Sugar Roll Success!

I love Polar sugar rolls (without the sugar dusting).  I adapted a recipe I found online which looked quite easy to do ... thank you Aunty Yochana  (her sugar roll recipe here).  It isn't that easy to roll swiss rolls neatly. I studied how Polar rolls theirs. Guess what ... it's not actually a complete roll! They put a strip of sponge in the centre and roll around it, so that's what I did too.  The sponge of my swiss roll is not nearly as dense and fine as the Polar one, but it's still quite soft & nice. Ahem, not too bad for a first attempt even if I do say so myself!

My 1st attempt :-)

The famous Polar Sugar Roll

Ingredients:

4  eggs, separated

5 T (80 g) caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 C (100 g) cake flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2.5 T (40 g) corn oil

Method:
- Preheat oven to 200 C.

- Whisk egg whites, then add sugar gradually (I added 2 T, then 3 T), and beat till stiff.

- Beat egg yolks in one by one, add essence, and beat for another 3 mins.

- Sift in the dry ingredients (cake flour,  baking powder, salt), folding gently till well mixed.

- Fold in corn oil & pour into a 11" x 14" tray 
  (my tin was a different size & I had to trim the sponge as it was too thick to roll. The layer I sliced off became another roll without the brown skin!

- Bake at 200C for 10 mins (test with a skewer).

- Remove & cool on the wire rack to cool.

-  Spread buttercream onto cooled cake & roll (I cut a 1" strip of sponge off, placed it on one edge of cake & rolled it up with the help of baking paper.  Keep it rolled in paper for a while, to help it retain the shape). 

- Optional: Sprinkle some sugar onto baking paper & roll cake to & fro until evenly covered.

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Meringue Butter Cream 

(yields 150g butter cream - only 100g needed for above cake) 

2 T castor sugar

1 T hot water

1 egg white (I added the extra yolk to the sponge recipe)

100 g butter, diced, slightly softened

1/4 tsp vanilla essence

Pinch of salt

Method:

- Place sugar & water in a small microwaveable tea cup.  Stir to dissolve. Microwave for 10sec. Stir and microwave another 10sec till syrupy & boiling.

- Whisk egg whites till fluffy, then stream in the boiling syrup while whisking. If concerned about raw egg whites, place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk for another 5 minutes. 

- Take bowl off heat and continue whisking till the bowl feels cool to the touch before adding butter (otherwise butter will melt in warm meringue).  If using a thick glass which will take a while to cool, save time by transferring meringue to another mixing bowl.

- Add butter a few cubes at a time and beat till thick & fluffy.  Do not be alarmed if mixture looks curdled at a stage.  Keep beating and it will soon become smooth again.