Chocolate Roll

This is one of our favorite desserts.  Not only does it taste out of this world it also holds a special place in our heart for the memory of my grandmother and our family holidays.  This was always requested by the cousins and grandkids.  When my grandma got to where she could not make them like she used to, someone else would try to ensure we had one to share.  I would say this is a recipe that helped me to learn how to bake.  

It usually was not just one either...we had a big group and it required several so that we each got a piece bigger than a sliver.  Plus we all wanted left overs.  

I have made this recipe at least 30 times.  I am going to say at least once for every year I have been married and then a few years, it even got made twice.  I woke up this morning feeling the need for some chocolate roll.  Maybe a little bit of home was needed to warm my heart.

I  have not made this as a GF dessert, YET!  I will work on it, but today I splurged and had a piece.  I have taken step by step photo's so that you can be successful in making this yummy dessert.

In the past I have also made a pumpkin roll.  The method is the same.

Recipe:  Chocolate Roll 

6 Tablespoons cocoa (See note for gluten free flour conversion)

6 Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs separated

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

whipped cream

NOTE:  To replace the 6 T. of flour for a gluten-free mix, this is what I used:

3 tablespoons of almond meal
2 tablespoons of white rice flour
1 tablespoon of arrowroot starch
1/4 teaspoon of xantham gum

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg yolks with sugar until lemon-colored, then fold in flour mixture. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold them into batter along with vanilla.

Grease a 15X10 roll pan, line with wax paper and grease again. Pour batter onto greased wax paper and spread gently to all corners. Bake at 400 for 12 minutes or until cake is bubbly. The cake will shrink slightly from the sides. Turn roll pan onto a towel that has been dusted with powdered sugar. Roll the cake up with a towel and cool in the refrigerator. Unroll cake and spread with whipped whipping cream, reroll cake and move, without the towel, to a cake dish. Cover with Saran Wrap and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Remove and dust with powdered sugar. Serves about 6-7 good slices, more if you make the slices thin.

For the whipping cream, I used 1.5 cups of heavy cream, 1.5 tsp. of vanilla and 2 T. sugar. Whip until spreadable.

When you combine the egg yolk/butter mix with the dry, it creates a very stiff , almost dough-like mix.  

After you combine the egg whites with the above mix, this is what it will look like.  Nice and fluffy.  You may have to use a metal spoon to get it started as the flour mixture is firm.

I have a jelly roll pan in storage..DOPE!  That does not help me today, so  use a regular cookie sheet and with the parchment I create the size I need.  The batter is not thick and will not push the sides down.

The cake will look like this when it is baked.  The center will feel firm too.

After it is done baking, the pan needs to be flipped onto a powder sugar dusted dish towel.

Gently pull back the parchment paper.

The cake..perfect!

Sprinkle this with more powdered sugar to keep it from sticking together or to the towel.

It can get messy with all of the powdered sugar.  LOL

Roll the towel up and put into the fridge to cool.

I usually wait 30 minutes before I get it from the fridge and unroll the chocolate cake.  I cover the whole thing with whip cream.  It is not unusual for the cake to crack or even split .  If this happens just use the towel to help you roll it up and put the crack or split on the bottom.  It does not change the taste of the cake..LOL

And here you have it.  I forgot to buy a dish to fit the chocolate roll, so I am using a cutting  board that I bought earlier this week.