Bolo de Rolo – Brazilian Roll recipe

I was surprised to find ‘bolo de rolo’ at the Colombian Festival at the Cookbook Cafe at the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane in London.
Bolo de rolo , Brazilian roulade or roll,  is a typical cake served at breakfast, parties or as a snack in the Northwest of Brazil in particular Pernambuco.  It’s a classic Brazilian confectionery. The very light sponge is filled with a sweet and red/pink guava paste that melts in the mouth. It’s made of very thin layers of cake and rolled one by one. The thinness of the layers make this cake very interesting.  I haven’t been able to master it yet. I still practicing!   Warning: It’s addictive!

 Bolo de Rolo Recipe

Utensils
shallow pan(s)
cloth/ kitchen towel
hand held electric mixer
2 large bowls
greaseproof paper
 
Ingredients:
250 gr of sugar
250 gr of butter at room temperature
5  large organic eggs
250 gr of sifted flour
1 / 2 can (s) of guava
The guava paste can be bought at here.
First, prepare the guava paste by placing it in a pan with a 1/4 cup of water in medium heat till melted, keep stirring. Reserve.
Guava paste ready to fill the Bolo de Rollo
In a clean and grease free bowl beat the egg whites till they double in volume. The texture of the beaten egg whites should be of stiff and firm peaks. Reserve.
In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, the egg yolks and the butter till the mixture is pale yellow. Now, add the yolks into the cake mixture one by one.  Add the beaten egg whites, the sifted flour and fold into the roll mixture gently.
Divide the roll mixture in five and spread tinnily into the shallow pans which should be greased with butter, flour and greaseproof paper. In a pre-heated oven,  bake one cake at a time, briefly. They should be cooked, springy and pale.  Once the first cake is ready, you must work quickly.
In a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with sugar lay the warm baked cake. Trim the  borders of the cake. Spread a layer of thin guava paste and wrap quickly, with the help of the towel. Repeat the same process, until the last layer. Place the Bolo de rolo on a serving dish and sprinkle with sugar.
Tip 1: when starting the baking process you must pay attention and make sure you don’t get distracted as the process of spreading the paste and rolling is quick and it’s done layer by layer with the cake still warm. The very thin layers of cake can cool down quickly making rolling difficult.
Tip 2: Egg whites should be separated when cold and whipped when at room temperature. Egg whites will beat when cold, but it has to be done longer, while at room temperature they beat faster with a great increase in volume, giving a finer texture.
Bolo de Rolo
Bolo de Rolo looks great and it’s always a talking point at any gathering.
Cookbook Cafe
A Brazilian Classic
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3 Comments

  1. Debbie
    October 26, 2011 / 4:14 pm

    OMG That looks difficult and gorgeous and delicious.

  2. October 27, 2011 / 7:27 am

    I know! I need a lot of practice to get it right. One day…

  3. October 30, 2011 / 5:41 pm

    This sounds so interesting! Would like to try this one day, is this your perfected recipe? I can imagine the sponge layers would be light and fluffy, Delish!