M’sian Baker Creates Deepavali Swiss Roll With Oil Lamp & Peacock Feathers
Deepavali is only a few days away, which means the streets in Little India will be decked out in vibrant lights.
A baker in Malaysia hopes to elevate the occasion in another way, with a signature roll for her Hindu friends. She shared her Deepavali swiss roll on the Subtle Asian Baking Facebook group.
To commemorate the event’s exclusive traditions, her version is decorated with meticulous oil lamps and peacock feathers.
Let’s take a look at this successful attempt to celebrate Deepavali with a delicious confection.
Rolls with sweet potato cream cheese filling
Ms Keem Ooi’s Deepavali swiss rolls come with a beautiful sweet potato cream cheese filling.
Similarly to our dazzling lanterns, this version seems to light up — with a striking pattern of an oil lamp and peacock feathers.
Amateur bakers may relate to the struggle of keeping their hands steady while applying a simple icing.
So, we can only imagine the painstaking effort it took to create these symmetrical feathers.
How to bake a basic roll
According to Ms Ooi’s recipe, this detailed swiss roll requires the fusion of 3 elements — a basic roll cake, decorative patterns, and sweet potato filling.
The basic roll is created by mixing oil, egg yolks and sugar, then adding sifted flour into the batter.
Next, whip the meringue until it becomes firm and fold it into the egg yolk batter in 3 portions. Fold the batter gently and mix until the concoction is even.
Afterwards, pour the original batter into a pan and smoothen the top.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and bake the concoction for 17 minutes.
Once it’s done, slide the cooked cake onto a rack. Wrap it with a clean piece of greaseproof paper, invert and peel off the baking sheet.
Finally, cover it with a filling until it’s slightly warm.
How to bake the filling & decorative patterns
For the purple sweet potato filling, she beat whipped cream until it became stiff, then set the bowl aside.
In a separate bowl, she beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and butter until it becomes airy and smooth. The batter was folded into the whipped cream after that.
Lastly, she added the purple sweet potato powder until she was able to get the desired pastel violet tone that she wanted.
Meanwhile, creating a detailed pattern of peacock feathers and oil lamps probably requires next-level artistic skills.
But if you want to give it a try, scoop 15 grams of butter from the main sponge cake batter, and add 1 gram of sited flour combined with a gel of natural colour.
You can view the list of ingredients and original recipe in her Facebook post, but you’ve to join the group first.
Celebrating the festival of lights
Deepavali is usually celebrated by Hindus with meetups and reunions among families and friends.
However, due to safe distancing rules caused by the pandemic, the upcoming holiday will probably see smaller gatherings.
Thus, by gifting good food, it guarantees you’ll be able to spread the cheer even when you’re apart.
Besides the Deepavali swiss rolls, Ms Ooi also creates Shiba Inu and Totoro cakes and bread. Stay tuned to her artistic bakes at her Instagram handle @keempossible_2.
How will you celebrate the upcoming festival of lights? Share your festive ideas in the comments below.
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Featured images adapted from Instagram.
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