I’m not having a dry January like a lot of people because I don’t really drink but I am making a concerted effort to eat more healthily after the excesses of Christmas! However, spying a few Bramley apples in my fridge the other day, my mind wandered back to a cake that I’d promised myself to make last year and never got around to doing. As a child I remember my mother once making the most delicious Swiss Roll filled with apple puree, topped with chocolate, piped with whipped cream and decorated with walnuts. Well in my defence I did leave out the whipped cream and in place of white flour I used spelt flour which contains fibre so that’s healthier. Also the Swiss Roll batter is fatless (ie no butter or margarine used) and the only butter used is a tiny amount for the chocolate topping. Therefore, as cakes go, I think it’s pretty healthy as you have a combination of apple, walnuts and spelt and we all know dark chocolate is good for you (have I convinced you yet)? No matter, in a line-up of cakes I’m sure my Apple & Chocolate Spelt Swiss Roll would be down the more saintly end compared to its buttery cousins!
We enjoyed this Swiss Roll on its own but if I’d had some cream then I would have served it with it or indeed piped it along the top to go under the walnuts. Gosh now I’m talking about cream, well I am a great believer in everything in moderation and giving yourself the occasional treat is all part of that. I think this is the perfect cake to have for afternoon tea or as a dessert.
Who could resist a slice of this?
I really enjoyed making this Swiss Roll as I can’t actually remember ever having made one before! In my defence it was only recently that I acquired a Swiss Roll tin otherwise I wouldn’t have left it quite so long! My top tip to any other newbies would be to roll the sponge up really tightly as I was a little too relaxed with mine, but not bad for a first attempt I think. Do you have fond memories of cakes from your childhood and have you made any of them?
Do you have fond memories of cakes your mother made and have you made them yourself?
Apple & Chocolate Spelt Swiss Roll
Ingredients
- For Apple filling:
- 2 Large Bramley apples
- 3 tbsp Granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp water
- For Swiss Roll:
- 3 Eggs medium sized
- 75 g Caster sugar I keep vanilla pods in mine or replace a tsp with vanilla sugar
- 75 g Spelt plain white flour or plain white flour
- 1 tbsp Boiling water
- For topping:
- 130 g Dark chocolate
- Large knob of butter
- 5 Walnut halves
Instructions
- Peel, quarter, core and chop apples into slices.
- Put in a lidded pan with the lemon juice, water and sugar and gently cook for 5 – 10 minutes until completely softened and then mash with a fork.
- Place the puree in a bowl to cool.
- To make the Swiss Roll pre-heat the oven to 170⁰C.
- Grease and line a Swiss Roll tin (24cm x 34cm) with greased baking paper.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together until mousse like and a trail of batter will sit on the surface for 15 seconds.
- Sift in the flour and fold in with a large metal spoon.
- Then fold in the boiling water.
- Tip the batter into the tin and spread out evenly into the corners with a spatula.
- Place in oven on the middle shelf for 10 minutes or until the centre springs back to the touch.
- Once cooked tip out onto a sheet of baking paper (if you wanted to make this without the chocolate topping drizzle the paper with caster sugar beforehand).
- Using a long sharp knife trim off the outer dry edges of the sponge.
- To help with the initial rolling, score into the sponge 2/3 way down, 2 cm away from the short end nearest to you.
- Spread the apple puree evenly over the sponge leaving a small gap either side to allow for spread (holding a little puree back if necessary).
- Using the baking paper (we don’t want finger marks) as a guide, roll up the sponge onto itself from the scored end keeping it really tight until you reach the end which should be underneath.
- Hold in this position for a minute then place along with the baking parchment onto a wire rack to cool.
- Meanwhile make the chocolate topping by breaking up the dark chocolate and placing it in a bowl along with the butter over a pan of barely simmering water.
- Once melted and combined pour the chocolate over the Swiss Roll and spread with a spatula to evenly cover.
- Place the walnut halves along the top.
- Now you can either serve straight away with the chocolate still molten or when it has set along with some whipped or clotted cream if you wish.
- Keep in the fridge.
This recipe previously appeared on Great British Chefs!
This looks like a unique twist on a swiss roll x
Thanks, my mums idea:-)