Matcha Red Velvet Christmas Colorful Cake Roll

This matcha and red velvet two-tone Swiss roll is simply the epitome of Christmas spirit! The red and green striped roll itself has a Christmas filter, and the strawberries on top are decorated with cream to resemble Santa hats, delicate and cute, instantly capturing the romantic feeling of Christmas and filling the entire Christmas atmosphere. In terms of taste, the bitterness of matcha intertwines with the sweetness of red velvet, paired with sweet cream and bursting fresh strawberries. The dense cake is wrapped in fruity and milky aromas, and every bite is a rich and layered sweetness, making the happiness of the Christmas season even more complete.

Ingredients

Steps

Weigh out 70 grams of low-gluten flour and set aside.
Prepare the food coloring. Take two clean small bowls, put 4g of red yeast rice powder in one bowl and 4g of matcha powder in the other, add about 10g of water to each (not in the recipe), and stir with a spoon until there are no small lumps. This will prevent small red and green lumps from appearing in the cake base, and the color will be brighter.
Weigh out 10 grams of cornstarch, 40 grams of white sugar, and prepare lemon juice (for whipping egg whites).
Prepare the batter base. Take the egg yolk bowl, pour in 20g of white sugar, 45g of corn oil, and 45g of milk, and whisk until fully combined and emulsified with no visible oil droplets.
Sift in the cake flour and use a spatula to fold it in an N-shaped motion until there are no dry flour particles.
Separate the egg whites and yolks. Crack the egg whites into a clean, dry bowl and set aside. Put the egg yolks into a flour batter bowl and stir in an N-shaped motion until smooth and even.
In a bowl, add lemon juice and cornstarch to the egg whites. Use an electric mixer on low speed to beat until foamy. Add the first portion of sugar. Continue beating on medium-high speed until the foam becomes finer. Add the second portion of sugar. Beat until clear lines appear. Add the third portion of sugar and beat on low speed until short, straight peaks form.
Mixing the meringue and egg yolk batter First, take 1/3 of the beaten meringue and fold it into the egg yolk batter using an N-shaped motion with a spatula until well combined. Then, pour the combined batter back into the remaining 2/3 of the meringue and continue folding in an N-shaped motion until fully incorporated and no white meringue granules are visible. Diluting the egg yolk batter before pouring it back into the meringue prevents the meringue from deflating, allowing the cake base to rise properly and reducing the likelihood of cracking when rolling.
Divide the batter and adjust the colors. Divide the mixed cake batter into two portions. Pour one portion into the prepared red yeast rice powder batter and the other into the matcha powder batter. Quickly fold each portion in an N-shaped motion with a spatula until well combined. Then transfer the mixture into two piping bags. Piping bags make it easier to pipe Christmas-style stripes.
Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F) for at least 10 minutes. Line a 28x28cm baking pan with parchment paper. Note: Now comes the test of your straight-line drawing skills! The size of the piping bag opening and the pressure applied when piping the batter must be consistent for both colors, otherwise the stripes will be crooked and form an "S" shape! Cut a small opening in each piping bag and pipe red yeast rice batter and matcha batter into the baking pan respectively, creating Christmas-themed stripes (see picture). After piping, lift the baking pan and gently drop it from a height of about 10cm twice to smooth the surface (it's okay if the colors mix). Release any large air bubbles, then place it in the middle rack of the oven and bake at 150°C (300°F) for 20 minutes. Immediately remove the baked cake from the oven, invert it onto a cooling rack, and while still warm, peel off the parchment paper. Allow the cake to cool completely.
While the cake base is cooling, whip the heavy cream with sugar until it reaches 90% stiffness (in summer, the room temperature should be kept below 20 degrees Celsius). Wash and dry the strawberries. With the cake base cooled completely, place it bottom up and use a knife to cut at a 45° angle on both sides, and lightly score a few shallow lines in the middle (do not cut all the way through).
Spread a thicker layer of cream on the side closest to you, then place chopped strawberries on top. Spread a thin layer of cream on the rest of the cake. Using parchment paper as a guide, quickly roll up the cake starting from the side closest to you (see video). After rolling, wrap the entire cake roll tightly with parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour to set.
Decorate as desired at the end. For this matcha and red velvet two-tone cake roll, I personally recommend pairing it with strawberry white cream for the best flavor combination; however, everyone is welcome to get creative and unlock their own unique combinations.