Chocolate Roulade

recipe

A special occasion calls for a special treat. Celebrating Women’s Day, this week You! collaborates with Kausar Ahmed, founder and CEO of Kitchen Crafts and her food website ‘Happy Belly World’ to bring you this delicious recipe. Enjoy this dessert with your female friends...

Ingredients

For the filling

Heavy cream 1- 1/3 cup

Bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped) 1 cup

Unsalted butter (cut into 4 pieces) 2 tbsp

For the cake

Unsalted butter (softened, for the pan) as needed

Cocoa powder 10 tbsp

Bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped) 3/4 cup

Brewed coffee 2 tbsp

Eggs (separated, at room temperature) 9

Granulated sugar 1 cup

Salt 1/4 tsp

Method

For the filling

• In a small saucepan, heat 2/3 cup of the cream over low heat to a bare simmer.
• Remove from the heat; add the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute before whisking until smooth. Gradually whisk in the remaining cream.
• Transfer to a medium metal bowl, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Whisk to medium peaks just before filling the cake.

For the Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Butter an 18x13 inch rimmed baking sheet. Line the pan with parchment paper. Butter the parchment and sprinkle 2 tbsp of the cocoa over it, shaking the pan for even coverage and knocking out the excess.
• In a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the coffee, whisking until smooth. Remove from the heat.
• With an electric beater, beat the egg yolks on medium speed, scraping the bowl as needed, until light in colour and beginning to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and beat until very thick and pale yellow, for about 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate. Stop the mixer and sift 6 tbsp of the cocoa over the mixture. Add the salt and stir with a rubber spatula until blended. Transfer to a large bowl.
• With a clean whisk attached to the electric beater, beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, for about 30 seconds. In a steady stream, add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Increase the speed to medium high and whip until medium peaks form for 2 to 3 minutes.
• With a rubber spatula, fold half the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in the remaining whites until the batter is evenly coloured, with no streaks of white. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking sheet, gently spreading it with an offset spatula.
• Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the cake springs back when touched and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, for 18 to 22 minutes. Immediately loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a paring knife. Sift the remaining 2 tbsp cocoa evenly over the cake.
• While the cake is still hot, lay a clean, unscented, lint-free kitchen towel over it. If the towel is long, extend one end about 1-1/2 inches beyond a short side of the cake and don’t worry about the other end. Invert a large rack or cutting board over the towel. Holding both the baking sheet and the rack with protected hands, invert the cake. Remove the baking sheet and parchment.
• Using both hands and starting from the short end with the shortest towel overhang, roll the cake and the towel up together. Let cool for 30 minutes.
• Carefully unroll the cake; it should look wavy and both ends should curl. (It’s okay if there are some small cracks.) Let cool completely, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using an offset spatula, spread the filling over the cake to within 1-1/2 inches of the far short edge and to within 1/2 inch of the other edges. Be sure to coax the filling into the interior of the closer curled end so that when the cake is sliced there will be filling in the centre of the spiral.
• Add sliced peaches or seasonal fruit (optional)
• Re-roll the cake without the towel this time. The filling may squish out of the ends a bit, which is fine.
• Using a knife with a thin blade dipped in hot water and wiped dry, trim the ends of the cake. Transfer the cake to a serving platter.
• Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar or garnish with chocolate shavings.
• To serve, slice the cake using the same knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry after each slice.

Note: Bittersweet chocolate can be replaced with milk chocolate

Photography by Maryam Ashraf of Marsha Photography