Snake cake (rolled cake) - Slöngukaka

It's called a snake cake because the slices look like stylised coiled-up snakes.

4 eggs
150-200 g sugar
50 g flour
50 g potato starch or cornstarch

Cream the eggs and sugar together. Add the flour and potato/corn starch, little by little. Prepare a temporary baking container by putting baking paper on a baking sheet and folding in the corners to make a shallow "box". Pour in the dough and smooth with a spatula. Bake at 250°C for about 10 minutes. Set the oven to heat from below. Test for doneness by gently pressing the top of the cake with your finger - if the cake feels firm and the fingerprint quickly disappears, the cake is done. When done, turn the cake over onto a sheet of baking paper sprinkled with sugar. Put baking paper and a roasting pan or cutting board on top of the cake while it cools, to keep it smooth and prevent it from hardening.

Possible fillings:

Chocolate butter cream:
50-73 g margarine or butter, soft
50 g brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbs dark cocoa
1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla essence

Cream together margarine/butter and brown sugar. Add the egg yolk and mix well. Add the flavouring and sifted cocoa.

White butter cream and banana filling:
50-73 g margarine or butter, soft
50 g sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla essence
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Cream together margarine/butter and brown sugar. Add the egg yolk and mix well. Add the flavouring and sifted cocoa.

When the cake is cold, smooth the butter cream over one side of it and firmly but carefully roll up the cake. If you are using bananas, smooth the mash over the icing before rolling. Slice and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

Variations:
Instead of banana, you can use jam or jelly. Strawberry or raspberry jam tastes especially good with this kind of cake. I can imagine Nutella would also taste quite good (without any butter cream).

Basic recipe taken from Helga Sigurðardóttir's Matur & Drykkur, Mál og Menning, Reykjavík, 1986 (1947).

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