I’m not sure when I got hooked on The Great British Baking Show, but I’m pretty sure it was shortly after I got a Netflix subscription. The very first episode I watched, the very first challenge I saw was a roulade – a thin cake that’s spread with some kind of filling, then rolled. It reminded me of a pumpkin roll that my aunt once showed me how to make (but I never made again).
Since then, I’ve binged that show, all seasons available to me, So. Many. Times. This, right here, is the first time I tried a Mary Berry recipe…
Mary Berry’s Ultimate Chocolate Roulade
Ingredients
- 175 g plain chocolate 60% cocoa works well
- 175 g fine sugar
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 2 TBSP dark cocoa powder sifted
- 300 ml double cream
- confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 13×9 swiss-roll baking sheet, and line with baking parchment, making sure to press it into the corners.
- Break the chocolate into small pieces over a bowl, then stand the bowl over a pan of hot water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Place the pan over low heat until the chocolate has melted.
- Measure the sugar and egg yolks into a large bowl, and whisk with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the cooled chocolate, and stir until blended.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir a large spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Mex gently, then fold in the remaining egg whites and the sieved cocoa powder. Spread evenly in the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until firm.
- Remove cake from the oven, leave in the baking sheet, cover with a dry tea towel, and leave until cool.
- Once the cake is cool, whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Dust a large piece of wax paper with sifted confectioner's sugar. Turn the cooled cake onto the wax paper, and peel off the parchment paper. spread the cake with the whipped cream. Starting on the short edge, roll the cake up very tightly, using the wax paper to help (it'll probably crack, but that's okay). Dust with more confectioner's sugar before serving.
Notes
An advantage I had with this particular recipe is that I knew that my grocery store had double cream in the dairy department. If it hadn’t I’d have had to use heavy whipping cream. Websites I had read said that it was an okay substitute, but that it would take longer to whip to the right consistency. I might try it in the future, just to see what that means.
I’d picked up a new jelly roll pan a few weeks ago, but after measuring it, it was an inch too big in width and length. My older rimmed cookie sheet was the right size, but shallower. Not going to lie, I ended up greasing both pans, and vacillated between them in my head the whole time I was mixing the batter.
I ended up pouring the mixture into the smaller one, to remain true to the Mary Berry recipe – and was immediately concerned that I had made the wrong decision. The batter filled the sheet all the way to the top! But I had made the commitment and was going to move forward.
It took a little longer to bake than 20 minutes for the middle to be set. I think next time I will be trying my larger jelly roll sheet in the future, just to see what it does. I may use that as an opportunity to try heavy cream as well. If I do, I will do my best to return here to update this post.
It absolutely did crack as I was rolling it, and because I doused the wax paper with so much confectioners sugar when I flipped it out, I did not add more before serving. It tastes amazing, and holds up in the refrigerator well. Try it out!
