

I loved dairy and without it in my life, I felt like eating was never going to be quite the same again - for as long as it lasted, anyway! For a while my food was certainly restricted. I well remember my first dairy free Christmas. Although The Hub did a marvellous job with the turkey, and potatoes dinner was rather dry minus gravy (did you know chicken gravy is made with milk?) and lacked a dessert. 

I eventually came to the conclusion that the way to deal with this - to bring yumminess back into my life, was to return to baking, so I started looking for recipes. However, I learned that you don't necessarily need to acquire a whole new repertoire of recipes - although you can if you like. You can actually bake many of the recipes that you used to - using dairy free alternatives instead. You just need to find some and experiment a bit, to find out what suits you. 

These days there are lots of dairy free substitutes that really can do the job. Here are some that we like to use:

Dairy free milk

Perhaps the most important aspect of going dairy free is choosing the right milk substitute. Some may be unsuitable for dietary reasons (like nut allergies) or because of age (rice milk is unsuitable for children under five, soya for children under six months - at the very least). The following post outlines some of the most common dairy free milk substitutes and shares some of the ways in which we have used them:

Which milk? When? Where?

Dairy free fats

Okay, butter it certainly 'aint, but there are a number of acceptable alternatives for margarine. 

Pure also have recipes online

We started off with Pure as a spread and Stork margarine (the block variety) for baking. You can read more about Pure here. Since then, we have also used Vitalite. All of these have worked well in cakes and scones etc. and are available in major supermarkets (who also now have their own brand dairy free margarines). 

Having said that, I've yet to really get to grips with pastry making, so don't shoot me, if it doesn't work quite as well, for that!

Flora Cuisine is a liquid form of baking fat, which my sister favours - she reckons she gets really good results with it, but it's no good for me, as it contains soya. See this for information about conversion for use in recipes and recipe ideas.

Trex is a vegetable-based shortening, that is also suitable to use. 

Vegetable cooking oil can also be used as a substitute, but requires a little more experience to adapt (in my humble opinion). Advice on using this, can be found here.

A newer form of fat, that has become quite trendy, is coconut oil, which can be bought from most health food stores. I've yet to get to grips with this one, I've ony used it for frying pancakes, so far, but really want to try it out more.

Dairy free cream

Scone without cream, anyone?

If you're going to get in to dairy free baking, at some point you're going to require a form of cream - even if it's just to accompany your scones. If you're okay with soya, then Alpro probably have you covered and you can find their products quite easily in most supermarkets. If not, or if you'd like to see what else is out there, then look no further than this post:

The Creme de la dairy free Creme

Dairy free yoghurt
If you're okay with soya, as before, Alpro seem to have this one covered. I've not used any of these in baking just yet, but as I'm unable to tolerate soya, I have tried the following dairy and soya free yoghurts:

Wot no dairy! Wot no soya!

Heaven in a mouthful

Dairy free cheese

Now, if your taste is for something more savoury, such as 'cheese scones', these posts might come in handy:

Cheese Please! What are the dairy free alternatives?

More 'Cheese please!' More dairy free alternatives to cheese

New cheese on the block - meet Mozzarisella!

Since posting these, I've come across even more 'cheeses' available from the Alternative Stores - an online Vegan store. So there's plenty of choice!

Dairy free chocolate

Mmm! Chocolate!

Yes, well, those of you that know me well, will know that I'd have to bring the subject of chocolate up sooner or later! Sometimes, chocolate is called for in baking - especially if I'm the one who's baking!


In terms of a bar of chocolate, I usually use dairy, egg and gluten free Kinnerton's dark chocolate. If chocolate chips are called for, I tend to use Plamil's. They're a bit pricey, but work really well. That said, I'm sure most dairy free chocolates would work fine.

If you'd like to know what else is out there, see this post, here: Oo! Ah! Chocolat!


Dairy free baking cheats

If you can't bake... cheat!

Ok, so some times, life, time, energy run short and some baking help may be required! Some ready mixes in the supermarkets are, quite surprisingly, dairy free! However, personally, being gluten free, I turn to Hale and Hearty or Mrs Crimble's packet mixes. They've always worked well for me. You can buy these in the Free From sections of the larger supermarkets, online and also in good health food shops. 

There are others, made by Orgran and Glebe Farm, which are available from health food shops.

Other dairy free baking 'cheats' can be found in this post:

How to cheat at baking dairy free

And for icing cheats: The icing on the cake


Dairy free recipes

Now, having said all I have about not needing recipes that are specifically dairy free, it's still nice to know where to look if you need one. There are loads out there that are absolutely brilliant, but here are a few bloggers that I've picked out for your attention. Some of these are specifically for allergies, others are Vegan, which means that they're dairy and egg free - as well as meat, of course!

Pig in the Kitchen

The Intolerant Gourmet

i bake without

Queen Bee Allergy Free

Azelia's Kitchen

Oh she glows

Deliciously Ella

Chloe Coscarelli

If, after all that I've left anything off this list, then please come back to me and ask! 

Adios amigos - 'til next time! Meanwhile, enjoy your baking!!

Update: Dec. 2013
I have added a link to an American blog which has since created a similar page, with American products. It also has some other useful tips which I am sure could come in useful.

Some cunning allergy free baking substitutes via Pinterest!

Just seen this article on Veganising cakes - Amazeballs!

Baking With Baby 9 - Dairy Free Lamingtons

It seems that Saturday, being 26th January, is Australia Day. Suddenly, Lamington's have become a topic of conversation, on Twitter - all on account of Dan Lepard of the Guardian posting his recipe for these revered bites, which are apparently favoured by many Antipodeans. 

Have you heard of Lamington's before? I have to admit, neither had I, until recently. Basically, they're small squares of cake, dipped in chocolate icing, and rolled in desiccated coconut. Here's ours:

As made by baby and me!

Apparently they're named after some Lord (Lamington) who had some surprise guests and asked his chef to come up with something quick. Personally, I very much doubt the 'quick' as the recipe takes two days - unless of course the chef had some day-old cake and just shoved some chocolate on it to hide the fact. Now THAT I could believe, as a layer of chocolate could quite possibly hide a multitude, so to speak!

Somehow my journeying 'Down Under,' about ten years ago, which lasted all of three weeks, did not bring me into contact with said little cakeys. I was in New Zealand, mind you, but it seems the recipe for Lamington's is a hotly debated issue between Aussie's and Kiwi's - just like Pavlova's. If you ever want to create a diversion in a room which contains Aussies and Kiwi's, just start up a conversation about where the recipe came from - *KA-BOOM* I can assure you that one will run and run!!

SO, just how did they come to my attention? My lil' sis' just so happens to be married to an Aussie (our family is a bit like the United Nations) and posted Dan's recipe on Face Book, the other day. 

Intrigued, I hunted a bit further and found an allergy-free version of the same, on another blog (this site looks really beautiful, take a look), BUT once I discovered that chocolate Lamington's were not considered the genuine article, I hunted a little further, to find one that was. I then came across a recipe, posted by Queen Bee Allergy Free, which looks excellent for anyone who's Vegan or allergic to eggs. As she's Australian, I'm guessing it must be the genuine article!

The recipe I've chosen to follow, however, is a completely un-allergy-friendly recipe. I chose it on purpose partly because it looked authentic, - although, I must admit, it does come from a UK website!! However, it also looked 'doable' (simple, if you prefer) - using weights and measures with which I'm familiar - and it looked as though I could use my normal dairy and gluten free baking substitutes. I don't believe in complicating matters and do believe that with good dairy free and gluten free ingredients, you can achieve pretty decent results (although gluten free flour sometimes requires a bit of extra help). In this case, I've used Dove's gluten free Plain Flour, Pure Sunflower Margarine and Kara Coconut Milk - all available in decent UK supermarkets.

There are two things to note, if you decide to make these yourself: first, you need an awful lot of icing sugar (450g/1lb according to this recipe, although we had a bit left over) and dessicated coconut (two 200g bags this recipe says but we used only one - with plenty left to spare), and second, you really need two days to make Lamingtons. Once you've made the cake, it is then left for a day, before being iced (otherwise it's too soft).

I have to admit, this bit worried me slightly, as Baby tends to like things to happen immediately, so I had to make sure that I explained this to her first. This is because now that 'Baby' is really a full-blown toddler, baking with her is not so simple as it used to be! 'I want to do it!' is a cry frequently heard in our house. Full tact and diplomacy are required, as are patience and a sense of humour (beginning to sound like the job description for a teacher here). 

All explained and ingredients prepared, out came her little pink spatula (blagged off the MIL, when we stayed at hers after Christmas), and off we set, on our Lamington adventure!!

Watch out! Baby at work!

The recipe itself, was fairly straightforward... to begin with. Despite the power tussles, all seemed to be going well, until we got to the actual baking part. Baby wandered off to watch the telly, leaving me to clear up the inevitable mess, left in her wake. I put the tray in the oven and started the washing up, only to discover some minutes later, that I had neglected to set my trusty timer. 

At this point I wanted to obey the slogan on my new cake tin, BUT I'm trying to be 'good' at the mo, so I resorted to watching the cake instead.

I watched the bake like a hawk, not daring to open the door until at least what I imagined must be twenty minutes later (I've heard you shouldn't open the door for at least the first fifteen to twenty minutes). But it took several stabs with the cake tester and several prods of the finger, until I dared to believe it was fully baked. Hence my poor cake looked a little worse for wear, once it finally DID come out of the oven!!

Oh dear! Far from perfect!

As you can see, it was also burnt, in places. I'm not dismayed by such things, oh no! I have shaved many a cake in the past, but I must admit, at this point I was glad I'd watched the Comic Relief Great British Bake Off, the other night, and witnessed one contestant shave the burnt bits off his cake quite successfully, with a fine grater (beats sawing at it with a bread knife, which can cause further damage).

Next day, we duly got prepared to ice the cake. This takes a little preparation. One tip I picked up from another recipe was to place some grease proof paper under a wire tray, to allow for drips! It was definitely worth doing!! As, preparation over, it all got a bit interesting (think fondant fancies, in the last season of the Great British Bake-Off)!! It's all rather messy (I'm still picking up stray bits of coconut from the floor), but Baby LOVED it!

Baby's job was to chuck the chunks of cake into the chocolate icing mix. Mine was to cover the cake in chocolate with a spatula, before fishing it out with a pair of chopsticks (you could use forks). 

You can tell when we've been at work!

At this point, it is advisable (in my humble opinion) to allow the chunk to drip for a few seconds, and place it on the wire tray for a bit, before transferring it to the bowl of coconut, otherwise you may see the coconut coating drip off with the excess chocolate icing. After it's beginning to set, just slightly, place it in the coconut and shower it a bit, with more, until it's coated a bit. Then it's ready to be rolled around, to finish off.

All done!

After you've placed them back on the tray, you leave them to set, which really didn't take that long. Well, Baby never waits for long anyway, so she ate this one just before it was really ready!

The taste test

Now, I am very well aware that our cakes look a little rough around the edges - far from the perfect-looking specimens on other people's recipe pages, but in my defense, I was baking with Baby! And surely, it's the taste test that counts!!

Similar Posts:

Baking with Baby - Flapjacks

Baking with Baby 2 - Banana Bread

Baking with Baby 4 - Right Royal Rocks!

Baking with Baby 5 - Carrot Cake

Baking with Baby 6 - Chocolate and Beetroot

Baking with Baby 7 - Alien Cookies

Baking with Baby 8 - Gingerbread Bears?

Baking with Grandma - Pandan Cake

Baking with Grandma - Pandan Cake

Disaster always seem to strike when one is least prepared for it and it turns out that the boiler (no respecter of time and place) broke sometime over Christmas, whilst we were away. In search of somewhere warm to stay (somewhere which also had hot water and that wasn't too far away) we ended up at The Mother-In-Law's house. Naturally MIL was overjoyed to see her son and grand-daughter, and welcomed us with open arms. 

Now MIL, has some times found it a bit hard to get to grips with Baby's problems with milk, and mine with gluten, but one thing that she has grasped hold of, with great delight, is that Baby can have Pandan Cake - what Baby has christened 'Smudgey Cake'. Pandan Cake (in case you don't know) also known as Chiffon Cake, is a cake originates from Malaysia. Usually it is green in colour - the colour coming from the Pandan leaf extract, that is traditionally used to make it. 

However, you can make the cake without the Pandan extract; it ends up looking like this:

Pandan Cake minus the Pandan

A few years ago, I attempted to make this cake for The Hub's birthday. It was NOT a great success - whether the tin (which I thought I had gone to great lengths to obtain) was wrong (it was non-stick); or whether I didn't beat the eggs enough (I thought I had followed the recipe to the 'T'); or the oven was the wrong temperature (I bought an oven thermometer not long after, which showed the oven wasn't working properly) I don't know, although I suspect the latter. 

Whatever the problem was, this is what I ended up with:

Here's how NOT to do it!

You might like to note that the top half has risen, but the bottom half didn't. My Malaysian friend suggested that the problem might be the cake tin, as the tin she uses is non-stick and she told me the cake needs to rise up the sides of the tin.

The tin I bought was an angel cake tin, just like this one from Amazon. I notice that one reviewer has also used it for Pandan Cake and hers turned out fine, so I tend to think the tin was not the problem. My sister-in-law has since told me that you don't actually need the tine and can make muffins with the mix, instead, which I am tempted to try, as the tin can be a pain to clean.

Since then, I haven't attempted Pandan Cake again, although I am tempted. However, every time we go to MIL's, she makes it, anyway. I probably would give it a go, now that I have my oven thermometer, BUT it is a HUGE cake, and the three of us couldn't possibly eat it all by ourselves!!

Note how low the batter looks in the tin. It will rise right to the top!

So, this morning, Baby and Grandma made it again, and I thought I'd share it with you, as it is naturally dairy free. With Dove's gluten free flour, or rice flour, it can be made gluten free, but since an incident when MIL thought she had made it gluten free but hadn't (as I later discovered, when my gut reacted) we've steered clear of that one!

There are various recipes online, but the one that MIL uses is this recipe, by Diana's desserts. She doesn't use it completely as written but omits the 'ovalette,' Pandan paste and Pandan extract, and uses just a third of a can of coconut milk (the thin stuff rather than the thick stuff) - topping up with some water to add extra moisture. It still makes a great cake, though.

The other thing to note is that the egg whites take a LOT of beating! The MIL's acid test is to hold the basin upside down over her head!! If the mixture doesn't fall out, that's a promising sign. This is where a Kitchen Aid would come in handy. Unfortunately neither we nor the MIL has one, which is where a Toddler Aid comes in very handy!!

Toddler at work!

The cake takes some patience, after all the whipping, cooking the cake takes some time and once it comes out of the oven, it needs to cool (for about an hour, according to MIL). This is what the MIL does with hers:

Yes, it is upside down!

The finished cake should be fluffy, light and moist. NOT like the that one I made - the top half was okay, but the bottom half definitely didn't rise and wasn't cooked. I find the cake doesn't last well, if it's not kept in a cool spot. The danger of this cake is not going stale, but going mouldy, so I think it needs eating within about three to four days.

A slice for Baby

Hmm! Having smelt the cake baking and looking at the slice pictured here, I think I might just have to give Pandan another try after all!

Similar Posts:

Baking with Baby - Flapjacks

Baking with Baby 2 - Banana Bread

Baking with Baby 4 - Right Royal Rocks!

Baking with Baby 5 - Carrot Cake

Baking with Baby 6 - Chocolate and Beetroot

Baking with Baby 7 - Alien Cookies

Baking with Baby 8 - Gingerbread Bears?

How to cheat at baking dairy free

How does this look? Not bad huh?

If it wasn't for the box, who'd have known?

'I want a chocolate cake - with icing on it,' wailed Baby, the other week.

To begin with, I did what I know all mothers should do and try to distract her or ignore her, but she was more determined than I. She kept up her assault on my nerves and before long I would have bought her the moon if she asked for it - just to get some peace and quiet. Now I know I shouldn't have, but despite my best instincts I gave in - sort of!

Now I didn't have any cake in the cupboard, nor did I have time to bake any. I did what I thought was the next best thing, though - I took her to Tesco. Please note. I didn't take her to Tesco just because she hollered, I was going there anyway, but her shenanigans  certainly hastened my departure!

The only problem was that Tesco didn't have any dairy free chocolate cake, with icing on. Yes, there was a gluten free one but that had dairy in. Instead, I showed her an iced carrot cake and that seemed acceptable to her so off we went, happy as Larry.

Some days, I don't about you, but I just don't have time to be the Mary Berry of the dairy free world. So then... (shock, horror) I cheat!!!

I have a few weapons up my sleeve.

In the Free From section of many supermarkets you can find mixes that are gluten free and dairy free. Betty Crimble's Muffin and Sponge Mix is pretty good (especially with chocolate chip buttons). Hale and Hearty's Classic Chocolate Cake Mix is  very scrummy but it doesn't make much cake - we made just six large muffins from one pack (maybe that's just as well though).

Would six of these do for you?

There are times however, when I don't even have time for that, which is when Honeyrose's Carrot Cake (which I can get from the big Sainos near me) comes into its own.

Now it's not quite as good as my home made carrot cake, obviously, but... actually, it's not bad at all!

It's organic, gluten free and dairy free, but, sadly, un-iced. Step forward Betty Crocker!

Betty Crocker is my all time favourite baking cheat! It comes in chocolate and vanilla 'buttercream' style and now in new 'cream cheese' style! You have to watch out if you're sensitive to milk though - it may contain milk ingredients. Intolerant, rather than allergic, Baby's been fine with it so far...

This'll go well with my carrot cake.

If you're happy with that, then Bob's your Uncle! You can transform any dairy free cake instantly. Once the tub is open it can be kept in the fridge for about a month, so you don't have to use it all at once.

If I don't have time for that, and can do without cake myself, then the aforementioned carrot cake I bought for Baby is completely ready made, complete with icing. You can get it from the 'normal' cake aisle (it's usually sat next to a banana cake, which is also dairy free). It's dairy free, soya free and organic, but sadly does contain gluten! Heigh ho! Better for my waistline :)

Lookee here!

If you're interested in baking, you might like to read the following posts:

Baking with Baby - Flapjacks

Baking with Baby 2 - Banana Bread

Baking with Baby 4 - Right Royal Rocks!

Baking with Baby 5 - Carrot Cake

Baking with Baby 6 - Chocolate and Beetroot

Baking with Baby 7 - Alien Cookies

Best Buttons for Baking

The cookies that I shared the other week have become such a firm family favourite (even with The Hub, who normally comments, 'It's okay,' when I ask what he thinks of my baking... before politely declining seconds) that I've now baked several batches of these little beauties. 

But, it seems The Hub's love of these cookies may just be down to the chocolate! When I tested the cookies on my sister, she immediately commented on the quality of the chocolate - without knowing where it came from. I must admit, I certainly felt rather decadent baking with Hotel Chocolat buttons... but they did need using up! 

When I ran out of both cookies and buttons The Hub (rather generously, I thought) offered to buy some more on the way home from work. His face must have been a picture at the till - £7.99 a bag!! Still, he brought them home, but a few bakes later I was out of buttons once again!! It was then that I spotted these at Tesco. 'Ah ha!' I thought, 'they might do the trick! Dark chocolate - no dairy! 70p for 100g has gotta be cheaper than Hotel Chocolat!'

Please note: these are the dark ones!

100g, it turns out, do not a full cup make! Well you need a full cup, you see, to make the recipe - it's an American recipe and relies on measuring things in cups. I discovered, in  fact, 100g makes only half a cup. Doh! So, on that occasion half a cup had to do. It was then that I wondered whether buying Silver Spoon buttons might not be a false economy. 

A full cup

It turns out they're not - wishful thinking on my part - nearly £2.00 per 100g! Yikes!! It'll most likely be Silver Spoon from now on then! Although, I did notice that they may contain milk, are made with soya (lecithin - I'm okay with that) and may also contain nuts and gluten. Didn't see that last one before - might explain my slightly dodgy gut the last few days (I did wonder). Hmm! Maybe not then!

So, if my little family are to continue enjoying our 'Alien' cookies, we have to find an alternative, which works out a bit cheaper than Hotel Chocolat. The solution may well consist of buying a bar or two of Kinnerton's, (£1.22 for 85g at Waitrose - so £1.44 for 100g) bashing it into shards (chunks even) and using those instead! Either that, or using half a cup of Hotel Chocolat - I found that using half a cup wasn't too bad after all!

Unless you know different, of course!