Hojicha Roll Cake

Fluffy, hojicha cake wrapped around hojicha whipped cream

Hojicha Roll Cake Recipe

yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients

Hojicha cake

10g (2 tbsp) hojicha powder

50g (¼ cup) whole milk, warmed

10g (2 tsp) honey

110g (<1 cup) cake flour, sifted

2g (½ tsp) baking powder

3g (½ tsp) kosher salt

5 large eggs, separated

100 g (⅔ cup) granulated sugar, separated

30g (2 tbsp) neutral vegetable oil

2g (½ tsp) pure vanilla extract 

Whipped Filling

8g (1½ tbsp) hojicha powder

2 tbsp hot water

200g (⅘ cup) whole milk

50g (¼ cup) granulated sugar

320g (1¼+ cups) heavy whipping cream, very cold

(Optional) ¼ tsp gelatin

(Optional) ½ tbsp hot water

Directions

Begin by making the the hojicha milk paste for the whipped filling. Mix the hot water with the hojicha powder in a small bowl, and set aside. In a saucepan on low heat, warm the milk for 2 to 3 minutes. Next, stir in the hojicha powder-water mixture, making sure it is well-combined with the milk before covering the saucepan with a lid. Leave for 10 minutes on low heat; after 10 minutes, stir again and check to see if the hojicha powder has completely dissolved. If not, the mixture will need to be strained to remove any tea bits and returned to a clean pot on the stove. If the milk mixture doesn’t have any bits or clumps, there is no need to strain the milk. Next, add in the granulated sugar and heat the mixture on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently. When you can draw a line with a spatula on the bottom of the pot that stays visible for 1 to 2 seconds, turn off the heat. Finally, strain the milk paste into a clean bowl, pressing the paste through a sieve with a spatula.

To make the cake, begin by separating the eggs. Place the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the whites in a medium mixing bowl, keeping the yolks at room temperature and egg whites in the refrigerator. Spray or brush a non-stick 10x15 jelly roll pan with oil and line with parchment paper, and brush the parchment paper lightly with oil as well. Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small bowl, pour the warm milk and honey, combining well and making sure the honey is dissolved before mixing in the hojicha powder with a spoon until smooth, and set aside. Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl. Set aside.

Using your electric hand mixer, beat the egg yolks on slow increasing to medium speed, while gradually pouring in half the sugar. Increase the speed and beat until the egg mixture turns a pale yellow and doubles in volume; the mixture should be glossy, thick and when you lift the whisk, the egg mixture should fall in ribbons before slowly disappearing back into the mix. Add the hojicha-milk mixture and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well-combined, scraping down the sides as needed; the mixture should be a smooth and glossy deep coffee color without any streaks.

After ensuring the electric mixer beaters are clean and dry, whisk the egg whites, starting on low and increasing to high speed. As the egg whites turn foamy, keep beating and slowly mix the rest of the sugar. After all the sugar has been incorporated, beat until stiff peaks form.

With a rubber spatula, gently fold about one-third of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture. Next, fold in the dry ingredients until just combined. Then add in the oil, mixing quickly and evenly and taking care not to overmix.

Carefully fold in the remaining meringue until just combined; the batter should be fluffy and airy, but pourable. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and use a dough scraper to evenly spread the batter over the pan. Try to level it as much as you can, so that the cake will bake evenly. To remove any air bubbles, lift the pan a few inches above the counter and drop a few times.

Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes, or until the cake gently springs back when pressed. Take care not to over-bake, as to minimize cracks and breaks when rolling the cake. After taking the cake out of the oven, let cool for a couple minutes in the pan. Place a clean sheet of parchment paper over the top and turn the baking pan upside down to gently flip the cake onto a cooling rack. Carefully peel off the parchment paper, revealing the outside of the cake. Let the cake cool further, about 15 minutes, before flipping the cake again. The cake should still be a bit warm; carefully roll the cake up using the parchment paper. To prevent the cake from breaking, take care not to roll the cake too tightly. Cool completely on the cooling rack with the seam side down, about 45 minutes to an hour.²

While the cake cools, prepare the whipped filling. If you have gelatin on hand and want to stabilize your whipped cream, dissolve the gelatin in the hot water and mix, before setting aside.³

In a chilled bowl, add the hojicha milk paste. Pour the whipping cream into the bowl in 5 increments, mixing well and making sure the paste and cream are well-combined before adding more cream. Then, using the electric hand mixer with clean, chilled beaters, whip the cream until soft peaks form. To avoid over-whipping the cream, switch to using a hand whisk when medium peaks start to form and whisk until firm and spreadable. Chill the whipped cream in the refrigerator while the cake roll cools.

When the cake roll is completely cool, slowly and carefully unroll the cake. Using an icing spatula, spread a half-inch layer of whipped filling on the cake, leaving a quarter-inch border on all sides. To ensure a smooth roll and reduce oozing, spread a slightly less amount of filling toward the last third of cake as the cream will pile up toward the end when rolling up. Use the parchment paper to carefully but firmly re-roll the cake. Keep the parchment paper rolled on the outside, twist the parchment paper on both ends, and chill for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. When ready to serve, remove the parchment paper, dust with hojicha powder, and slice off about a half inch of the cake on both ends. Finally, slice cake roll into one-inch thick slices and serve.

Notes

1. If you happen to own a circular vase that is about the same size as the rolled up cake, I like to put the cake in the vase so that it rests on the butt of the cake; this way, the roll cake cools in a perfect circle rather than with a slightly flat bottom. The photos for this recipe were taken during peony season, so unfortunately for this one, the vase was unavailable for use.

2. If you’ve ever run into the problem of droopy, deflated whipped cream, you’re probably pretty familiar with stabilized whipped cream. I have skipped this step for this roll cake in the past and the whip has kept wonderfully, but I still prefer to incorporate a bit gelatin so that the texture of the cream stays intact at room temperature, as well as for a longer period of time.

3. If you can’t tell, I love whipped cream and really love to overpack these roll cakes with a ton of whip. Most recipes call for less than a cup of whipping cream, but I love the ratio of the cream to cake with almost 1½ cups of whipping cream.