Indulge in a heavenly dessert – a light and airy chocolate sponge cake roll filled with fluffy whipped cream and finished with a rich chocolate ganache drizzle. Each slice reveals a stunning swirl of chocolate and cream, a pure delight for chocolate enthusiasts.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Cooling Time4 hourshrs
Total Time5 hourshrs20 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chocolate Cake Roll, Swiss Cake Roll
Servings: 12
Calories: 310kcal
Author: Kellie
Cost: $10
Equipment
1 baking sheet
1 parchment paper
Ingredients
6large eggs – room temperature and separated
2/3cupgranulated sugar135g – divided (1/3 cup and 1/3 cup)
3tablespoonsmelted butter – cooled
2tablespoonsfull fat sour cream
1 ½teaspoonsvanilla extract
1/3cupall-purpose flour
1/3cupcocoa powder
1teaspoonespresso powderyou can leave out if you prefer
Whipped Cream Filling
1cupheavy whipping cream
3Tablespoonsgranulated sugar
1teaspoonvanilla extract
Chocolate Ganache Topping
½cupheavy cream
1tablespooncorn syrup
5ozsemi-sweet melting chocolatelike Baker’s in the grocery store
Instructions
The Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12x17 baking sheet and line with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment beat the egg whites with 1/3 cup of sugar. Continue beating until stiff peaks form and then set bowl aside.
In a large mixing bowl combine the egg yolks with the other 1/3 cup of sugar. Beat on medium/high until the yolk mixture becomes pale yellow and is thickened – about 3 minutes. Add in the melted butter (cooled but still liquid), sour cream and vanilla extract. Mix together with the paddle attachment of your stand mixer until combined.
Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and espresso powder if using, into the egg yolk mixture. Blend until combined. This batter will be quite thick.
With a rubber spatula fold in 1/3 of the whipped egg whites. Once combined gently fold in another third of egg whites. Once this is almost combined fold in the final third of the egg whites being very gentle so as not to deflate the air in the egg whites as much as possible. The mixture should be light and fluffy with few to no white streaks present.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking sheet and smooth out the top with an offset spatula.
Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes. The cake should spring back slightly to the touch and may begin pulling away from the edges. You do not want to overbake the cake. While the cake is baking dust a tea towel (bigger than 12x17) with icing sugar or cocoa powder.
When the cake is finished baking, place the baking sheet on a cooling rack for no more than 2-3 minutes. Run a knife around the edges so that the cake will release cleanly from the pan. Confidently invert the cake onto the sugar dusted tea towel in one motion to prevent the cake from tearing.
Carefully remove the parchment sheet taking care to not tear the cake. From one of the smaller edges of the tea towel, fold it over about an inch and continue folding until you reach the edge of the cake. Start by having this one inch fold laying over the first inch of the cake, and now begin rolling the cake into the tea towel firmly but gently. Once the cake is rolled up into the tea towel allow it to cool at room temperature seam side down on a cooling rack for about an hour. Do not place in the fridge – this can cool it too fast and lead to cracking.
The Whipped Cream Filling
When the rolled cake is cool enough, use the whisk attachment of your mixer to whip the heavy cream with sugar and vanilla extract until medium/firm peaks form then set aside.
Unroll the cooled cake and spread whipped topping evenly over entire cake leaving about ½ inch from the final edge you will be rolling to.
Begin rolling the cake back up again. You can use the tea towel to help you get started if it helps. Don’t worry if filling spills out the edges, you can clean that up after it is rolled, and any filling that spills out at the end can be wiped away as well. Place the rolled and filled cake onto a cooling rack and then place the cooling rack over a parchment paper lined baking sheet (to collect the chocolate ganache run-off)
The Chocolate Ganache Topping
In a microwave safe bowl add heavy cream and corn syrup (a microwave safe measuring cup is perfect). Heat on high until the cream is steaming but not boiling, about 40 seconds and then 5 second increments after that if it is still not warm enough.
Add the chopped semisweet chocolate. Allow to sit for 5 minutes giving the chocolate time to begin melting, and then stir to combine until smooth. Avoid stirring too vigorously as you do not want to create air bubbles. Set aside to cool - the ganache will become thicker as it cools and will provide a thicker coat when you pour it.
Pour the chocolate ganache onto the top of the roll allowing it to drip down the sides to cover the entirety of the swiss roll. You can use a spoon to help place the ganache where it needs to go. Place the wire rack with the cake into the refrigerator to set up for an hour before slicing and serving.
To slice the cake, run a serrated knife under hot water and wipe dry between slices. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
This recipe is created for a 12x17” baking sheet. The resulting cake is the right thickness for rolling, a smaller pan will give a thicker cake which may not roll as well. It is important to beat the whites and yolks separately.The fluffy egg whites are the only leavening agent in this cake. When adding the whipped egg whites to the batter it is important to add in stages. When folding in the first third you don’t need to be super careful to fold it in gently, this step is to just lighten up the batter, but the next two folding steps, take care to do it gently so as not to deflate all the air that has been whipped into the whites. It’s ok if there are a few white streaks or small clumps in the final batter, if you work the batter too much trying to mix every last white clump you will deflate the batter too much.To prevent the cake from cracking: don’t overbake the cake, be sure to roll the cake up in a tea towel while it is still warm – this will provide “memory” to the cake as it cools. Dusting the tea towel with Cocoa powder or icing sugar helps to prevent the cake from sticking to the tea towel too much. Alternatively, you can use parchment paper in place of a tea towel.