Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a 9×13" baking tray with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix in the egg yolks, half of the sugar (1/4 cup/50g), salt, vanilla extract, oil and milk.
3. Sift in cake flour, baking powder and hojicha powder and mix until just combined (keep an eye out for flour pockets).
4. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the lemon juice. Continue beating and slowly add the other half of the sugar (1/4 cup/50g) until stiff peaks.
5. Using a spatula, gently fold in 1/3 of the egg white meringue into the egg yolk bowl (fold in a "J" shape while scraping the sides of the bowl. be sure to not deflate all the air from the batter). Repeat two more times with the remaining 2/3 of the meringue.
6. Pour the batter into the baking tray, spread batter evenly and flat into the corners. Drop the tray on your counter a couple times to release any big air bubbles.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Immediately flip the baked cake sheet onto a large damp kitchen towel (larger than the short side of the sheet). Gently remove the parchment paper.
9. Starting from the short side of the cake, tightly roll the cake with the kitchen towel. (Not too tight or quickly, this could crack the cake!) Let the cake cool completely in the towel with the cake seam side down.

Cream

1. In a medium bowl or electric stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat together whipping cream, vanilla extract and sugar until stiff peaks.

Assembly

1. Unravel the cake from the kitchen towel and transfer onto plastic wrap longer than the length of the cake. Cut off 1/2 inch from the ends of the roll.
2. Evenly spread the cream onto the cake sheet leaving a 1 inch margin at the short end of the roll
3. Roll the cake sheet towards the empty margin, once completely rolled and the seam is facing down, bring the parchment over to cover the roll completely.
4. Use a bench scraper (anything thin and sturdy, a ruler will do) and push the parchment toward the bottom of the roll creating a tight and secure parchment wrap.
5. Secure the wrap with tape and store in the fridge for 1 hour before serving.