Chocolate Roll

Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 10
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 1/3 cup strong freshly brewed coffee
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 7 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 8 egg whites
• 3 -4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup cognac or 1/4 cup brandy

Recipe

• 1 in a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the coffee over hot, not simmering, water, stirring occasionally.
• 2 remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
• 3 pour the chocolate mixture into a bowl and let cool until tepid.
• 4 preheat the oven to 350.
• 5 lightly butter an 11x17 inch jelly roll pan.
• 6 line it with waxed paper, with a little of the paper overhanging at each end of the pan, and lightly butter the paper.
• 7 in a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar until the mixture forms when the beater is lifted.
• 8 stir into the tepid chocolate mixture, blending thoroughly.
• 9 in another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.
• 10 stir one-third of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites just until no patches show.
• 11 pour the batter into the prepared pan, tilting the pan to spread it evenly.
• 12 smooth the top.
• 13 bake for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 and bake for another 5 minutes.
• 14 remove the pan from the oven.
• 15 cover the cake with a damp cloth and refrigerate the cake in its pan for 1 hour.
• 16 carefully remove the cloth from the cake and loosen the roll from the sides of the pan with a knife.
• 17 using a fine strainer, heavily dust the top of the cake with most of the cocoa.
• 18 cover the cake with a sheet of waxed paper.
• 19 lay out a large kitchen towel on a flat work surface.
• 20 grabbing both ends of both sheets of waxed paper,quickly but carefully flip the cake over onto the towel.
• 21 carefully remove the sheet of waxed paper from what is now the top of the cake.
• 22 in a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream until slightly thickened.
• 23 add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cognac and continue beating until the cream is thick enough to spread.
• 24 with a thin, flexible spatula, spread the whipped cream evenly over the cake, leaving a small border along all the sides.
• 25 grasping both the kitchen towel and the waxed paper along one long side, gently roll the cake into a jelly roll shape, pulling the cloth and waxed paper away as you go.
• 26 on the last turn, roll the cake onto a serving platter, seam side down.
• 27 if the cake has sagged at all, gently push the roll back into shape with your hands.
• 28 trim the ends of the roll so the cream filling is flush with the ends of the cake.
• 29 cover any cracks on the outside of the cake with a final sifting of cocoa.
• 30 cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving time.