French summer log cake
( Il tronchetto d'estate )

Recipe for French summer log cake

Preparation and cooking

• - Prepare and cook cake dough.
  Lightly grease 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly roll pan.
  Line bottom with waxed paper.
  Grease again. Use 25g (1 ounce) of butter for greasing.
  Set aside.
  Preheat oven to 200°C (400°C)
  Weigh flour and set aside.
  Put 25g (1 ounce) of butter in a little saucepan in a bain-marie.
  Beat egg yolks at high speed until thick in a mixing bowl, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  Gradually beat in sugar and vanilla powder until blended.
  Let butter melt in the bain-marie.
  Sprinkle flour over the beaten yolk mixture and stir accurately avoiding lumps of flour.
  Add melted butter too and stir with delicacy.
  In another mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt at high speed until foamy.
  Fold whipped whites into beaten yolk mixture in circular movements from the bottom upwards, using a wooden spoon.
  Pour your dough into prepared pan.
  Level its surface up to 1-1,5cm (0.4-0.6in) high with a spatula.
  Bake, 8 minutes.
  It doesn't become dry.
  Then let the cake cool, about 30 minutes.
• - Fill your cake.
  Transfer the cake in a tray with its waxed paper.
  Be sure the tray is OK for the freezer.
  Get out of the freezer the ice cream you've chosen for the filling.
  Brush the surface of the cake with a mixture made with Cointreau and milk.
  Then spoon the softened ice cream on it.
  At this point roll up your cake starting from long edge.
  Keep your cake on its waxed paper.
  Put it in the freezer, almost 1 hour.
• - The last step.
  After this time get the cake and chocolate ice cream out of the freezer.
  Cut the rolled cake into two pieces of different length and arrange them on a serving plate as you can see in the photo.
  Spoon softened chocolate ice cream on the surface of both pieces.
  Create tree-bark effects using a small spatula or, simplier, a fork.
  Make quickly this step.
  Keep your cake in the freezer until serving.

Just before serving

• - Get the cake out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
• - Decorate with candied or fresh fruit or flower petals .
• - Serve at once

Note

Tips

• - Choose the ice cream you prefer for filling: cream and straberries or cream and cherries ....
• - If you use rose petals for garnishing your cake remember not to use roses that had pesticidal treatments.
  You could also frost your petals: beat an egg yolk, dip your petals first into beaten yolk and then into sugar. Let them dry. Your decorations are ready! Put them on cake just before serving.

Menu planning

• - I share with you my full menu I planned when I served my cake for the first time for a family special occasion. All links to suggested recipe in the next paragraph!
  Starter: mini pizzas topped with anchovies or sliced frankfurter. I served the same wine chosen for menu to my guests while they're waiting to sit at table.
  First course: pasta salad with rabbit and black truffle. Fantastic, my favorite pasta salad. If you want you can consult other cold pasta ideas or rice salad.
  Mid-course: it's a special dish served in celebration menus between pasta or rice course and meat or fish course. In this case I prepared single-serving tarts filled with potatoes and zucchini flowers. I substituted bread dough with salt shortcrust pastry. Delicious tidbits! Read more on pie with zucchini flowers.
  Meat course: roast beef accompanied by Russian salad.
  Dessert: my French summer log cake.
  Match a white or rosé wine.
  All my courses were ready in advanceexcept for cake decoration but I did it very quickly as you can see on the photo.

Useful links for this recipe

• - I begin with the link to French Christmas log cake.
• - Consult our pizza directory for other pizza top ideas.
• - Here's the recipe for pasta salad with rabbit and black truffle, a refined pasta dish for your best menus!
  Do you prefer rice salad?
• - Savory tarts or pies are useful solutions for a great number of my menus. They can be a starter, accompaniment for fish or meat dishes or a mid-course as in this case. Read more on zucchini flower savory tart how-to. Want to know how I make salt shortcrust pastry?
• - I often choose roast beef accompanied by Russian salad because is a very refined combination.

Healthy eating

• - I must say that this is a low-calorie cake if compared with many others. But it is made with small amount of flour. That's why it has few calories. It's like eating a little bowl of ice cream together with a biscuit.
  Yeah but don't cry victory too soon! It usually concludes a high-calorie lunch or dinner and then ... ;)
  For all the sweets you have to think of sugar amount. Elaborate desserts should be eaten rarely and we should instead focus on dry or baked cakes with a little sugar.
• - Fiber per serving in this cake: 0.1g

Loretta

What's the right wine for " French summer log cake "?

Serve only a very cold orange-flavoured liqueur (arancino) after eating this cake or another liqueur.