Chocolate roulade/ layer cake

This cake started out as a roulade (roll cake) that broke when rolling so was reinvented.

It was meant to look like this:

But was just as delicious as a layer cake!

For the cake:
200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
6 eggs, seperated
1/2 cup caster sugar
3 tblsp cup cocoa
2 tblsp plain flour
Pinch of salt

For the icing:
300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tblsp cocoa
4 tblsp icing sugar
Flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 180*C and line a 24cm x 32cm swiss roll tin.

Combine chocolate and 1/4 cup of water in a bowl, rest the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Stir the mixture over the boiling water until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool a little.

In a seperate bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar together until thick and pale (about 5 minutes – it must be t
thick and pale and not just mixed together as aeration is crucial). Fold in chocolate mixture to egg and sugar mixture, stir until just combined. Sift over cocoa and flour, and combine gently.

In another seperate bowl, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form (when you lift the beaters from the mixture, the trail of egg white should keep its shape in a ‘peak’). Gently fold (this is to keep the mixture aerated) in egg whites.

Bake for about 10 mints or until spongey and clean to the skewer poke. Turn onto a rack, and place a teatowel over the top. Gently (this is the point where there is potential for breakage) roll into a log shape, with the tea towel on the inside. Allow to cool.

While the cake cools, make the cream…. Combine cream, icing sugar, cocoa and vanilla until thick. This can be tricky, as first time I accidentally made butter. Previous attempts have been too runny and the cream doesn’t hold. It should be pre-cement texture.

If the cake hasn’t broken, gently unroll it, spread it with the cream and re-roll. If the cake breaks, don’t distress. Trim the cake portions into rectangles, layer with cream.

Sprinkle roulade/ layer cake with slivered almonds and using a colander or tea strainer, coat with icing sugar and cocoa and grated dark chocolate if you feel the need.

Yum yum.