Chocolate Hazelnut Bear Swiss Roll

 Phoon Huat wanted me to create content with detailed recipe sharing using their chocolate hazelnut spread, Hazella, once again, so I chose to share this simple bear swiss roll!

I had simplicity in mind when I made this so I used as few ingredients as possible & kept it to only one round of baking. You may have noticed I baked a very thin sponge. That's to make it easier to roll without cracking & you get more rounds within the swirl for a more aesthetic effect. Feel free to use whatever pan sizes you have at home & use the principle shown here to create your own bear Swiss roll! I used the tray (37x31.5cm base area) that came with my built-in oven.

Ingredients:
Egg yolk batter
3 egg yolks (60-65g with shell on)
45g boiling hot water/milk*
90g Hazella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
48g cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda*

Meringue*
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar*
45g sugar (use up to 60g if you prefer more stable meringue & sweeter cake)

Chocolate hazelnut whipping cream
75g whipping cream of choice*
75g Hazella 

Decoration
White chocolate chips
Mini dark/milk chocolate chips

* See technical tips/notes.

Steps:

1. Line base of baking tray(s) with Teflon sheet (preferable) or baking paper. Preheat oven to 175C (no fan)/160C (fan)

2. Make egg yolk batter. Whisk hot water or milk with Hazella until smooth. Add egg yolks & vanilla. Mix well. Gradually sift in cake flour with baking soda. Mix well.

3. Make meringue. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar & beat until firm peaks.

4. Fold meringue into egg yolk batter in 3 additions. Add meringue to egg yolk batter for first two additions. For the last addition, pour the mixture into the meringue. Fold gently to avoid deflating the meringue.

5. Pour batter into prepared tray(s). Use bench scraper to smooth out batter into thin layer. Bake for 9-12 min or until done (skewer comes out clean). Immediately flip baked sponge onto fresh sheet of baking paper, roll up to cool. Note that baking temperature & time are oven dependent so adjust accordingly.

6. Cut out 2 squares & a long rectangle (as long as you can) sponge using cakeboards or baking trays as guides. I used 6" cakeboards. You may use small rectangle pieces instead of square pieces for the ears if you prefer the bear to have smaller ears. Just make sure the width (the side of sponge perpendicular to rolling direction) of all 3 sponge pieces are the same. Keep in airtight condition until ready to assemble.

7. Make chocolate hazelnut whipping cream by whipping whipping cream of choice to stiff peak. Add Hazella & mix well. Adjust ratio of whipping cream & Hazella according to preference.

8. Spread thin layer of cream on square sponge pieces for the ears. Roll the sponges very tightly. Cling wrap & shape the rolls. Spread slightly thicker layer of cream on the rectangle sponge for the head. Roll up & cling wrap. Freeze all 3 rolls for at least 2 h. Refrigerate unused cream.

9. To assemble, cut off 1/3-1/2 of the ear rolls length-wise. Apply cream to the cut surface. Stick onto large roll. Freeze for at least 10 min before slicing. Decorate slices with white & mini dark chocolate chips for the bear eyes, nose & snout. 

*Technical tips/notes:

🥛Hot water or milk, choice of ingredient ratios:

Most chocolate hazelnut chiffon cake recipes you find from a Google search copy from the same original source which used milk. That recipe has very high wet to dry ingredient ratio. The result is a denser, moister cake which may be trickier to work with due to the high fat/moisture/cocoa content because all these interfere with the meringue stability. You may use those recipes as reference if you wish, especially if you are a seasoned chiffon cake baker. My rationale for a "drier" sponge batter (but still way higher wet to dry ingredient ratio than regular chiffon cakes) is to make this bake as easily successful as possible for beginners. Hazella already contains milk so you may use water if you don't have milk on hand.

🫙Baking soda & cream of tartar:

Again, I included these to increase chances of success. You may omit them both if you are a seasoned baker. Cream of tartar is an acid that helps with meringue stability. Using it will prevent the meringue from deflating prematurely so your sponge remains light & airy. The type of cocoa powder in Hazella is not specified so I am assuming it isn't alkalized. Using baking soda helps to counteract the acidity in the cocoa, as well as from the cream of tartar.

🥚Meringue:

Make sure that you can consistently make firm peaks (peak that stands tall with a small curl at the end) all over your meringue. Gently whisk by hand & test several times to make sure. At any time the meringue flops instead when you test, you need to continue whipping. Underwhipped meringue will deflate quickly during folding stage. But be careful not to over whip your meringue or it becomes broken, not smooth. Using more sugar helps the meringue to be more stable & gives you a larger margin between just nicely whipped & overwhipped. Use low to medium speed to whip egg whites to build the meringue slowly. Meringues that are built up slowly are more stable without large air bubbles. Use fresh eggs! They really make a difference in the quality of meringue! Make sure your metal or glass mixing bowl is dry & grease-free.

🍦Whipping cream of choice:

I chose the simplest option of non-dairy, pre-sweetened & stabilized cream. It's impossible to overwhip & doesn't melt into a puddle in tropical Singapore. You may use dairy or a mix of both types for better taste. Be careful not to overwhip dairy cream or it will split. You may choose to add sugar &/or stabilizers if using dairy cream.

Please see the video tutorial of this from my Instagram reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvSBnUagGdP/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Having tried other brands of chocolate hazelnut spread, I must say that Hazella comes across as the richest and most flavourful one, both for chocolate and hazelnut flavours in the spread. Whatever bakes you make with it will taste rich!

I hope you find these tips helpful! Happy baking!

with love,

Phay Shing