It’s almost the end of May. Where did the time go? Almost half of 2020 is gone and I feel like I’ve barely gotten anything done.
If I’m being completely honest, it’s been a bit of a struggle trying to teach 2 kids (one in grade 2 and one going into Kindergarten) at once while at home. It’s like I need to clone myself so I can be in 2 different places at once so I can help them with their different subjects.
But we’re getting through it, slowly, one day at a time. And speaking of days, today is a day… I usually don’t keep track of dates, but Hubby and I have been together for 16 years today (married for almost 12). Wow, that makes me sound so old. 😉
And so I made a cake. A Blackberry Earl Grey Cream Roll Cake, since I’ll remember this pandemic on the number of roll cakes and sourdough (and sourdough things: thing 1 and thing 2) I’ve made.
This is a light and fluffy chiffon cake, flavoured with one of my favourite tea flavours: earl grey tea. It’s simple yet sophisticated. I’ve paired it with a delicious and fresh blackberry earl grey whipped cream.
HOW TO MAKE THE ROLL CAKE
This soft Blackberry Earl Grey Cream Roll Cake is a chiffon cake is lightly flavoured with the earl grey milk and vanilla.
- First, earl grey tea is steeped into warmed milk
- Then, combine egg yolks, flour, oil, sugar and tea to make a cake batter
- Beat the egg whites separately until light and fluffy. They’re folded in together with the cake batter
I’ve got 6 tips on how to ensure a no-crack cake here on my Hojicha Roll Cake post.
HOW TO MAKE THE BLACKBERRY EARL GREY CREAM
I added fresh blackberries and a little heavy cream and blended it together to make a puree. You can strain the seeds out of the puree if you’d like, or leave them in if you don’t mind.
Combine the blackberry puree with additional whipped cream and fill it inside the roll cake. I added the fine earl grey tea leaves into the cream to amplify the tea essence. I love the natural purple colour the blackberries give to the cream.
If you’re a fan of earl grey, be sure to check out my Earl Grey Bergamot Loaf, Earl Grey Milk Jam, or Earl Grey Cream Tart. Let me know if you make this recipe! Tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment below.
Blackberry Earl Grey Cream Roll Cake
Ingredients
- 3 egg whites room temp
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 30 ml whole milk warmed
- 1 earl grey tea bag keep the tea leaves for the cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 30 g netural vegetable oil
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 60 g cake flour sifted
Blackberry Earl Grey Cream
- ¼ C fresh blackberries
- splash of heavy whipping cream
- ½ C heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp icing sugar
Instructions
Make the chiffon cake:
- Line a 9″ by 13″ baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove 3 eggs from the fridge. Separate the egg whites and egg yolks, ensuring the egg whites are added to a clean mixing bowl. Leave at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Fit the mixing bowl with the egg whites to a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Gradually whisk on low speed until foamy. Add in the cream of tartar. Increase the speed gradually and add in the sugar in small increments.
- Beat until the egg whites reach medium peaks (when the whisk it pulled out, there will be a slight curve to its end). Set aside.
- Add the earl grey tea to the warmed milk and let it steep for 5 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks to a large bowl. Combine the sugar and whisk together.
- Next, add in the oil and cooled earl grey milk and whisk until combined.
- Add in the sifted cake flour. Use a spatula to mix together.
- Take ⅓ of the whipped egg whites and fold it into the batter. It’s OK to be a little heavy-handed for this first fold since we will add more of the egg whites later.
- Next, add another ⅓rd and continue to fold. Repeat with the remainder of the egg whites, until the batter is light and homogeneous.
- Transfer the cake batter to a 9″ by 13″ baking tray and smooth out the top with an offset spatula. Tap the tray a few times to remove any trapped air bubbles.
- Place into the oven and bake at 375F for 13-15 minutes, until the top is dry and springy to the touch. (Don’t overbake or it will be dry).
- Remove from the oven and carefully drop it from a height of about 1′.
- Transfer the cake over to a cooling rack, with the parchment-side down.
Make the Blackberry Earl Grey Cream:
- Blend the blackberries together with the cream until pureed and smooth. (Strain the puree if you prefer a smooth consistency in your cream).
- Add the whipping cream, to a large chilled bowl. Whisk until the cream starts to thicken. Add in the icing sugar and pureed blackberries and continue to whisk until the cream stiffens.
- Add the reserved earl grey tea leaves from earlier into the cream and fold to incorporate.
To assemble:
- Tear off a new large piece of parchment paper.
- While the cake is still slightly warm, (not too warm or the cream will melt), but not cool so that the cake won’t roll…
- Carefully flip the cake onto the new parchment paper, with bottom side facing up. Peel the old parchment paper off the cake.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the blackberry earl grey cream over the surface of the cake.
- Carefully roll up the cake and seal the ends of the parchment. Place into the fridge to chill for 1-2 hours.
- Slice with a serrated knife and serve.
This was my first time making a roll cake, and I’m pretty happy with the outcome 🥰 although I forgot to save some of the cream for the topping. No wonder a lot of cream came out when I was rolling the cake. But I enjoyed this a lot.
Glad you had success with your roll cake, Yuka! 🙂