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Double Chocolate Rollcake

When you have a craving for some whipping...


Combine some very stupid and quite obviously deaf and nose-less neighbours with a craving for chocolate cream, add a pinch of frustrated dragon, et voila.
This is based on a rather medium-to-disappointing vanilla rollcake recipe I don't remember in full, and which through tweeking and yelling at by yours truly has become what it is today. There are simply no proper all-chocolate recipes for rollcake to be found on google page 1 _at_all_, and I didn't feel in the mood for searching when experiments are so much more satisfying. Yes, the blue-and-bronze sparks flying out of the window, that was me. I'm also a Ravenclaw.


For the sponge:
♬~ 4 egg whites
♬~ 2-3 egg yolks, to taste
♬~ 3 tbs warm water
♬~ 100g caster sugar (about 1/2 cup)
♬~ tiny pinch of vanilla seeds or ground vanilla bean
♬~ tiny pinch of salt
♬~ 50g fine cake flour (2/5 cup)
♬~ 25g cocoa powder (1/5 cup)
♬~ 50g corn or potato starch (2/5 cup)
♬~ tiny pinch of baking powder

For the filling:
♬~ 500ml whipping cream (a little more than 2 cups)
♬~ 1-2 tbs caster sugar, to taste
♬~ 2-3 generous tbs cocoa powder, to taste

♬~ cocoa powder for dusting
♬~ fruit, jam, chocolate nibs to add to the filling, to taste

- cup conversions are not very precise; better use kitchen scales that go down to grams
- I'd use less egg yolks for a chocolate cake, as they have a very distinct flavour (one of the recipe's flaws)
- if you don't have caster sugar, try to find very fine sugar as common, coarse sugar may not work
- I prefer actual vanilla over extracts and vanilline sugar, as I can get ground vanilla bean very cheap and organic, but it's up to you
- cocoa powder should not be sweetened
- don't add sugar to the cream if it's a very sweet type of cream (for example lactose-free); as the sponge is quite sweet, the cream shouldn't boost that flavour, too

Instructions: sponge

1. Whip the egg whites until stiff, set aside.

2. In another bowl, beat the yolks and water until frothy, gradually add sugar and vanilla while mixing. Add salt.

3. Sift in the flour, starch, baking powder and cocoa, don't overmix.

4. Very carefully fold in the beaten egg whites to get a bubbly, frothy batter.

5. Pour on baking tray covered with baking paper (grease if you like), in shape of rectangle. Bake at 200-220°C (390-430°F) for 10-15 min.

6. While cake is still warm, place on kitchen towel. I kept the baking paper underneath and only started to carefully lift the cake whilst slowly rolling it into shape:

Yes, roll that thing up without any filling. Be careful not to overdo this, as the cake might break, but as long as it's hot enough, that'll be less of a risk. Tadaa:

Let cool completely. Don't worry if there are smaller rifts or the thing is uneven. You can hide those under cream later.

Instructions: filling

You can basically fill this with whatever you like. I craved chocolate flavoured whipping cream, in contrast to buttercream, as it's a little lighter *coughs* and I just love whipping cream. Fruit would have been great, especially raspberries. Mmmmmm raspberries... chocolate nibs or whatever else would also be lovely.

You can probably use gelatine and/or starch to make your whipping cream more solid. Probably looks nicer than my aesthetic atrocities, too. ;)

1. Whip the cream until it stays in the bowl when you turn it overhead. Get only marginally annoying neighbour to try this. Gradually add the sugar when first ripples appear on the surface of the cream.

2. Carefully sift and fold in the cocoa powder.

3. Spread about half of the cream, or as much as you want, onto the inside of the un-rolled cake:

It will spread a little when it's rolled, but not much, so try to be even. I usually leave about a finger's width on each side, and a little more on the seam the cake will lie on when rolled (on top in the photo), for stability and cutting allowance.

At this point, add fruit or whatever else you'd like to have on the inside (not the outside) of the cake.

4. Rollin', rollin', rollin'. With the help of kitchen towel and baking paper, do the sushi dance. It's easier than it sounds, and gravity will do its own job whether you like it or not. Having rolled the cake into shape before will help you though, especially in the very middle where it's easiest to make mistakes.

5. Slather the rest of the whipped cream all over that brick and decorate as you like. I used dusted cocoa powder, because it was late and there was still steam coming out of my nostrils and I'm just lazy, as you can see here:

I know.

Best after a night in the fridge.
Happy rolling!
Tags: , ,
Cocoa is magical. ;)

University stress got me into baking. XD I'm a mere stress baker. *lol*
Nutella should be available on prescription.

I've heard of several people telling the very same story, so it must work. :)
I thought this looked good last night but now I'm hungry so it looks even more tempting! *drools*

So, did it turn out the way you wanted? Is it as good as it looks?
I think, if I were able to make this I'd add raspberries, because I love raspberries, and they go so well with chocolate!
I'm really hungry, I'd better go get some food before I try to eat my screen.
My blog should come with several firewalls, aye? XD

It turned out quite well, yeah. It did however need that night in the refridgerator, because the sponge got a little softer and the flavours blended in better with each other. It became more solid enough to cut, too. Unfortunately there can't be any more results because the poor cake vanished today. Wonder how that could happen...
Interesting, interesting. A "no chocolate" chocolate cake! And what is the music? A cakewalk - or choc & roll??

Somebody gave me a dairy free choc mousse recipe which might be OK for you if you are interested to try (but you have to enjoy coconut):

Chocolate mousse – dairy free

60g coconut sugar
3 tbls cornstarch
400g tin of coconut milk
170g dark chocolate
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon of salt


Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Use a sieve for the cornstarch to remove any lumps. Turn the heat to max and slowly pour in the coconut milk, whisking constantly to avoid a lumpy mixture.
Continue heating the milk mixture and whisk every so often until it starts to bubble and thicken. Stir in the chocolate and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Divide your pudding into 4 ramekin dishes or dessert dishes, cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming on the top and place in the fridge for 1 hour until chilled and set.

(recipe by Melissa Sharp)