I haven’t had enough of strawberries this year, at least in my recipes. I made those lovely gluten free picnic-y strawberry and almond friands to enjoy the spring season, but that was it, I guess. And I feel it would be an injustice done to this lovely spring fruit. Every year I make a number of recipes with strawberries during this time of the year, before I start to stash away bagfuls of them in my freezer, so that I can enjoy them all through out the year. Nonetheless, they taste better when fresh. And that makes me to use them as maximum as I can during the season. I had been wanting to make a Swiss roll, all because my sister loves Swiss roll a lot. And she remembers eating all those Swiss roll cakes I had made previously. Weather it was the autumnal pumpkin mascarpone or it was the lovely pomegranate and strawberry filling, she has never forgotten the flavours. I think it makes her feel kid at heart just by looking at her share of a Swiss roll cake. Now how I can be so sure about that? Because, this is how I feel too. And there is this strange connection between siblings about certain things. You share the similar thoughts about some things, even when unspoken. So, this was on my list from a very long time now, you see. And I plan too make some more this year with some other filling too. May be mangoes, chocolate or coconut, who know! I knew that strawberries pair really well with white chocolate after I made strawberries and white chocolate mousse last year for the new year celebrations. Few of my friends went so crazy about these that I had to make that dessert thrice again for them. So definitely it’s a crowd pleasing concoction for sure. But I didn’t stop there this time and the imagination went wild when I saw this tiny little box of sumac I saw in my pantry. Sumac has a distinct tangy taste. And that is originally a dried berry powder which would surely enhance the sweet and sour flavour of fresh juicy strawberries, just the way a nice squeeze of lemon would probably do. And it did just the way I had thought it to be. It was lovely tangy more pronounced berry flavour which paired perfectly with the sweet creamy white chocolate and mascarpone filled roll cake.
- 5 eggs, 3 separated and 2 whole
- 100 gm caster sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp hot water
- 80 gm white chocolate
- 100 gm all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 50 gm butter, melted
- 55 gm caster sugar, extra
- 375 gm strawberries, hulled and sliced thinly
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp sumac
- 250 gm mascarpone
- 125 ml heavy cream
- Preheat oven to 200 degree C. Grease a 10 inches x 12 inches Swiss roll pan; line base and long sides with baking paper, extending the paper over edges.
- Beat 3 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs and caster sugar in a medium bowl for 5 minutes, until pale and very thick. Pour the hot water down inside the bowl; add chocolate followed by melted butter; gently fold in the flour and baking powder until just combined.
- Beat egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture into two batches, until just combined. Spread mixture into pan.
- Bake the cake for 12 minutes or until golden and sponge springs back when pressed lightly with a finger.
- Meanwhile, dust a kitchen towel, larger than the pan, generously with extra sugar. Turn hot sponge onto the kitchen towel. Peel away the parchment paper gently from the sponge. Working quickly and using towel as a guide, roll the sponge from a long side. Cool for 10 minutes. Unroll the sponge, remove towel, redpoll, cover with a clean towel, cool.
- Combine strawberries, sifted icing sugar and half of the sumac in a medium bowl. Cover and refer iterate for 30 minutes.
- Beat mascarpone and cream in a bowl, until firm peeks form.
- Unroll the cooled sponge; spread with cream mixture. Top with half the strawberries. Refill sponge tightly to enclose the filling. Serve topped with remaining strawberries, sprinkle with remaining sumac.
Dark chocolate puds, brownies, cakes and all other chocolate desserts are my favourite and they taste even better if topped with a generous scoop of very nice vanilla ice cream. And you can go down the heavenly lanes of taste even further if you drizzle some warm chocolate fudge sauce on top of it. It might sound highly sinful but believe me, we all love such sinful desserts once in a while. 
And there are times when you crave for such goodness so badly. I have not had even a good dark chocolate bar in recent times, forget about pudding or a cake. Summer had been putting me off from the chocolate and I had been gorging more on fruits than anything else for the dessert. But trust me, you can not stay away from dark chocolate for long if you love having desserts so much. 
I had been flipping through the pages of Oz magazine Delicious, which my friend brought me last year, and you know what, it had a large section on chocolate. I felt almost trapped and I couldn’t resist. And I had to make this Self saucing chocolate pudding from Australian Masterchef Matt Preston. 
I have a special place for the classic vintage recipes in my heart. Be it an Indian Kheer (rice pudding) or a Dark chocolate pudding, they have an impact like no other recipe can ever have. And this pudding is amazingly easy and takes no time to bake. It rather surprises you when the sauce oozes out of the bottom of the pan when you dig in your first spoon into it. It is almost magical and divinely tasteful. 
I divided the pudding to be baked into three smaller pie dishes, but if you like you can make it in one single large ovenproof dish. You can enjoy it warm with some pouring cream or vanilla ice cream or even cold straight out of fridge. 
I’ve seemingly started loving gluten free recipes as much as I adore the classic flour based cakes and bakes. And the lighter and fresher after feel is an added bonus. I have been avoiding the refined flour in my cooking from past few weeks. Whole grains and nut meals have recently replaced the refined flour completely. Every now and then I come across a beautiful recipe, mind starts working on ways to substitute refined flour with some better alternatives. 
Here weather has started to change and few rain showers have started making way for summer fruits to say goodbye soon. Now peaches, plums and cherries will soon be invisible. And to tap the opportunity to cook/bake with them to as maximum as possible, I decided to bake something with plums. Few days back, I baked this 
I had this lovely Italian gluten free almond cake recipe from 
I adapted the recipe to my taste slightly and replaced the almond flakes topping with the almond meal. I topped the cake with more decadent white chocolate whipped ganache. And how could I forget my obedient ingredient Plum! I picked this amazing idea of roasting them with fragrant rosemary from 
So, here two of my favorite cookbooks meet together to make this ever so wonderful and yummiest concoction, A gluten free almond cake topped with white chocolate ganache and rosemary roasted plums. 
