Dragon Cake Roll 彩龍蛋糕卷

I believe baking is science, but at the same time it is a work of art. Having good presentation can make what you cook have a whole world of difference. After all, we are built to be attracted by what we see. If you put in front of some children two differently presented dishes composed of the same food, most, if not all, of the children will pick the one that is beautiful, attractive and thoughtfully presented. It is just human nature.

Take this cake roll as an example. After some additional work, I turn a plain cake roll into a presentable and attractive piece of cake. It is just fun and magical !!

And this is how all the marketing people are working to make their products more attractive. By having good packaging, they can turn an ordinary product into a hit. I think Japanese people are very good at this. A blogger called Junko creatively made beautiful cake rolls. Although the blog is all Japanese, her book is translated into Chinese.

Happy New Year

Kung Hey Fat Choi

Ingredients for a 10x10 inches square pan

4 large eggs, separated

65g sugar

60ml water

40ml vegetable oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

80g cake flour, sifted

½ tsp corn starch

½ tsp cocoa powder

food coloring

150ml heavy cream, cold

14g sugar

1 kiwi or some strawberries, optional

1)  Place a parchment paper bigger than the size of the baking pan on the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray oil on it. Preheat oven to 340°F.

2)  Use a handheld mixer, whisk 3 egg yolks with 35g of the sugar until pale, about 3 mins. (Save the remaining yolk for other use)

3)  Add water, oil and vanilla extract, mix well.

4)  Add the sifted cake flour and beat until the batter is thick.

5)  Put 2 tsp of this batter into a small dish. Add half a teaspoon of cocoa powder into the dish and mix well.

6)  Beat one egg white until stiff peaks form. Add ½ tsp corn starch and mix well. Add about 1 tbsp of this into the small dish. Mix well and put in a piping bag. Draw with this batter onto the parchment paper with the predrew dragon pattern.

7)  Bake for 1-2 mins until set. Let it cool on a rack.

8)  Beat the remaining 3 egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 30g sugar and beat to stiff peaks.

9)  Fold to the egg batter until blended.

10)  Pour onto the pan and smooth out the surface. Tap the pan a few times to release the big bubbles.

11)  Bake for 14 mins until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

12)  Take out the pan and cover the top with a new piece of parchment.

13)  Invert the cake, with the parchment paper, onto a cooling rack.

14)  Peel off the now top parchment paper but let it cover the cake until cool, about 15 mins.

15)  While the cake is cooling, whip the heavy cream with sugar until stiff peaks form.

16)  Remove the top parchment paper and replace with a new one. Invert the cake and peel off the paper.

17)  Spread the whipped cream onto the cake and put wedges of kiwi on top (optional).

18)  Roll the cake up and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour before slicing.

彩龍蛋糕卷

我相信烘焙是一種科學,但同時也是一種藝術。你用了時間及心血烹調出來的菜色,如果有好的賣相,一定會有不同的效果,因為我們都是被眼所見的吸引。如將食物給一些小朋友,但有二個不同的賣相,大部份的小朋友都會選擇那個賣相精美,比較吸引的。這是人性的一種表現。

就以這個蛋糕卷為例,一些心思便能將一個平平無奇的蛋糕卷變為人見人愛的食物,是不是像魔術呢 ?

這正是市場營銷做的工作,要如何將他們要賣的貨物吸引顧客,那麼貨物的賣相便很重要了,如何能夠將一種普通不起眼的物件,包裝成吸引客人去購買,真是一門學問。我覺得日本人在這方面做得很出色。Junko 在她的網誌內就做了很多漂亮的蛋糕卷,雖然這個網全是日文,但幸好她出的書已翻譯成中文。

祝大家龍年龍精虎猛

此份量可用於一個10x10寸大的焗盤

4隻 大蛋,蛋白與黄分開

65g  糖

60ml 水

40ml 液體菜油

一茶匙 雲呢哪香油

80g 低筋麵粉,過篩

半茶匙 玉米粉

半茶匙  唂咕粉

少許食用色素

150ml 奶油

14g 糖

1)  焗盤上放焗爐紙,噴上少許油備用,預熱焗爐至340°F。

2)  將三個蛋黄加35g糖打約三分鐘至奶白色,加水、油及雲呢哪香油,攪勻。(剩餘的蛋黄可放雪柜作其他用途)

3)  加80g低筋粉繼績打至蛋漿變濃稠。

4)  備一個小碗,將二茶匙蛋漿放入碗內,加半茶匙唂咕粉,攪勻。

5)  將一個蛋白打至硬身,加入半茶匙玉米粉,將一湯匙加入小碗內之唂咕蛋漿,拌勻,放入唧袋,然後在爐盤上劃出龍的形狀,放入焗爐焗約一至二分鐘。

6)  蛋白三個打至白色後加入餘下30g糖打至硬身,與餘下之蛋漿拌勻,倒入焗盤,輕敲盤讓大氣泡消氣。

7)  焗十四分鐘或至牙籤插入後抽出沒有蛋漿便成。

8)  取出焗盤,放一張新焗爐紙在上面,將整個蛋糕反轉,將低紙撕去,再蓋回蛋糕上待涼十五分鐘。

9)  奶油加糖打至硬身備用。

10)  蛋糕涼後換上一張新焗爐紙,再反轉蛋糕,讓蛋糕面再反回上面,圖案在底,撕去焗爐紙,平均地塗上已打發奶油,加上生果,再輕手慢慢將蛋糕卷起。

11)  放雪柜至少一小時後便可切片享用。