Chocolate Swiss Swirly Rolls

When I'm invited somewhere, I hate buying ready-made things. I do, occasionally, if I'm short on time or don't particularly care for the person. But generally, when I'm visiting someone or have someone coming over, I try to prepare some sort of treat. I think it means more. I think there's something special, something of you that goes into preparing a nice meal or a treat that makes that moment that much more special and valuable. It's a way of saying here, this time we're spending together means enough to me that I took out time and energy from my life to make something.

That, and I just like good food. When my aunt asked if I could bake something chocolatey for my visit, my reaction was say no more. I don't know exactly why I settled on a chocolate swiss roll. It's a bit creamy for me on the inside, but somehow that was my choice.

What you'll need if you wanna try this:

• 140 g cake flour;
• 30 g cocoa powder;
• 1 tsp or satchel of baking powder;
• bit of salt;
• 6 eggs;
• 150 g sugar;
• 60 ml oil (or melted butter);
• 100 ml whole milk;
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.

I was originally following this recipe, but modified it to make a bigger roll as it was a big gathering and ended up going off the recipe anyway, so you can say it's a unique twist.

The above is for the roll itself, we'll get to the filling and ganache in a sec.

Preheat the oven at 180C.

To make the roll, you wanna combine the dry ingredients - (sifted) flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, but NOT the sugar. Set this one aside.

In a different bowl, beat the eggs with about 1/3 of the sugar. In the original recipe, you're supposed to separate the eggs, beat the whites with the third of sugar until they hold soft peaks, then gradually incorporate the rest. I messed that up, so ended up beating the whole eggs with the sugar like a madman, then added gradually the rest of the sugar, the oil, the milk and vanilla until it was bubbly and a bit stiff. Sift in the flour mixture.

The cake mix will be runny and gooey so don't worry about it, don't try to thicken it too much or you'll fuck up your teeth.

Deposit the mixture on a tray lined with baking paper, and bake in the already hot oven for 12-14 minutes, but no more. When it's done, take it out of the oven and, using another baking paper, flip the cake upside down and peel off the original baking paper. It's a tricky process and I almost dropped the whole damn thing on the floor, but thankfully @ladyrebecca helped (it's also her kitchen that was used for the baking of this). Cheers, mum.

Once it's flipped, you'll want to roll it as tightly and carefully as possible while still hot.

Watch those fingers, but this is important since it gives the cake a chance to "get used to" the rolled form (and less likely to break). Let the damn thing cool. Go do something else for 30 mins.

For the filling, you'll need:

• about 400 ml heavy cream;
• vanilla extract;
  

Beat the heavy cream and vanilla extract on a high setting until the cream holds stiff peaks. There. That wasn't hard. Unroll the cake, layer the cream evenly, then re-roll.

For the ganache, you'll need:

• 200 ml heavy cream;
• 200 g dark chocolate;

On a pot over the stove, melt the chopped/diced chocolate with the heavy cream until it forms a smooth, thick paste. Let cool a little, then coat the cake generously. While the ganache is still warm, you'll want to decorate (if you wanna) with something like shredded coconut or cocoa powder (or both!).

Let cool for at least a few hours, or preferably overnight before serving. I admit I was a wee bit nervous making this, as it was the first time, and previous experiments with Christmas tronchetto, which is very similar, didn't always turn out great. But I'm pleased to report this roll was a smashing success and came out freaking delicious. It can be addictive though - you have been warned!

Since @ladyrebecca graciously offered me her kitchen to cook in, I've set her as a token beneficiary.