82. Swiss Roll

Every so often I experience in my baking what many people these days call an 'epic fail'. This was one of them. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what went wrong, so if I attempted this bake again, I'm not sure how I'd guarantee a more successful (and edible) outcome. Frustratingly, my confidence and optimism was fairly high after managing to make the chocolate version without disaster at Christmas. I really didn't expect the dodgy result I achieved with its more basic counterpart. The only difference in the ingredients is the split of 65g self raising flour and 40g cocoa powder; this recipe called for 100g of flour. Perhaps the missing 5g was the issue, but it seems such a minor diversion that it's hard to believe that was the case. It's one thing I can try and tinker with next time though.
What I did notice as I mixed the 'batter' was that it was extremely wet; definitely liquid. Maybe I didn't whisk the eggs enough, but those vague descriptions (I feel) about the 'whisk leaving a trail' aren't always helpful. Baking is such a science, that the instructions need to be so specific, and when you' ve been whisking away and nothing much changes after quite a period of time, you think 'well, that must be it then'. Pictures would help.

Anyway, liquid mixture duly poured into the tray and 'levelled' (not much effort needed here), I popped it in the oven and set the timer for less than the suggested 10 minutes, as my oven seems to bake things faster (I really must get an oven thermometer, or a better oven). I was pretty horrified when I saw what was happening before the allotted time was up. The sponge had shifted itself so it was pitifully thin at one end, and very brown, and rather wan-looking at the other end. I had no choice but to take it out and then endured the ridiculous farce of trying to prize it off the baking parchment and make something useable out of it. It felt odd; very springy and rubbery (like the chocolate one but more so) and just smelt so eggy. I wonder if 4 eggs is too much, a bit like the extra egg in the muffin mixture. I tasted it; it was horrible. Nothing else for it but to give up and consign it to the bin. It was never going to be a swiss roll - certainly not of any reasonable proportions by the time I'd hacked the burnt bits off - and really it was inedible. It didn't even looked properly cooked when I dissected it. I was completely baffled by the whole thing and have yet to have another attempt!
Baker's verdict: just not right at all - yet to decipher what was amiss.
Husband rating: didn't even get a sniff of it!