I am well aware that it has been slightly over a month since my last post, and thanks to the kind thoughts and concern by some of my readers and blog friends who dropped me a note (you know you are), I reckon a slight nudge was all it took to get me off my rear and resume sharing my bakes. You could call it a long writer-cum-baker’s block of sorts, I guess. Anyway, adhering to the mantra ‘better late than never’, here’s wishing all my Muslim readers a blessed and joyous month of Ramadhan! It has already been well into the second week of the holy fasting month now here in Singapore, and if my Twitter timeline is anything to go by, it seems that more people are keen on baking their own sweet treats for Eid, and have already begun their own oven experiments.
It appears to be the most opportune time then to kickstart this year’s edition of Ramadhan Baking, where I share some of my own ‘Eid-bakes’ experiments, as well as household favourites.
Being a huge Nutella fan, I’ve been eyeing this cake for quite some time now, but having had horrid experiences of cracked cake rolls over the years (I limit myself to attempt baking one swiss roll cake per year only), I had my trepidations. Undoubtedly, this would be half the effort (and fear), since it merely requires a fold, rather than a roll, but one can never be too sure, right?
Fortunately, this recipe allayed my fears once I saw how thick and fluffy the batter was. Besides needing to pipe the plain batter out in order to ensure the two colours wouldn’t bleed, the recipe is very much straightforward and hassle-free. The resultant rolls were fluffy, spongey, and quickly wiped out, but most importantly, a breeze to work with for those who fear the cracking syndrome like I did. And perhaps, just perhaps, this is the nudge I need to give the much-coveted swiss roll a try next year for Eid?
Kek Tapak Kuda Nutella (Nutella Horseshoe Cake)
(adapted from here; makes 2 rolls)
3 eggs
2 egg whites
115 grams castor sugar
1⁄2 tablespoon ovalette
55 grams cake flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
70 grams melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1⁄2 teaspoon chocolate emulco
Nutella
Whisk eggs, sugar and ovalette at a low speed, then on medium for about 8-10 mins, until thick and fluffy.
Add in flour and baking powder, and beat until combined well. Mix in the melted butter and vanilla essence.
Divide the batter into two, and add chocolate emulco to one half. Pour the chocolate batter evenly into a lined and greased 10-inch square pan.
Scoop the plain batter into a piping bag, and pipe the plain batter evenly over the chocolate batter, being careful not to mix the two.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20-25 mins (mine was done in 15mins).
Cool slightly, then remove cake from pan. Spread Nutella over the chocolate side while it’s still warm.
Cut the cake into two, and gently fold over lengthwise.
Mmmmm…. These taste lovely, indeed!
I like it that they’re not too sweet!
And please, please do give the swiss rolls a try!
(Poko seconds the motion!)
When I’ve mustered enough courage, I will InsyaAllah
But since I’m not a fan, I’ll be depending on you to finish em up! Amaciiiiam, ada bayekkk? 
Glad to have you bake oops…. back. The cake looks so yummy and the shot do everything to make it even more.
Hope you have a lovely Ramadaan with family, food and prayers.
Glad to see you posting again..
Ramadan mubarak..I haven’t really started thinking about Eid yet..but these nutella cakes are surely tempting
Anita: Awww thanks, sweetie!
thefooddoctor: Ramadhan Kareem to you too
These nutella cakes are definitely hitting the Eid table for me!
OMG! Looks super yummy!… i hope to try this sometime!!
thanks for sharing!
Hi sweetie, lama tak dengar! Hope you’ll give it a go
I love Nutella treats. This looks so good with that gooey Nutella center.
One can never say no to Nutella!
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At first glance I thought was nutella pancake! Hee im sure it taste wonderful as long as there is nutella
Nutella pancake! Yummmmz
Oh, I completely hear you about the writer’s block. And the more backlogged I get with my posts, the worst it seems to be.
Anyway these really actually remind me of those thick peanut pancakes, just made so much better with the ever classic Nutella
Yesyesyes, I’ve got so many backlog entries waiting to see the light of day! And oooh, now you’ve got me wanting those thick peanut pancakes ~haha
My favourite Eid treat! Always look forward to this every year!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Btw, I can get cake flour from any baking shop is it? It is called “Cake Flour” on the pack?
No problem! Yup, it’s written cake flour. Sometimes your normal supermarkets will have it too
How beautiful! I’ve never seen a horseshoe cake before! This looks absolutely delicious
every year, i see home bakers selling this. i told myself that there is no way i’m gonna buy them, cos i’ll need at least a dozen just for ‘personal taste-testing’. LOL! for posting this so thankyewwwwwwww for posting this recipe… though i think i’ll have to make it many-many-many-many-many-many times… cos i’ve a household of nutella freaks.
Oh this looks amazing. What’s emulco and ovalette? Can I substitute, or are they integral to the recipe?
carlysulli: It sure tastes delicious; give it a go!
shaffy: Haha, I love you need at least a dozen just for taste-testing!! We should totally live next door to each other; our whole lane would smell of Nutella
Avanika: You can substitute the emulco with any chocolate flavouring / essence, and the ovalette is actually a sponge cake stabiliser, so you can find the equivalent (emulsifier / stabiliser) where you are
I love coming to your blog to get a fill of Nutella and apple awesomeness.
Awwww! Hehe
I’ve been looking for this recipe for the longest time!!! Thank you so much!!
Hi.. Was jus wondering.. 3 eggs, 2 egg whites.. Meaning 3 egg yolk and 5 egg whites?
Is that so? Thank you..
Hi nynablackbook, yup you’re right!
Assalam. Hi
as for the eggs, is it 3 whole eggs or just 3 egg yolks? ’cause from the original recipe it doesn’t say whole egg. or is it ’cause this is half of the original recipe so you need 3 whole eggs? (I hope I’m not confusing you here :/)
Hi, tried this recipe and it failed. The consistency already looked a bit off. It looked too runny so we were tickled n wondered how to pipe the batter. Haha.. After baking, it came out dense. Jelly-ish rather than cake. N it tasted just of eggs. Wonder what went wrong. Care to enlighten if anyone knows? Thx!
Hi there, if your mixture’s runny, it means you didn’t beat it long enough. Unlike other cakes that call for the creaming method, sponge cakes pivot on the incorporation of air into the batter. This is done during the beating of sugar + eggs stage. You will need to beat it from low to medium for 8-10 mins, ie until the mixture doubles or triples in volume. The resultant mixture will be light, fluffy and airy, and not the least runny. You will also need to ensure not to deflate this air as you proceed on to the other steps.
Hope that helps, sweetie! Don’t give up
hi, i’ve just tried this recipe and i failed too just like Noob commented. my cake was really horrible.it looks like hard jelly and taste eggy. i did beat the mixture for about 10min and it did double up the mixture. i think its because i saw there were so many bubbles in my mixture, so i tap it at the end before puting into the oven to remove the bubbles. is this where it went wrong?
Hi Lina, sorry to hear it! You shouldn’t tap your pan. In fact, you really ought to be gentle with your batter once you’ve already beaten the sugar + egg, and it has doubled. For all the steps following it, you must be careful not to overmix lest you deflate the air in the batter. We need all those air pockets to help the sponge rise. Wish I could show a step-by-step photo, but my oven’s down!
Okay I just realised that another step where you and Noob could’ve gone wrong is the addition of flour. Did you use mixer to incorporate it in? I should’ve mentioned to fold it in, so you won’t deflate the air.
Hi ovenhaven, i’m going to try again tomorrow. By the way, is it okay to substitute ovalette with condensed milk since i couldn’t find ovalette and other cake stabilizer? and am i supposed to cover the top of the pan when putting in the oven so it wont burn on the top?
Thanks for ur feedback!
yupp i use the electric mixer to mix the Hongkong flour (which i used) into the egg mixture(1st step). is this wrong? should i fold it manually instead?
Yup, you should fold it in manually, taking care not to deflate the air. As for the condensed milk, it’s not a stabiliser at all, so it’s not substitutable. You can get the ovalette at ntuc/giant under the baking section near the yeast etc. Or you can try omitting it altogether; some sponge cakes don’t use it, but I personally haven’t tried that. And yes, you can cover loosely with aluminium foil if you’re afraid the top will be too brown.
Best of luck, sweetie! Remember, be gentle with the batter!
Hi there,
I’ve been trying recipe since last year & so far all has been good!
Tried baking these lovelies & they are a great hit! My husband loves them. But then again, he loves everything that I bake/cook. Haha!
There’s one problem though. My cake cracked when I fold it. Any idea what could I have done wrong?
Regards,
~zie~
Hi Zie, glad to hear your bakes have been turning out well
With regard to the cracking, the only reason I can think of is that the cake is much too cool when you folded it.
When you’re about to fold the cake, it should be cool, but not as long as it takes for normal cakes to cool down. This means that the moment it’s just a lil warm, but cool enough for you to handle it, say less than 5mins thereabouts, you can fold it already. The lil warmth from the cake ensures that it’s still soft and somewhat mould-able without cracking. Hope that makes sense!
Hello,
The cake flour, can i use self raising flour?
It would be best if you use cake flour, or top flour, so the cake will be lighter. But you still can use self-raising; just be sure to omit the baking powder.