Tiger Skin Chocolate Swiss Roll

Yay! Yay! Yay! Triple Yay!!! ... that I have baked this tiger skin chocolate Swiss roll. I'm very happy that this Swiss roll looks and tastes so GOOD!

Me a drama queen being so excited about a Swiss roll? Can't deny a little. I do feel like a Japanese anime character with sparkling beaming eyes when I completed my bake and ate my first slice of this cake. After one bite, I was looking for a cheering pom pom to say my triple Yay... LOL!

Why so drama? Why the Triple Yay?

One Yay because this is my first time baking a baking tiger skin chocolate Swiss roll and I have baked it right!

Double Yay because this Tiger skin chocolate Swiss roll is pretty skinny!!! If you look closely, you will see that this soft and heavenly Swiss roll is made of 1) mostly eggs and egg yolks 2) only one tablespoon of oil 3) not excessively sweetened with sugar and 4) assembled with only 1/2 cup of cream. I know. I know. I have been stingy using this minimal amount of whipped cream to roll my cake but hey, it is skinny!!! In any case, if you like your cake to be extra creamy, please feel free to use more than 1/2 cup of cream to make yours.

Triple Yay because this skinny Swiss roll is so light and delicious!!! It is moist, spongy, chocolaty and creamy... Just heavenly!!!

Enough of my Yay! Yay! Yay! and let's see how I baked this cake.

Tiger Skin Chocolate Swiss Roll

Despite of all my Yays, I must warn all learning bakers like me that this recipe is not so easy to bake. Not to scare you but I really wish that you can bake this cake too. So in order to bake this cake with high success rate, I would strongly encourage you to follow the recipe as much as you can and read the instructions carefully. No shortcuts and no substitutions, please :)

Not to worry because I have included a one-minute video clip to show you how I baked my Swiss roll and you will see the attached clip just above the recipe.  

Start by making the chocolate cake base.

First, place a mixture of eggs and sugar over a pot of simmering water and whisk mixture by hand until it reaches 38°C.

Then, beat the warmed egg and sugar mixture into this thick and pale voluminous mixture.

And it is important to do this folding step very gently.

Baking the chocolate cake base.

Next, bake the tiger skin.

Beat all tiger skin ingredients until thick and pale.

Baking the skin... And this step is extremely tricky!!!
You have to monitor this step very closely.
You don't want to under-bake or over-bake it!
And this cake can brown very quickly within a split of seconds!

Assemble the cake.

You don't have a cream whipper like this? No worries! You can use either an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, a hand whip with lots of whipping strength to do this same job. It is easy to whip if you use the cream that is very well chilled. No special equipment required :)

Spread a layer of cream evenly on the chocolate cake base and roll it.

I did the same to the tiger skin and wrap the skin on the chocolate Swiss roll.

All done! Yay...

Now... where is my cheering pom pom? LOL!

Need to understand the steps of baking this light heavenly Swiss roll a little bit more? Please see my one-minute clip and hope that it will help you to understand this recipe a little better :)

Here's the recipe that is adapted from Victoria Bakes at here and here

Make one Swiss roll (unrolled size: 35 x 25 cm / 10 x 14 inches)

For the chocolate cake base:
30g milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil, perferably neutral tasting
3 eggs (150g without the shell) - please use the exact weight
70g caster sugar
50g cake flour
10g cocoa powder, preferably Dutch processed

For the tiger skin cake (25 x 25 cm):
60g egg yolk (about 4) - please use exact weight
30g icing sugar
15g corn flour

If you don't have a 25 cm x 25 cm baking pan, you can bake this recipe with the same 35 x 25 cm pan. For the tiger skin cake (35 x 25 cm):
90g egg yolk (about 6) - please use exact weight
45g icing sugar
22g corn flour
extra oil, to grease the baking pan

For the filling and to coat the tiger skin onto the chocolate cake base:
120ml (1/2 cup) whipping cream, cold from the fridge
10g icing sugar
If you want your cake to be extra creamy, please feel free to use more than 1/2 cup of cream to fill and roll your Swiss roll - It is ok to make this modification.

For the chocolate cake base:
Preheat oven to 180°C.

Line one 35 x 25 cm baking tray with baking paper.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Then lower the heat to allow the water to simmer.

Place milk and oil in heatproof bowl and warm mixture either in a microwave with a short pulse of high power for 10-20 secs or over a pot of simmering water until the mixture is lukewarm to touch. 

Remove the pot of simmering water from heat and do not discard the simmering water. The residue heat from the simmering water is required for the next mixing step.

Place eggs and sugar in a large heat proof mixing bowl (or the bowl of your electric mixer but it has to be heat proof) and place the mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water (without any heat). Use a hand whisk to whisk the mixture continuously by hand until mixture until it reaches 100°F/ 38°C - I used a candy thermometer to measure the temperature.

Remove bowl from simmering water and use an electric mixer to beat the egg mixture in a medium speed (not too high to reduce the amount large bubbles forming) until mixture is pale, thick and voluminous. At this stage, you should be able to draw a number 8 on the mixture without having the drawing disappearing and mixture can be pretty stiff and firm.

Sift flour and cocoa powder into the egg mixture and use a spatula to fold in the flour mixture until well incorporated. Then, fold in the warm milk mixture very gently until all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over-mix! And it is ok if the batter can be a little streaky or spotty with small bits of un-mixed cocoa.

Spread batter evenly into the prepared tray and bake for 15 mins or until the cake is well risen and fully cooked.

When done, remove cake (with its baking paper) from the tray immediately and transfer it onto a wire rack to cool. After 5-10 mins of cooling, flip the cake onto a clean baking paper and remove the used baking paper at its bottom. Allow the cake to cool completely.

For the tiger skin:
Preheat oven to 220°C. Grease and line baking tray with baking paper. Important: This cake batter will be sticky and so the baking tray has to be well greased.

Using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat all tiger skin ingredients with a high speed for about 5 mins or until thick and pale. Reduce mixing speed to low and continue to beat for about 2 mins to stabilize the batter.

Place baking rack in the middle of the oven. Switch the oven to grill mode (with NO bottom heating an top heating only) and bake the cake for 3-5 mins or until the cake is nicely cooked. Important: Monitor this baking step very closely! You don't want to under-bake or over-bake it and this cake can brown very quickly within a split of seconds!

When done, remove cake (with its baking paper) from the tray immediately and transfer it onto a wire rack to cool. After 5-10 mins of cooling, flip the cake onto a clean baking paper and remove the used baking paper at its bottom. Allow the cake to cool completely.

For the filling:
While the cake is cooling, using an electric mixer or a cream whipper, whip cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form.

To assemble:
Spread a thin layer of cream evenly on the chocolate cake base, reserving about 2-3 tbsp of cream to coat the chocolate cake later. Roll the cake from the shorter end along the longer side to form a Swiss roll. Wrap in cling wrap and allow the cake to firm up into its shape for about 30 mins in the fridge.

If you are baking the tiger skin in 25 cm x 35 cm, trim it into a smaller size. Then spread the remaining cream onto tiger skin. Wrap the tiger skin around the chocolate roll. Wrap in cling wrap and allow the cake to firm up into its shape for about 3-4 hrs in the fridge.

Slice and serve.

Happy Baking

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