As you probably know by now, then most of my recipes are extremely simple and seldom require a precise measuring, but here is one exception. Baking is a science, and this is the only type of cooking where not following the exact amounts can have catastrophic results. Believe me – I am the type of cook who loves playing around and changing up at least half of the ingredients, also when baking, and let’s just say that all of the changes do not work. So follow the given amounts here, please.
I originally planned to make a regular round cake with the same ingredients, but as I wanted to take the cake to a friend's place, carrying around a roll seemed more comfortable. And it was!
To make the roll more interesting, I wanted to make a green base. I have baked a peppermint cake before, but as it was too strong in mint the last time, I decided to reduce the amount this time. I am very happy with the taste this time, but the result is not as bright green as I would have liked so that I will add a little spinach for extra greenness for the next time.
What this cake lacks in appearance it makes up in a beautiful flavor combination – the ripe blackcurrants and fresh mint (from my own garden, by the way) are delicious together. The meringue buttercream with added yogurt (I just realized it is quite an international cake with the Swiss meringue and Greek yogurt J) makes the filling incredibly creamy and not too heavy at the same time. As I always mention in my dessert recipes – I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, so if you do, just add a little more sugar to the filling or glaze.
If you don’t have blackcurrants, the best substitute would be raspberries.
Peppermint & Blackcurrant Cake Roll
Cooking time: 1 hour
For the cake:
1 oz fresh peppermint leaves
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp water
4 eggs + 2 egg yolks (please only use free range)
2 ¼ oz sugar
2 ¾ flour
1 tsp baking powder
Sprinkle of salt
For the filling:
2 egg whites
2 ¾ sugar
2 oz butter, room temperature.
7 oz blackcurrants, crushed
1 pound thick Greek yogurt
For the glaze:
3.5 oz cream cheese
1 tbsp agave syrup
The juice of ½ lime
2 tbsp water
Some crushed up blackcurrants
For decoration and extra flavor:
Beautiful clusters of blackcurrants
Fresh peppermint leaves
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 360 F and cover a large baking sheet with parchment.
Using a stick blender, crush the peppermint leaves, coconut oil, water, and egg yolks to a paste, then add the sugar and whisk until the mix is nice and fluffy. It should take around 4 minutes.
Sieve in the flour and baking powder, mix well.
In a different (and very clean) bowl, whip the egg whites with a sprinkle of salt until you have stiff peaks. Then fold the egg whites in two parts to the rest of the batter. Be careful to leave in as much airiness as possible.
Bake the cake for around 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Roll up the cake with the parchment and allow cool completely in a roll.
Mix the egg whites and the sugar in a large metal bowl and place it on top of a pan with hot water. Ensure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the hot water, but the steam only heats it. Mix until the sugar is dissolved and whisk until you have a firm meringue.
In two parts, whisk in the butter.
Lastly, mix in the crushed blackcurrants and Greek yogurt.
Just mix all the ingredients.
For constructing the roll:
Once the cake base is completely cooled down, unroll it carefully and remove the parchment.
Cover the cake with filling so that about an inch is left free from the outer edge.
Roll the cake up again, and using the same parchment paper, roll it up tightly. Let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Right before serving, drizzle the roll with glaze and decorate with fresh berries and mint leaves.
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She does love to spend time in the kitchen, but most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. She thinks that everybody can find time to cook healthy food at home, it is just a question of planning. "I work in an office full time, teach yoga 7-8 hours a week and write a blog. So if I manage to cook most of my meals, then so can you!" Connect with Kadri and enjoy many more of her delicious healthy recipes on her website here: www.kahvliga.ee.