chocolate jelly roll

Ah, the saga of the jelly rolls.  I hinted a few days ago that the making of my dessert last Saturday was a bit of a production.  I volunteered to make desserts (I often get my first dibs in on this one) and must have been feeling some kind of retro vibe to choose jelly rolls.  I mean, do people actually make these anymore?  Besides me that is.  Perhaps it will be like the fondue party and have its own little resurgence.  Who knows.

I got my first hint of inspiration from this particular recipe and just went with the theme and created 3 different jelly rolls for dessert.  The point of inspiration is the chocolate version, which I will mostly share about here.  I also created a strawberry and mango version that combined white cake, whipping cream and fruit.  These cakes were much easier to handle despite needing a few hands to transfer to the serving plate.  I started with the chocolate one, which was by far the most temperamental of the 3.  It was a good thing that I had supportive people around me as I worked with a very tender and cracked cake.  The spreading and rolling weren't too difficult, it was moving it from the counter to the serving dish that was the biggest challenge.

Just make sure you are not doing this alone people.  I don't want to feel responsible for any weeping over the broken jelly roll on the kitchen floor.  This strawberry version went very smoothly.

After two attempts, I knew exactly how much whipping cream to put on and to make sure there wasn't too much cream or fruit at the end of the roll.  It has no where else to go but onto the towel.

Here they are.  Aren't they pretty?  The white cake with cream and fruit were good but the hands down winner for me was the chocolate.  I really should have made 2 of them.  So, what was the difference besides the chocolate vs. vanilla?  The chocolate roll contains no flour (gluten free) and I switched out the boring whipped cream with white chocolate whipped cream.  Oh, people.  You don't know what you are missing.  I am not a fan of white chocolate, but in this whipped cream it is crazy good.  Just be sure to give yourself enough time to prepare it.  (see below)  And don't blame me when this white chocolate cream starts finding itself on every dessert you make from now on.  Just make sure to save me some.

So, be warned that this cake cracks easily, sticks to everything and is a bit of a pain to transfer to a serving dish.  But it is worth it.  Trust me.  And for those few places that crack or may not be perfect.  Two words - icing sugar.

CHOCOLATE JELLY ROLL - from Company's Coming Desserts

6 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Icing sugar

Line greased 10 x 15 inch (25 x 38 cm) jelly roll pan with parchment paper.

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add sugar and beat until stiff.

Beat egg yolks with sugar until lemon coloured and light.  Beat in cocoa and vanilla.  Fold into egg whites.  Spread into prepared pan.  Bake in 350 degree F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Sift icing sugar over a tea towel.  Turn cake out on top of towel.  Peel off paper.  Starting at narrow end, roll towel and cake up together to cool.  When cool, unroll and spread filling.

Filling
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp. water

Melt chips and water together over hot water.  (I did this in the microwave and watched very carefully).  Spread over cake.  (At first I thought this mixture was too runny, but it worked out fine.

White Chocolate Cream - adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 oz. white chocolate, chopped

Place the white chocolate in a bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute to melt the chocolate.  Whisk well.  Lay a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the cream (to prevent a skin).  Chill until very cold, about 2 hours.  Remove from fridge and beat cream with electric beaters until stiff.  Spread over chocolate layer.  Roll.  Dust with icing sugar.