Round One...Pink Velvet Roll!

Okay, one of my favorite things in the fall is pumpkin roll.  I don't know about you, but I can't eat anything pumpkin flavored unless it's fall time.  So now it's January, it's cold, rainy, and I want a cake roll.  I decided to make a Pink Velvet Roll.  Now everyone I've talked to tells me they are intimidated by cake rolls due to the actually rolling part, and the cake always tears when they do it.  Have no fear!  First time I made one, it tore, and I haven't had one tear since!

 

Ingredients for the cake:

4 Eggs

3/4 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoon buttermilk (yeah, I know, most grocery stores carry it in a half gallon...annoying)

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Desired amount of red food coloring (for the pink cake)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 jelly-roll pan with vegetable spray and line with parchment paper.  Then grease the parchment paper as well.

-In a large bowl, beat the 4 eggs with a hand mixer for 5 minutes.  I set a timer to be sure I beat them for 5 minutes.

-After the 5 minutes, with the mixer still running, slowly add the sugar and the oil to the whipped eggs.  Then add buttermilk, cider vinegar, vanilla, and food coloring (add food coloring a little at a time til the right color is achieved.)

-Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt (I didn't sift it, and it still turned out fabulous)...slowly add this mixture to the liquid ingredients.  Mix until well combined.

-Sprinkle a cotton towel with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and rub into the towel with your hands.  (*waffle towels are not ideal for making cake rolls)

-Pour batter into prepared pan and distribute evenly to all corners.

-Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Check the cake at 12 minutes.  You'll be able to tell if it's done when the cake springs back when pressed with fingers.

-Now for the "tricky" part!  When the cake is finished, turn it onto the powdered sugared towel immediately!!!  Be careful.  Peel off the parchment paper and roll cake into the towel.  *beginning at the narrow end*  Roll tightly and evenly.  Place the rolled cake onto a wire rack, seam side down.  Cool completely (about an hour).


Ingredients for Buttercream Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1 Large Egg Whites (use two eggs if small)
12 Tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla

-Whisk egg white(s) and sugar together in a large, heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water (I just used a double boiler because I'm not that fancy).  Whisk constantly until sugar melts into the egg whites.  You can check this by rubbing a bit between fingers.  If sugar granules remain, keep whisking....this could take 5-10 minutes.

-When sugar and egg white are blended, transfer to a stand mixer.  Whip until the egg/sugar doubles in size.  Add the vanilla and then whip in softened butter a little at a time.  Whip until it has the consistency of frosting.  And VIOLA!

**I found that the frosting was a bit too buttery tasting for my liking so I added about 1 teaspoon of lime juice to it and it definitely made it better, personally.  So you could use lime, lemon, etc.


Assembly:
Carefully unroll the cake from the towel.  Allow the most tightly rolled end to curl slightly.  Once it's unrolled you'll see what I mean.  Frost inside with the buttercream frosting and roll cake tightly back up!  Cut into pieced with a serrated knife.  The end!