Vertical Swiss Roll Cake with Mascarpone Frosting

I had been desiring to make this cake ever since I came across the images and the recipe posted by "The Sweet Art" http://www.thesweetart.com/2011/04/vertical-swiss-roll-cake.html#more
It's a beautiful cake with pink frosting over yellow cake. The ingredients and methods are simple but having the vertical layered cake just makes it look extraordinary with special visual effect.

Here I discovered a new frosting ingredient other than buttercream, whipped cream, and cream cheese --- Mascarpone cheese, which is an Italian cream cheese and the main ingredient of Tiramisu. The cake tastes light and very delicious, especially good with a hint of raspberry jam~ I could have finished the entire cake on my own..haha

This cake is a winning keeper! I look forward to using Mascarpone frosting on other cakes too~
Below is a recipe I adapted for the 10.5" x 15.5" baking sheet I have at home.

Vertical Swiss Roll Cake
(serves 6-8 people)
(I used 10.5" x 15.5" baking sheet)

Ingredients:

1 egg
4 separated eggs (egg yolks and egg whites)
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
46g butter
80g cake flour
80 whole milk ( I only have fat-free milk at home)
90g castor (superfine) sugar

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. ( Which I forgot to do this time. However, I sprayed it with canola oil spray so fortunately the cake still came off nicely)
- Combine the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk lightly.
- Melt the butter in a small pan and add cake flour to the melted butter and mix to cook through.
- Transfer the butter flour mixture to a bowl, and add the egg mixture a little at a time.
(below shows the butter flour mixture in a bowl with milk and egg yolk mixture on the side)

- Mix with a spatula into a smooth batter and add the milk.
- Strain the batter and set aside.

- Beat the egg whites in medium low speed ( such as speed 2 on a hand held electronic mixer) until foamy. Add sugar in two portions. Beat in lowest speed until egg whites turn smooth, glossy and come to stiff peaks.

- Use a spatula to fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter in 3 portions. Fold carefully until just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the lined baking sheet  and spread evenly with a spatula.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes till the cake surface is golden brown.
- Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on wire rack before adding filling. (because I didn't line my baking sheet with parchment paper this time so I just let the cake cool in the baking sheet on the wire rack before taking the cake out.)

Filling:
Raspberry Jam
Mascarpone Frosting ( recipe below)

8oz mascarpone cheese
1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
a few drops of pink rose food coloring ( optional)

- Combine mascarpone cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla extract together.
Although in the original recipe it says you don't need a beater since the cheese is smooth, I would still use an electronic beater to mix it in the future. This time I only used a whisk and cheese clogged on it, made it not easy to work with... I guess if you had to use a hand whisk then you must have the cheese soften well enough at room temparature.

- Beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks and add a few drops of food coloring if desired.

- Fold the whipped cream into mascarpone mixture in several portions until combined. ( I didn't mix it so well this time since the cream wasn't very smooth, I was afraid it I would over mix the cream so it curdled... this is yet to be experimented more in the future)

 Assemble the Cake~
- Remove the parchment paper from the cake and place the cake with golden side down on a new parchment paper.
- Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on the entire cooled cake, followed by a layer of mascarpone frosting.

- Cut the cake into strips of even width on the short side. ( I actually marked on the cake before spreading the filling then cut it again afterwards)  I cut my cake in two strips this time. So the finish cake looks very tall. I would cut it in 3 strips next time.

- Roll the first strip like a swiss roll cake and prop upright.

- Take the other strip and wrap it around the roll. (And do the same with remaining strips)
- Wrap the cake in parchment paper and let it chill in the refrigerator before frosting the outside.

i

I felt there wasn't enough frosting for me to coat the cake exterior. So next time I would double, or at least make 1.5 times more the mascarpone frosting than what recipe states.

I only had enough frosting to do a crumb coating and almost ran downstairs to get more cheese to make more frosting, then I figured I will save the money and effort for a more perfect cake next time~ There's always room for improvement and I just can't wait to have this cake for breakfast that day, so I really felt it was good enough!

I put some fresh pomegranate on top of the cake which made it look brighter and more appealing! Just like a girl without makeup but red lipstick~ 

The cake was very yummy despite its casual appearance~ It definitely made my day! :)