Brazo Gitano (Puerto Rican Swiss Roll)

Ingredients:
For the Sponge Roll:
4 eggs, separated
100g of sugar, divided equally into two containers
1 tsp vanilla extract
90g cake flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
4 tbs butter, melted and cooled
2 tbs butter at room temperature

For the Filling:
400g guava paste
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
60ml water

Method:

For the guava filling: Cut the guava paste into small, even-sized pieces so they melt fairly quickly but evenly. About 1 x 1 x 0.5cm seems to work for me.

Once you've chopped your guava paste, place a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the guava paste pieces along with the lemon juice and water. Cook, stirring constantly, to make sure notching sticks to the base of the pot and catches. It will take about 7–8 minutes to melt completely.

Once your guava paste is cut, take a pot and put it on the stove on medium high. Then add the guava paste, lemon juice and water to the pot and stir. Continue stirring every minute or so to make sure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

Once melted, turn into a bowl and set aside to cool. At this point pre-heat your oven to

It's now time to prepare the sponge for the roll. Take a Swiss (jelly) roll tin about 25 x 38cm and using 2 tbsp of the room temperature use your finger to spread the butter across the base and sides of your tin. Once tis tin is covered with butter place a sheet of parchment paper on the bottom of the tin and spread the remaining butter on top of the parchment paper. This will prevent the cake from sticking to the pan and also allow the cake to come out very easily after it is baked.

For the cake: start by sifting together the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Mix these ingredients together then set aside.

Transfer the egg whites to a clan and dry non-reactive bowl and beat until foamy. Now add to them half the first half of the sugar. With your mixer set on medium-high speed, work in the remainder of your first bowl of sugar about one tablespoon at a time. Beat for about 15 seconds before adding the next tablespoon of sugar. It is very important that you start with egg whites at room temperature as this will impact the consistency of the cake. Continue adding the remaining sugar until it is all incorporated, then increase the speed of the mixer to high and continue beating until you get firm peaks. The mixture will resemble shaving cream. Once done, set the egg whites aside until needed.

For the next step, take the egg yolks and add the remaining bowl of sugar and the vanilla extract. With the mixer on medium high speed, mix the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until the mixture becomes light in colour and creamy. This will take about 3 minutes. Now add in the melted butter and beat gently to just mix. Add in the flour mixture and blend everything on medium speed until everything is combined (about a minute's mixing). The last step is to fold in the egg whites.

Take about half of the egg whites and add them to the egg yolk mixture, using a rubber spatula. Slowly fold in the egg whites. Do this very slowly and gently as you don’t want to deflate the batter. Once it is all combined add the remaining egg white mixture and repeat the folding process, again slowly and gently to avoid deflating the batter.

Once the batter is ready, turn into the prepared baking tin and spread it slowly and evenly in the Swiss roll tin. Be gentle with this process as you don’t want to deflate the batter. Once the batter is smooth and even, transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until the cake is cooked through and lightly golden brown on top.

At this point, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 3 minutes. Using a butter knife, run the blade along the edges to make sure that the cake is not stuck to any edges. After the 3 minutes, sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar. Make sure that it is completely covered. Now place a damp, clean, kitchen towel on top of the cake and invert the cake into the towel. Remove the parchment paper from the cake. Then, gently roll the cake up with the towel applying firm pressure to the cake so it rolls up tightly without breaking.

Once rolled, let the cake cool in the rolled up shape for 15-20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, take a clean baking tray and line it with clingfilm (plastic wrap). Now, place the cake on top of the prepared tray. Using a spoon, start dropping spoonfuls of the guava filling on top of the cake, then use an offset spatula to smooth out the filling, making sure that it is about the same thickness throughout the cake. Continue adding the filling, but make sure to leave about a 1 inch space at the end of the cake with no filling.

Once the filling has been evenly spread across the sponge, roll the cake back up. Again, applying gentle pressure as you roll. Then, roll the cake again into the plastic wrap and let it cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes. This will ensure that the filling will not come out of the cake when you cut into it and also that the cake will maintain its shape.

After the cake is completely cool, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar. Be generous with the powdered sugar this time.

Brazo Gitano (Puerto Rican Swiss Roll)

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