Dione's Chocolate Roll

Dione's Chocolate Roll Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 76.

I had almost decided not to post this recipe because I had some major problems with it. However, it does taste wonderful! That said, I have made a lot of rolled cakes and this method is not one I would recommend. The directions say to bake the cake and remove it and cover with a damp cloth for 20 minutes to retain the moisture in the cake. This is where the problems began. The cake was soft to begin in and after I followed the directions as written, the cake was very mushy. The second blunder comes when the instructions say to dust it with cocoa powder and then invert it. Fortunately, I had the foresight to take this outside to the deck before attempting this. If you do this the way it is written, you and your kitchen will be covered with cocoa powder! I forged ahead, thinking that the cake was not entirely done (I think it was just moist from the disastrous wet towel method). As expected, the cake cracked badly when I rolled it. I had enough whipped cream icing to cover the eyesores. I refrigerated it and a few hours later, tried a piece and it was delicious.

I make a pumpkin roll every Thanksgiving and I have made various other rolled cakes. I always roll the cake once it is removed from the oven in a towel and let it cool completely. I then unroll the cake and apply the icing and roll it up again. I think that method would work better for this cake as well.

This recipe was one of the May picks for the Cake Slicers group on Facebook. For more of the recipes, see the links at the end of this post. 

Cake
8 oz. semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup boiling water
8 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (preferably Dutch process)
Additional cocoa powder, if necessary

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12 x 18 x 1 jelly-roll pan with foil. Butter the foil and set aside.

Break up the chocolate and place it and the boiling water in the top of a double boiler over low heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and is smooth.

Place the egg yolks in a small bowl and add 3/4 cup of the sugar (reserving 1/4 cup). Beat at high speed for about 5 minutes until they are almost white.

In a larger bowl, fold the cooled chocolate and the yolk mixture until smooth. Set aside.

Place the egg whites in a clean mixer bowl and heat on high until the whites hold a soft shape. Fold about 1/3 of whites into the chocolate mixture. Add another third and fold briefly. Add the remaining whites and carefully fold until no whites show.

Turn into the prepared pan and bake for about 17 minutes.

Wet a large linen or cotton towel and wring dry. Place it over the cake in the pan when it is removed from the oven. (Read my notes about this in the introductory paragraph). Let it set for 20 minutes.

Dust the cake with the cocoa powder. Invert the cake and carefully remove the foil. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or wax paper and let it cool completely.


Whipped Cream Filling

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 TBS. confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla until the cream is firm.

Uncover the cake and place the cream over it with a narrow spatula.

Use the wax paper to help you roll the cake. You can dust with more cocoa powder or frost it with remaining whipped cream.