Saturday, June 5, 2010

Words of Wisdom and a Blackforest Chocolate Swiss Roll

My sister sent me an email a few days ago with this story. After reading it, I thought it was extremely meaningful and wanted to share this with you.

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday. Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older.

And, there on television, she said it was 'exciting...'

Regarding body changes, she said there were many, occurring every day.....like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first.

The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words!

Maya Angelou said this:

'I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.'

'I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.'

'I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.'

'I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a life.'

'I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.'

'I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back...'

'I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision..'

'I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one..'

'I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back...'

'I've learned that I still have a lot to learn..'

'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'


If you think this story is worthwhile to share around, by all means please do so.

Swiss roll 2


Blackforest Chocolate Swiss Roll
Recipe Adapted from Creative Culinaire

Ingredients for the Cake Roll:

100g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
15g cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
50g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
60g vegetable oil (like corn oil or canola oil)
75g water (at room temperature)
5 eggs (60g per egg), separate the yolks from the whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
70g caster sugar

Method:

1) Grease a full size jelly pan and line with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 200C.

2) Sift together cake flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda into a clean bowl and set aside.

3) In another bowl, whisk by hand the egg yolks, 50g sugar, oil and water until the mixture is light in colour and slightly thicken. This should take about 1 minute.

4) Add the flour mixture to the egg and whisk until smooth. Set aside.

5) In a clean bowl whip the egg whites until slightly frothy. Then add in the cream of tartar and continue to whip for about 1 minute. Then add the remaining 70g sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks.

6) Fold 1/3 of the egg meringue into the yolk mixture. Fold gently until mixed well. Then add in the remaining 2/3 meringue and continue to fold gently using either a whisk or spatula. Fold only until the white streaks have disappeared. Do not overfold or you may deflate the batter.

7) Pour into the lined jelly pan and smoothen the top to ensure an even surface. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Check at 10 minutes baking time - do not over bake or your roll will become hard.

8) Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes before removing parchment paper. The roll should be completely cool before adding the whipped cream.

To Assemble:

1) Trim off the sides of the roll to have clean lines. Place the roll on top of a clean sheet of parchment paper. Place one side of the long end of the roll at the edge of the parchment. This will allow you to roll the jelly roll easily.

2) Spread the roll with some chocolate ganache. Leave a border around the edge. Then spread some whipped cream on top of the ganache. Sprinkle canned sweet cherries randomly on top of the cream.

3) Using the end of the parchment paper, start to roll away from you. Keep the roll tight as you continue to roll. Once you have finished use the parchment to wrap the entire jelly roll and place it into the refrigerator to set for about 3 hours.

4) To serve dust the roll with some icing sugar.

Swiss roll 1


Swiss roll 3

15 comments:

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

wor, this look too good and yummy. Thanks for sharing the meaningful of words..Have a nice weeekend.

Quinn said...

It's a great story with lots of moral to extract, I truly agree one can never stop learning and knowledge knows no boundary. That is a beautiful black forest roll. Unfortunately, cherry season is just over a month back and I'll have to wait for the right time to make these very awesome looking roll!

Unknown said...

Hi,

Thks for sharing the great story.

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

Beautiful post, Jo. Words of wisdom, indeed. Thank you for this! And the swiss roll ... you always add pretty little touches to make it "your own".

Angie's Recipes said...

Jo, thanks for sharing such a beautiful post and a delicious Swiss roll, which happens to be my favourite kind of cake.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

What meaningful words. She is indeed an awesome lady. Apart from Chiffon, the swiss roll is my other favourite cake. Applauding you for trying something different.

Parita said...

Those were truly the words of wisdom, very well said, blackforest roll looks awesome!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for passing on those wise words. Now if I can just keep them in mind in tough times, I'll be fine!

Lisa said...

Jo..I just read Maya's wisdom and wit to three people. Love that you posted that. She is truly an inspiration :)

Your Black Forest Swiss Roll looks absolutely delicious and I LOVE the lady bugs on top!

On another note, also loving the milk bread below, using pandan. I've never worked with or tasted pandan leaves, but I've seen so many bloggers make such beautiful breads and cakes with it, yours being one of the prettiest! Definitely 'inspired' to try that bread!

noobcook said...

your swiss roll looks superb and I love the bug icing decoration ^^

pigpigscorner said...

Very meaningful post! The roll looks amazing!

kitchen flavours said...

It's a great meaningful story, thanks for sharing. Your swiss roll looks really nice. Have a good day!

tigerfish said...

Thanks for sharing those words of wisdom....and I've learned to enjoy many good cakes and bakes from you.

Pei-Lin said...

Jo, thank you so much to you and your sis for sharing such a touching story! Thank you! I couldn't help but to nod my head in agreement as I read through the article. Especially, the one whereby it says people will never forget how you make them feel, I'd have to say it's true. I feel that way, too! All of us are humans. We just need that boost to keep us going, that pat-on-the-back to push us further ... towards our goals! I myself try doing this every day, be it at work, home or with friends. And when people do the same to me, I feel oh-so nice! Really! Of course, I do hope what they say is true and earnest. I don't like lies. Neither do you, right?

Btw, lovely roulade! It's been eons since I last made roulade! Thanks for the reminder!

Jo said...

Hi all, thanks for dropping by and leaving me your comments. I am glad you found these words so meaningful and true.

Hi Lisa, thanks for passing on these "words of wisdom".

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