Go Back

Year of the Ox Roll Cake

Happy Year of the Ox! To celebrate, we're making this cute roll cake that looks like an ox with mandarin orange cream filling! Get my Lunar New Year shirt! bit.ly/2YUIiCR How to write the "lucky" Chinese character: https://bit.ly/3dMsrzb
Course: dessert
Cuisine: american
Keyword: Cake

Ingredients

Pattern:

  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3 large egg whites
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • black food coloring

Cake Batter:

  • 5 tbsp unsalted butter melted and cooled
  • 6 large eggs yolks and white separated
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

  • 1 cup whipping cream cold
  • 2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup clementine jam

Lucky envelopes:

  • ¼ cup red candy melts
  • ¼ cup yellow candy melts

Topping:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • ½ cup cream cheese room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • black food coloring
  • 10-14 whole cashews

Instructions

Make the pattern:

  • Beat the butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Add the eggs whites and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour on low speed. Add a couple drops of black food coloring to dye the batter black.
  • Line a swiss roll pan with parchment paper. Spoon the black batter onto the parchment paper and make a cow pattern. These don’t have to be too exact, just don’t make them very thick. This batter is much more dense than the cake batter, so if it is spread too thick, the cake will be difficult to roll up.
  • Transfer the pan to the freezer and freeze for 30 minutes.

Make the cake batter:

  • Beat the 6 egg whites and salt with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add half of the sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks are formed.
  • In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and remaining sugar with an electric mixer until pale and doubled in volume. Gradually add the vanilla extract and butter and mix until well combined.
  • Add the flour to the batter in 2 additions, alternating with the egg whites.
  • Pour the batter into the swiss roll cake pan, on top of the pattern. Gently smooth the surface and bake at 350F for 13-15 minutes, until the edges are golden.
  • Dust a large sheet of wax paper with confectioner’s sugar. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, invert it onto the wax paper. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper, place another layer of wax paper on top, then invert again, so that the patterned side is facing down. Starting at one long end, gently roll the cake up. Wrap in a kitchen towel and cool completely.

Make the filling:

  • Beat the whipping cream with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract and beat until stiff peaks form.
  • Add the clementine jam and fold to combine.

Assembly:

  • Gently unroll the cake and peel off the wax paper. Spread the filling into the cake and roll the cake back up again.
  • Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 4 hours, or up to overnight.

Make the lucky envelopes:

  • Place the red candy melts into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until melted, stirring well at each interval.
  • Pour the candy melts onto a sheet of parchment paper. Spread out the candy melts to ¼ inch thick.
  • Use a sharp knife to draw squares into the candy melts while they are still wet. Repeat again, along the same grooves, when the candy melts are almost set. This will allow the candy melts to break into perfect squares. Note: in the video I used a wide skewer, but I tried again while the camera was off and a sharp knife works much better.)
  • Leave the candy melts at room temperature, or transfer to the fridge, to set. About 20-30 minutes.
  • Once hardened, it’s time to melt the yellow candy melts. Place them into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals until melted, stirring well at each interval. Spoon them into a piping bag fitted with a small, round piping tip.
  • Pipe the symbol for luck onto the red squares. Allow these to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, until the yellow candy melts have hardened. Set aside until ready to use.

Make the topping:

  • In a medium-sized bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the confectioner’s sugar and mix until light and fluffy.
  • Place a large, star-shaped piping tip (I used a #2D tip) into a piping bag. Spread half of the buttercream vertically into one half of the piping bag.
  • Dye the remaining buttercream black. Spoon the black buttercream into the remaining half of the piping bag. Pipe the buttercream back into the bowl until you see both colors come out.

Decorate the cake:

  • Use a serrated knife to trim off the ends of the roll cake. This will make the cake look nice and clean. Place the cake on your serving platter.
  • Pipe buttercream swirls onto the top of the cake.
  • Stick pairs of cashews into the buttercream as cow horns. You should have one set of horns for each slice of cake. Top with some gold edible glitter and the lucky envelopes and enjoy!

Video