Chocolate Mango Mousse Cake

In my family we have back-to-back birthdays starting with mine and ending with my father-in-law with the exception of my kiddo who is January born. Three back-to-back birthdays mean lots of cake baking but relatively fewer mouths to feed. So when it came to baking the last birthday cake of the year, I knew for certain that it has to be not just a cake. A mousse cake was on my mind since long and I got the perfect opportunity to get that wish fulfilled. A soft and spongy Chocolate Cake layered with sinful Mango Mousse and neatly finished off with a beautiful Mango Glaze! A perfect dessert cake, you can also make it in individual portions by crumbling/cutting  the sponge and layering with alternate layers of the mousse. Do refer my notes at the end of the recipe.

Ingredients 

For the sponge 

2 egg whites

2 tbsp plus 2 tbsp fine sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

2 egg yolks 

50 ml milk (roughly 1/4 cup)

24 ml (roughly 1/8 cup) unflavored oil (I used extra light olive oil)

1/4 cup flour (preferably cake flour for a light sponge)

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder sifted 

 

For the mousse 

1 cup whipping cream 

1 1/2 cup sweetened mango pulp (I used canned alphonso pulp)

2 tbsp icing sugar

1 tbsp gelatin/agar agar powder 

4 tbsp water

For the glaze

1 cup sweetened mango pulp

1 tbsp gelatin/agar agar powder 

4 tbsp water 

Direction 

Start with making the sponge. Beat the egg whites with 2 tbsp sugar and cream of tartar until stiff peaks are formed. 

Now beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl along with the remaining sugar until pale yellow in color and creamy. Add the milk and the oil and beat further. Now add the sifted flour and cocoa mixture in two batches and mix well till no lumps remain. Now add half the egg whites into the yolk mixture and fold in till combined. Pour this mixture into the remaining egg whites and fold in to incorporate. Do not overmix. 

Preheat the oven at 180 degree celcius (should do halfway through the preparation) and grease and line a 6" round pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and the pan (after 5 minutes) and cool completely on a wire rack. 

While the cake cools, we can start with the mousse. Take a chilled bowl with chilled beaters and put the whipping cream along with the sugar and beat till stiff peaks form. The peaks should be able to hold their shape even when you tilt the bowl. 

Keep this bowl in the fridge (not freezer) while you prepare the mango puree. Sprinkle gelatin or agar agar in cold water and let it stand for 5 minutes. Now heat the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds till completely dissolved and you get a clear liquid. Mix well and let it come to room temperature before using. Make sure you continue stirring it so that it doesn't set. Now add the cooled gelatin liquid to the mango puree and mix well till no lumps remain. 

Take the whipped cream out of the fridge and fold in the mango puree until combined. Now line a 7" spring form pan (I used an 8" pan and so got a slightly bigger outer mousse layer; would highly recommend using a 7" instead) or cake ring with parchment paper on the bottom and the sides for easy release later. Slice the completely cooled cake (very important) into two and put one half into the prepared pan. 

Now spread half the mousse on top of this evenly and let it set slightly in the fridge for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, take the pan out and gently keep the other layer of cake on top and spread the remaining mousse as evenly as possible. Smooth out the top and keep it to set in the fridge for at least an hour or till it feels set to the touch. 

Once the mousse has set, start preparing the glaze. Again, prepare the gelatin in the same way like you did for the mousse. Pour the cooled gelatin into the mango puree and mix well. Pour this mixture gently on top of the set mousse and let it set for 1-2 hours or overnight. Decorate the top as you like and serve chilled!

Notes:

1. You can make it as individual portions by cutting the cake with a cookie cutter or crumbling the cake and layering it using the same procedure like you did for the cake. 

2. The procedure for making the mousse with agar agar powder will be the same. 

3. If you are a vegetarian, you can make an eggless cake using your recipe or any of my chocolate eggless cake recipes here and follow the rest of the procedure accordingly. 

Golden Baked Coconut Macaroons

Coconut is a very versatile fruit and it adapts itself to any dish very skilfully. Be it sweet or savory, a dip or a complete maincourse dish, the coconut always lends a lingering flavor to the recipe and makes it distinct and memorable. These macaroons are no less. Not only they are a weight watcher's delight with no flour or butter in its making, they are also easy to make and require just three main ingredients and are incredibly light and delicious to eat that you won't even realize when you emptied an entire batch. 

P.S.: Recipe adapted from Once Upon A Chef with some changes

                                   

Ingredients

390 gms grated coconut (I used fresh coconut but you can use dried coconut as well available in the bakery section of grocery stores)

Scant 1 cup low fat condensed milk (or regular is fine too)

1 tsp vanila extract

2 large egg whites

1/2 tsp salt

Direction

Start by dry roasting the coconut on the stove top in a pan. You may skip this step if you are using dried grated/dessicated coconut. Freshly grated coconut has a lot of moisture and hence needs to be lightly roasted to avoid a liquid batter. Dry roast the coconut till the moisture has evaporated and the coconut feels dry to the touch. Take care not to burn the coconut. Remove from stove and let it cool completely before proceeding to the next step. 

                                     

Preheat the oven at 175 degree celsius and keep a baking tray ready lined with parchment paper. 

Now, mix the condensed milk (make sure you use a little less than 1 cup) and the cooled and roasted coconut. Add the vanilla and mix and keep aside.

Now whip the egg whites with the salt till stiff peaks form. Fold in this into the coconut mixture and mix. Ensure that you only do gentle folding without flattening out the foam. 

                                      

Now take heaped tablespoons of the batter and drop them into the prepared baking tray. You might notice some liquid releasing from the batter. Try and avoid adding the liquid as you might have a burnt base if you add that, like I have in my first batch. You do not have to squeeze out the liquid, but instead just avoid scooping it into the tablespoon. Scoop more solids than liquid! Place the scoops one inch apart.

                                     

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes till the base and top are deep and slightly golden respectively. I like mine to be nicely golden on the top and so kept a few minutes longer. You can bake as you like yours to be. The cookies will be soft and chewy from inside and while baking they will still be soft to the touch. That's the way they are supposed to be and so do not worry about uncooked cookies.

                                       

Once done, remove from the oven and let them cool in the tray for a minute before transferring them to a wire rack for cooling completely.

                                     

I baked in three batches and got a total of around 36 cookies or maybe more as I could not count properly due to my constant munching. :D You can also dip these cookies halfway through into melted chocolate and then chill them for a few minutes or drizzle melted chocolate on the entire batch for a more indulgent bite!

 

Eggless Butterless Chai Cupcakes

My new bake book that I recently bought at the Bali Airport is quite an interesting read. This is the third recipe that I have tried and has amazed me once again. The best part about this book is that there are ample recipes which are eggless and butterless for regular baking as well as exotic recipes for those special days. I will keep posting my experiments here and you can try them as well in your kitchens!!

P.S.: Recipe inspired from Bake Happy by Judith Fertig

Ingredients 

1/2 cup boiling water 

1 tea bag or 1 tbsp good quality tea leaves

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour 

2 drops chai masala drops or 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground green cardamom, 1:4 tsp ground nutmeg 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp fine salt 

1/2 cup milk (can be replaced with almond milk/soy milk for vegan options)

1 tbsp cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/3 cup extra light olive oil or similar 

2 tsp vanila extract 

Direction 

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners and keep aside. In a small saucepan, brew the tea bag/tea leaves in hot water and keep covered for 15 minutes. Do not leave the stove on while brewing. Else, the tea will get bitter.  Let it cool. 

In a medium bowl,sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and the spices (if not using the spice drop). In a separate large mixing bowl, stir together the milk, brewed and cooled tea, and vinegar. Allow the mixture to sit for 1 minute and then mix in the oil and vinegar and the spice drop (if not using the ground spices). 

Now whisk the flour mixture into the milk mixture, one-third at a time. Keep whisking until the batter becomes smooth and starts to thicken. 

Pour the batter upto 1/3 of the liners and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and set the pans on wire racks to cool completely. 

Rum and Brown Sugar Banana Fool

Fool? Yes! This dessert is interestingly called a "Fool" by the English and is considered one of their classics. A Fool is a dessert made with cooked and mashed/puréed fruit and fluffy cream. The benign bananas are drizzled with spiced rum and baked till caramalized and then folded into light and fluffy whipped cream!! As easy a dessert as can be, this one is sure gonna blow your mind away, with its taste and its uniqueness. Try it, please!!

P.S.: Recipe adapted from Bake Happy

Ingredients 

2 very ripe bananas (I used frozen bananas as I had a huge stock of them and so froze them in ziplock bags to avoid getting spoilt)

2 tbsp white, dark, or spiced rum (I used 3 for some extra punch)

2 tbsp packed light brown sugar 

1 cup whipping cream 

Freshly grated nutmeg for garnishing

Freshly grated chocolate for garnishing

Direction 

Preheat the oven to 220 degree celcius. Line a 9" baking square dish with foil. Place the serving bowls/glasses in the freezer if you intend to serve the dessert right away. 

Arrange the peeled bananas in the prepared baking dish. If using frozen bananas, take them out from the freezer and let them come to room temperature before using. Drizzle them with the rum and sprinkle the sugar on top. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bananas are caramalized and soft. Remove the baking dish from the oven and let the bananas cool, then mash them in the baking dish. 

Meanwhile, whip the cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form and fold the whipped cream into the mashed, caramalized bananas using a spatula. 

Divide the fool among the prepared serving glasses or bowls. Top each portion with some grated nutmeg and grated chocolate and either chill it in the refrigerator until serving time or serve immediately in the chilled glasses. Enjoy!

Devil's Food Cake with Secret Creamcheese Filling

I take my home baker status quite seriously and so when it was my birthday on the first of this month, I was quite sure that while I would not mind a nice dinner outside, I would definitely love to bake my own cake, however simple it may be. 

On my recent trip to Bali, I brought back a wonderful book called "Bake Happy" by Judith Fertig. The book is a lovely collection of easy and interesting recipes and what better way to start than a special family day. Everyone loved the cake and it was my fastest moving cake till date. Got over in just one day!! Baking the cake was a bit tricky as I thought that the cake was baked but it wasn't actually which I knew only once I flipped the cake upside down. I immediately put it back in the oven with the top gently covered with an aluminium foil and my cake was perfectly done!! 

Ingredients 

Secret Creamcheese Filling 

1 package (8 oz/226gms) creamcheese at room temperature 

1 large egg beaten

1/2 tsp fine salt

1/4 cup brown sugar (original recipe called for 1/3 cup sugar but 1/4 was just perfect for me)

Devil's Food Cake

3 cups all purpose flour (I used cake flour)

1 1/2 cup brown sugar (again reduced the sugar from 2 cups to 1 1/2 cup as given in the original recipe and it was perfect)

1 tsp fine salt 

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 cups hot water

2 tsp apple cider vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar as I did not have at home)

2 tsp Vanila extract 

2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)

Direction 

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius. Now you can either prepare a muffin tray or a 10" cake pan for baking the cake. If baked as cupcakes, it will take lesser time and is more hassle free. I did both ways and find the cupcakes were easier to bake. It will take you two batches to bake the cupcakes in a 12 hole muffin tray. 

For the secret cream filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg, salt, and sugar. Set the filling aside while you prepare the batter. 

For the Devil's Food Cake, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl, mix together the baking soda and hot water, then stir in the vinegar and oil. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients little at a time and whisk with a balloon whisk or a spatula until the batter is smooth and evenly colored. 

Fill each cupcake liner (if using muffin pans) half full with batter. Spoon a large tablespoon of the filling on top of the batter in each cupcake liner. Cover the filling again with more batter. Repeat the process for all the prepared liners. If using a cake pan, grease it well and line it with parchment paper and grease again. Now pour half the batter, top it with the cream filling and cover it up with more batter. 

Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes or the cake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Please note, that the toothpick might have traces of the cream filling sticking to it. Look out for a clean chocolate crumb to ensure that the cake is cooked through. If the top seems to be getting too browned, cover it loosely with an aluminium foil. 

Remove the cake/cupcakes from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. 

P.S.: You can skip the cream filling part and enjoy the eggless chocolatey cake as is. It tastes absolutely delicious!! 

Citrus Biscotti

I am in love with citrusy flavors and this biscotti reinstates my love. It is bursting with an addictive citrus flavor right from the time you put it in the oven to when you take it out and take an irresistible bite into this crispy crunchy breakfast delight. It turned out more crumbly than I expected but nevertheless, I am not complaining. I love the crumbs as much as the biscotti. Twice baked, these are easy to assemble and handle and are a great breakfast with a hot cup of coffee and some muffins!! If you are watching your calories and yet craving for some baked delight, then this is what you should bake. With just 1 tbsp oil, a breakfast or any snack time cannot get any yummier than this!! 

Ingredients 

1 3/4 cup plain flour plus more for dusting

1/2 cup fine sugar

1 tsp baking powder 

2 eggs

1 tbsp oil (I used extra light olive oil)

1 1/2 tbsp citrus zest (I used a mix of lemon and orange zest; you can use whatever you have at hand)

1 tbsp lemon juice ( orange juice will work equally well)

1 tsp lemon/orange essence (if using orange juice, use orange essence and likewise for lemon essence)

Sliced pistachios for topping (optional)

Direction 

Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder in a bowl. In another bowl, mix the eggs, zest, essence, oil and lemon/orange juice. Now add the flour little at a time and mix with every addition. When it gets difficult to move the spoon, transfer the dough to a floured surface and with your hands lightly knead the dough for a few minutes and form a log. If the dough gets too sticky, add some flour 1 tbsp at a time till it is smooth and non sticky. 

Grease a baking tray and line it with parchment paper and grease again. Place the log on the greased plate and top it with sliced pistachios (or almonds). The taste of toasted nuts is too good to resist. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 175 degree celcius for 20-25 minutes till browned on top. 

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Now with a serrated knife, slice the loaf. Place it on the baking tray sliced side up and put it back into the oven for 10 minutes. Now, take it out and flip sides and put it back again for another 5 minutes. Your yummy crunchy biscottis are ready to be devoured. If they become soft the next day, you can pop them back into the oven for a few minutes till they are crunchy again!! Enjoy!!

Chocolate Orange Marble Cake

It's holiday time again and this time we are visiting the beautiful country of Taiwan. It's a short 4 day trip but mostly on the move. As such it's imperative to carry as much finger food and snacks as possible. With a toddler on board, hunger pangs can strike anytime and anywhere. Being prepared is a wise thing to do as such. Keeping my little one's and my preferences in mind, this chocolate orange marble cake has been baked and packed for this exciting and adventurous trip. See you all soon with more recipes and chit chat.... Till then, take care and lot of love!! 

Ingredients 

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs (you can increase this to 3 as well; I fell short of 1 egg but feel it will taste even better with an additional egg)

2 tsp orange essence (you can also substitute with vanilla essence)

100 ml orange juice (fresh is best, but canned will work as well)

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

50 ml milk

2 cups flour 

1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder 

1 1/2 tbsp orange zest (peel the skin of oranges with a peeler and cut it very fine; you can also use candied orange peel chopped very fine or dried orange peels)

Direction 

If using fresh orange, peel and cut the zest and keep aside and juice the orange. 

In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time and whip till smooth and creamy. Add the orange/vanilla essence (I strongly recommend using orange) and the orange juice. Whip further for a minute. Now add the flour mixed with the baking powder and baking soda alternating with the milk. Stir well till no lumps remain. Now divide the batter into two equal or unequal portions and mix in the cocoa powder into one (I mixed into the one with more quantity) and orange zest into the other. In case you do not have access to orange zest (either fresh or candied or dried) you can skip it. However, you must add the orange essence then in the first step to achieve the perfect orangey flavor. 

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree celcius for 10 minutes. Now take a 8" round pan and spray with cooking spray. Line it with parchment paper and spray again. This helps in easy release of the baked cake. Now alternately spread the two batters in whatever pattern you wish to. With the help of a long skewer or toothpick, make swirls in the batter to help form a pattern inside. 

Now bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack for cooling completely. Store in air tight containers once sliced. 

Zucchini Mozarella Tart with Sundried Tomatoes

When I was planning my all Italian dinner last week, the dish that troubled me most was this tart. With the restriction of making it eggless, I was completely clueless and could hardly find any ideas which would give the tart some body and not make it look like a pizza. I remembered a tart I had at my Dutch friend's house and I got in touch with her. She was kind enough to help me with the recipe and everything else just fell in place. It was so wonderful to see my guests enjoy the menu and I just couldn't stop feeling proud of myself. 

Ingredients 

1 9" pie crust (I used storebought pie crust mix)

1 block of Mozarella cheese (I used Gouda cheese as I had a block lying with me but mozzarella works equally fine)

1 zucchini cut into thin slices 

1 medium onion thinly sliced 

1/4 cup Sundried tomatoes drained 

Direction

Blind bake the pie crust as per the packet instructions. Blind baking is baking the rolled out dough fitted in the tart pan and pricked with a fork all over so that it doesn't rise up. You can also place a heavy weight like uncooked rajma, chick peas etc. 

Now let the pie crust cool completely before filling. Once cooled, grate the gouda/mozzarella cheese and spread all over the base covering all the corners. Now place the zucchini in circles starting from the outside. Now spread the onion slices similarly in between the zucchini and follow with the Sundried tomatoes and freshly chopped parsley. Finally, cover with another layer of grated Mozarella/gouda cheese and bake in the pre-heated oven at 200 degree celcius for 15-20 minutes till the cheese is melted and slightly golden and the zucchini softened. Keep the tart inside the oven for 5 more minutes after switching off so that the zucchini gets cooked without burning the cheese. 

Serve hot!

Baked Stuffed Capsicum

I always found stuffed veggies very interesting but the idea of getting them done, right from the scraping to filling to cooking deterred me. I had to organise a full vegetarian meal recently for some friends visiting from India, and with not too many options present, I decided to give it a try at last. The filling was super yummy and the sweet and rustic flavor of the capsicum complimented it very well. Very easy to prepare and no mess while cooking as well, I received rave reviews from my guests and family too. This is going to be a keeper now.

Ingredients 

For the filling 

4-5 medium tomatoes boiled and mashed

200 gms paneer crumbled 

2 tbsp cashew nuts finely chopped 

2 tbsp raisins 

1/2 tsp amchoor/dry mango powder 

1 tsp cumin powder 

1 tsp coriander powder 

1 tsp garam masala powder 

1 tsp red chilli powder 

Salt to taste

1 onion chopped 

1" piece ginger chopped 

1-2 green chillies finely chopped (optional)

Fresh coriander leaves chopped 

1 tsp oil

6 capsicums

Direction 

Wash and dry the capsicums with a kitchen towel and keep aside. 

In a bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, crumbled paneer, dry spices, nuts and salt. Heat oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions till soft. Add the ginger and fry for 2 more minutes. Now add the mashed potato mixture and mix well. Add coriander leaves and mix. Remove from heat and let it cool. 

Meanwhile, prepare the capsicums and pre-heat the oven at 200 degree celsius. Cut the top of the capsicums in a way to remove the seeds without spoiling the shape as shown in the picture below. 

Discard the seeds and keep the cap intact. Now carefully slice a bit of the base to make the capsicums stand straight without making any hole in the bottom. 

Now line a baking tray with aluminium foul and start filling the capsicums with the help of a spoon. Fill all the capsicums till the brim and grease the body with a bit of oil. Cover the top with the lid and place in the prepared baking tray. 

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes till slightly soft from the outside and the body lightly roasted. Serve hot!

Lemon Cake with Lemon Sugar Drizzle

Lemon cakes always sounded quite exotic to me and was synonymous with a cup of freshly brewed English Tea and a beachside villa with a stunning view of the sunset. I have had earlier attempts at making this cake but never succeeded until today including the frosting, which was an absolute shot in the dark as I wanted to experiment before my next order. The recipe was shared by a foodie friend after trying it out from Averiecooks.com and I just picked it up from there and added the frosting to make it more appealing and delicious. Lemon cakes, as easy as they sound, are sometimes quite tricky if you do not have the perfect recipe and rest assured, you can totally rely on this one for the most superbly moist and light lemon pound cake to enjoy your cuppa. So all the lemon lovers out there, do not miss out on this recipe 😋😋

Ingredients 

150 gms hung curd/greek yogurt

1/2 cup white fine sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar (you can use all white sugar. I ran out of white but I think next time I will use all brown)

2 large eggs room temperature 

1/2 cup refined oil (I used rice bran oil. You can use any neutral tasting oil you like)

1 1/2 tbsp lemon extract (it is important not to use lemon juice or lemon oil here as the taste and texture might change)

2 tbsp lemon zest (it is a daunting task and the easiest shortcut is to thinly peel the outer lemon cover and grind it to as fine a powder as possible)

1 1/2 cup maida/all purpose flour (I used cake flour)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder (I used 1 tsp double acting baking powder)

For the frosting 

90 gms icing sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice 

Few drops of water, if required 

Direction 

Pre-heat the oven at 175 degree celcius and grease a 8" baking pan and line it with parchment paper. 

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder and keep aside. 

Beat the sugar, eggs, and greek/hung yogurt till smooth and creamy. Add the oil while still whipping. The mixture should now be getting thicker and creamier. Follow this up with the lemon extract and lemon zest. Finally, add the flour in three batches, mixing well after each addition. Do not overmix though. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes or until done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for ten minutes and then cool on a wire rack completely. 

Once the cake has cooled down, take the icing sugar and the lemon juice and mix well. The mixture will resemble a thick creamy paste. You can add a few drops of water to it to slightly dilute it (remember, just a few drops!). Drizzle this on top of the cooled cake and let it set. It's okay if some of it drips down the sides. That's the lemon drizzle look!! Serve and enjoy it with your cuppa! 

Rainbow Swiss Roll

So it is our 7th Anniversary today. Seven years of togetherness, love, laughter, desperation, anxiety, enthusiasm and much more. While I have known him for 14 years now, it only seems like yesterday when we first met and even though our definition of love has changed with time, I still get perplexed and anxious whenever he is not around me. We may not be the perfect partners but we love to spend our lives together and enjoy the little joys of life , including our munchkin!

He often complains that I do not love him anymore and so do I. But at the end of the day, both of us know that however we might fight and argue over petty things, our love will sail us through and keep us together for all times to come. 

And as the rainbow depicts the seven colors of life and how, even though different, all the different colors contribute equally to make the rainbow look as beautiful as it looks, I dedicate this Rainbow Swiss Roll to our 7 years of togetherness and many more to come! Love you! 

Ingredients

4 large eggs separated (it is best to separate eggs when they are fresh and cold out of the refrigerator; once separated, bring them to room temperature before starting the procedure)

1/4 tsp salt

A pinch of cream of tartar (optional)

3/4 cup castor sugar

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanila extract

5-6 different gel based colors or food coloring powder (it is advisable to avoid using liquid food colors as they will liquify the batter. However, if using, then add in moderate qty so that the batter does not lose its texture)

Piping bags

For the filling

4 cups icing sugar 

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tbsp butter (preferably unsalted) cut into squares

120 ml milk at room temperature

P.S.: This is a standard chocolate sauce recipe. The excess sauce you can store in the fridge for later use. You can also use any filling as you wish like fresh fruit jam, whipped cream, etc. 

Direction

Take a 32x23 cm flat baking dish and grease it. Line the dish with parchment paper in a way that there are no bubbles or raised edges. It should be as smooth as possible. This will help you get a smooth wrinkle-free base once baked. The greasing of the bottom of the pan before lining helps keep the parchment paper in place. 

Now, take the bowl of egg whites (which you had separated while the egg was still cold from the fridge and brought to room temperature) and ensure that there are no drops of yolk or dirt in it. Add the salt and cream of tartar (if using) and beat them to stiff peaks but not dry. Takes about 10 minutes in the electric beater with the paddle attachment. To test if your egg whites are done, simply turn the bowl upside down and the entire mixture will still hold together without any spillage!

Now beat the egg yolks till creamy. Add the sugar little at a time and beat till a pale thick and creamy batter is formed. This will take another 5-10 minutes. I usually first beat the egg whites till stiff and then use the same attachment for the yolks. It is okay to have whites mixed in the yolk but strictly no for the reverse. Hence, if you intend to use the same attachment for both the whites and the yolks, you must always beat the whites first. 

Now sift the flour and baking powder. Add the vanilla extract to the batter and beat for a second until combined. Now, add the sifted flour to the batter in two batches and mix till smooth and no lumps remain. 

Now add this mixture into the egg whites and start folding in a single direction till the batter is well combined but not over mixed or deflated. You can also do the reverse and add the egg whites into the batter. Either way, we need to achieve a smooth batter. 

Now divide this batter equally into five bowls and add the food coloring of your choice. Take care to use different spoons for each bowl and not to mix and match any of them. That will spoil the color of the batter. The amount of coloring used will depend on how deep and distinct you want your rainbow to be. However, care must be taken while using liquid (water-based) coloring which might liquify the batter more than required. 

Now, fill the various colored batter into individual piping bags and keep them ready. 

Meanwhile, start pre-heating the oven at 180 degree celsius for 10 minutes. 

Make a small cut at the tip of the piping bag and start piping out a straight line kind of bar onto the prepared baking dish, one color at a time. Repeat till all the colored batter is used up. Do a double lining when you are done with a single layering. Take care not to overlap though. 

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Check at 10 minutes and then again in 2-3 minutes. A minute over baked and you are sure to get cracks on top while rolling as well as hard edges. 

Immediately remove from the baking dish and onto another parchment paper of the same size. Roll the swiss roll along with this parchment paper and let it cool. This will help gain its shape. When just warm, unroll it gently and spread the filling without spoiling the bend and roll up again.

 This time without the parchment paper. Once rolled, cover it up with the paper loosely and let it cool completely on a wire rack. 

Slice when cooled. You can also chill it and bring it slightly back to room temperature before serving.

For the filling

Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients together till smooth and creamy.