Strawberries n Cream Logcake

My last Christmas bake from home for the year, strawberries n cream log cake!

I decorated with a couple of reindeer I made from my masterclass! 

I have been really busy with classes/test bakes and dealing with some admin stuff for my kids for the next academic year but managed to squeeze in this bake that took me only a couple of hours to put together, including chilling in the freezer (if you don't count the premade reindeer macarons and strawberry jam filling I used). If you want it to be done really quickly, omit the homemade strawberry jam and just use whipped cream as the filling. Korean strawberries are in season now so why not take the chance to include this in your Christmas bake?

The recipe for the vanilla chiffon sponge can be found here but divide all ingredients by two if you are making only one logcake like me. I baked this sheet sponge in a 10 x 12" pan lined with teflon sheet (you may use parchment paper). Bake in preheated oven at 170°C for 12-13min and flip it onto a fresh sheet of parchment paper immediately and roll up to cool.

While cake is cooling, prepare the strawberries and filling. If you intend to use homemade strawberry jam, this should be done earlier before sponge is baked.

Strawberry jam
Ingredients:
300g whole strawberries
25g sugar (or to taste)
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 30g water
1tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp strawberry emulco/paste
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tbs water

Steps:
1. Blend strawberries with lemon juice and sieve the mixture into a small saucepan.

2. Add salt and sugar and cook over low heat, stirring frequently for about 15 to 20 min or reduced to the consistency of your liking.

3. Towards end of cooking time, add the cornflour dissolved in water and continue to cook for another few minutes until the jam is thickened further.

4. Add strawberry paste and mix well. You may store this in the fridge overnight or up to a few days before assembling with cake.

5. When you are ready to assemble the cake while the baked sponge is cooling, bloom the gelatin by scattering the gelatin powder over the water in a small microwaveable bowl. Let it sit for 10 min. Melt the bloomed gelatin over medium low power in microwave oven and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Repeat heating if necessary. Stir the melted gelatin into the jam. Reserve about 1-2 tbs of jam (if you are making the pink swirls on the log cake) and transfer the rest into piping bag.

Whipped cream
You may use any of your preferred whipped cream recipe. It can simply be whipped topping which is a non-dairy whipping cream that is very stable in Singapore's hot climate, or stabilized dairy whipped cream. But I will share what I used. I used part double cream and part heavy cream. Double cream contains 45% fat whereas heavy cream contains 35% fat. Double cream is more stable at room temperature than heavy cream due to the higher fat content so it doesn't melt into a puddle that easily. Dairy cream tastes better than non-dairy cream in my opinion, but it is trickier to work with.

Ingredients:
180g double cream
120g heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
20g icing sugar

Notes: you may add some melted bloomed gelatin into the dairy whipped cream if you want to stabilize it some more. Just use 1tsp of gelatin powder to 1tbs of water as the ratio to use.

Steps:
1. Chill bowl and beaters in freezer for 10 min before whipping.

2. Place all ingredients in chilled mixing bowl and beat until firm peaks. If you are adding gelatin, add in at this point. Gently whisk until stiff peaks to make sure the cream is beaten evenly. Do not overwhip.

Your cream should look like this

3. Portion out about 130g and transfer into piping bag.

Assembly
1. Cut some strawberries and pat dry cut surfaces with paper towels. It is up to you how you want to cut them. I cut the leaves and the pointy end of strawberry.

2. Unroll the cooled sponge. Pipe alternating lines of strawberry jam and whipped cream. If you are using only whipped cream, just use a spatula to apply the cream on the sponge.

3. Place the cut strawberries on top.

This was how I did it. 

4. Carefully roll the cake and freeze it for 1h. In the mean time, chill the unused whipped cream in the fridge.

5. When 1 hour is almost up, make the pink whipped cream. Mix 1-2tbs of jam with 80g of whipped cream. Add 1/4 tsp of strawberry emulco too. Transfer into piping bag fitted with a wilton #10 tip or any tip of your choice.

6. Spread a little cream on the cakeboard. Carefully slice off the ends of the swiss roll with a heated knife.

7. Place the main log on the cakeboard and cover with cream. Attach the cut off pieces, one on top and another at the side. Cover with cream. Pipe the pink swirls on the exposed cut ends.

This is what it looks like. 

8. Use a fork to create the bark patterns on the log. Add a nicely cut strawberry slice in the middle of the cut surfaces if you wish. I chose to cut heart shape because Christmas is really about God's love for us by sending us the greatest present we can have, Jesus!

Store in fridge until you are ready to serve.

Unadorned logcake! 

I decorated the cake with some extra loose pieces of reindeer macarons from my first macaron carousel masterclass!

Here is a peek at what we did over 2 intensive days! 

Have a blessed Christmas everyone!

With love,
Phay Shing