Roll Tart (Bolu Gulung)

Yaaay... After three failed attempts making roll cake, I finally made it. I'm so happy and couldn't stop smiling (and maybe staring on that cake). There are a lot of bakery in Indonesia who sell this roll cake. And because this cake looks pretty and taste great, it is very common to wrap it in a pretty box and use it as a gift in many occasions.

My husband likes roll cake and he asked me to make it. It was like 1 1/2 years ago when he asked me to make it. First attempt : big failed. I didn't use a proper baking tray and didn't beat the egg enough. So, during the baking process, the batter was spreading all around and the edges were burned. Second attempt : still failed. the cake shrinking, didn't rise properly and i failed to roll it. But the taste was better. Third attempt : The cake was cracking when I tried to roll it. But it tasted good, so I decided to eat it in pieces.

Finally few weeks ago I tried to make it again. I really want to make it to celebrate our 8th anniversary. And... yeah. Somehow it was a big success. The cake was pretty, soft, and delicious. I was using my husband's favorite strawberry jam for filling. But basically this cake can use any kind of filling such as buttercream, whip cream, even fruits.

For making this cake, i purposely use additional stabilizer named ovalette. Maybe it is not common in Europe but it is very common in Indonesia (So does in Malaysia and Singapore).  This ingredients can help to stabilize the cake during the baking process and make the texture of the cake softer. This ingredients can be bought in Asian grocery store.

Ingredients :

• 3 eggs 
• 3 egg yolks
• 80 grams white granulated sugar
• 50 grams all purpose flour
• 1 tbs corn starch
• 1 1/2 tbs milk
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ovalette
• 65 grams butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling : 

• 4 tbs strawberry jam

Preparation :

1. Preheat oven for 170 C (338F) 
2. Prepare a baking tray (I'm using 26x26x7 cm baking tray) and line it with baking paper. set aside.
3. In a big bowl, put together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, flour, corn starch, baking powder, milk, and ovalette.
4. Using a hand mixer, beat them together on high speed until all the ingredients are mixed and the batter become pale, soft, and there's a ribbon tail formed when the mixer is removed from the batter.
   
5. Add half of the melted butter and vanilla extract into the batter.
6. Using a rubber spatula, mix the butter by folding the batter until the melted butter are mixed well.
7. Add the rest of the melted butter, fold it again until well mixed and no more trace of melted butter on the cake batter. 
8. Pour the batter into the baking tray and even the surface with spatula. 
9. Bang the tray on the table few time to remove the bubbles.
10. Put the tray into the oven and bake it for 20 minutes. 
11. Remove the tray from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
12. Make sure the edges of the cake are not stick into the tray by carefully releasing  it using a spatula or small knife. 
13. Place another baking paper on the top of the cake and a board (I'm using cardboard and cut it roughly the same size of the tray).
14. Hold the board and flip the cake over. 
15. Carefully remove the baking paper from the cake. Now, you will get a cake on the top of baking paper, and a cardboard.
    
16. Spread the filling all over surface of the cake.
17. Using the baking paper for help, carefully roll the cake. Hold the cake firmly but be careful not to break it. Do not hesitate to press it a little bit. 
18. Wrap the rolled cake with baking paper and let it sit for about 30-40 minutes.
19. Carefully remove the baking paper and transfer it to serving plate. with the seam downside. 

The recipe above is just a basic roll cake. But as you can see on the picture, you can make a simple decoration on the cake.  This is how its done :

1. Before pouring the batter into the baking tray, Take about 1/2 until 3/4 cup of the batter. Put it on separate bowl and color it with any color you want.
2. Put the colored batter into piping bag or zip lock bag.
3. Pour the rest of the batter into baking tray, level the surface and bang the tray to remove the bubbles. 
   
4. Make a small hole on the tip of the zip lock bag.
5. Draw a line horizontally on the surface of the batter in the baking tray using the colored batter from the zip lock bag. Repeat the line few times.
   
6. With a skewer or tooth pick draw a line vertically on the batter. Repeat this process few times.
   
7. Put it into the oven and bake it.