Durian Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

Durian - you either love them or hate them, I for one am absolutely in love!  Durian is a tropical fruit very popular in Malaysia and you'll really have to taste it to know if you belong to pro or anti group.  When I talk to non-Malaysians about this fruit, most of the 'haters' cite the unique texture as something that they find hard to stomach.  The texture of durian is rather soft, actually a little akin to the texture of sea urchin in my opinion.  Anyway, today I have incorporated one of my favourite fruits ever into an easy roll cake.  Roll cakes are always popular with us as it is relatively light, easy to make and most of all delicious especially with a hot cup of coffee.  If you don't like durian, you can of course substitute the filling with other fruits like fresh strawberry slices, lychee like I did here.  

For today's roll cake, I just pureed some durian flesh together with some whipping cream, added some icing sugar to taste and that's it for the filling.  You do need a bit of patience to make a pretty roll cake, I did have some practice though I should add.  Be gentle while rolling and follow the steps below closely and you should have no problems rolling up a pretty one at home.

You will need:

A swiss roll pan or cookie tray with raised sides

1 clean tea towel, large enough to roll the sheet cake

Baking or parchment paper for lining cake tray

Ingredients:

6 eggs, yolks and whites separated (have to be room temperature)

6 tbsps sugar

6 tbsps all purpose flour

Filling:

1/2 cup worth of durian flesh (remove seed with your hands)

1 cup whipping cream

2 tbsps icing sugar or to taste (note that different kinds of durian will have different levels of sweetness so please adjust accordingly)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 220C (450F).

Firstly, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until slightly stiff but not until peaks form.

While mixing, add the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon, add the egg yolks one by one each time mixing well to incorporate.

Add the flour and mix enough just to incorporate.  Pour batter into lined baking tray (lightly greased as well).  Try to spread the batter as evenly as you can.

Bake cake for about 15 minutes until browned on top (you can use foil to cover for the first 10 minutes if you don't want your cake to brown too much).  Test doneness with a cake tester or toothpick.  Remove from oven and immediately invert onto the clean tea towel.  Tightly but gently roll the sheet cake with the towel and allow to cool in the rolled position.  This is to ensure the cake can be rolled easily later as it is most pliable while still hot.

Make the filling while the cake is cooling.  Simply use a food processor and mix the ingredients for the filling together until it reaches a creamy consistency.  Place in fridge.

Once the cake is completely cool, unroll and spread the filling on the sheet cake leaving a 1/2 inch border around the cake as the filling will get 'squeezed out' when you start rolling.

Once again, roll the cake tightly but gently with the filling.  As you roll you should kind of tuck the sheet cake to get a tightly rolled cake.  Note that this may come with practice though!

Wrap entire swiss roll with foil or cling wrap.  Refrigerate for about 1 hour.  This will keep the consistency of the filling and will also slice better.  

Best eaten on the day of making.

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