Always popular, this roulade freezes very well. Raspberries and chocolate are good together, so add some raspberries (frozen are fine) to the filling if you wish. For a special occasion, scatter masses of fresh raspberries around the roulade on the serving platter – it looks stunning!
Tin needed: 33 x 23 cm (13 x 9 inch) Swiss roll tin
Serves 4
Prep time about 15 minutes, plus several hours standing
Cook time about 20 minutes
- 175g (6 oz) plain chocolate, broken into pieces
- 175g (6 oz) Red Tractor caster sugar
- 6 eggs, separated
- 30 ml (2 level tablespoons) cocoa, sieved
- Red Tractor raspberries, optional to serve
- For the filling
- 300ml (10 fl oz) Red Tractor double cream
- Red Tractor icing sugar
Lightly grease a 33 x 23 cm (13 x 9 inch) Swiss roll tin and line with non-stick baking parchment, pushing it into the corners. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/Gas 4.
Melt the chocolate slowly in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Allow to cool slightly.
Measure the sugar and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk on a high speed until light and creamy. Add the cooled chocolate and stir until evenly blended.
Whisk the egg whites in a large mixing bowl until stiff but not dry. Stir a large spoonful of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, mix gently and then fold in the remaining egg whites, then the cocoa. Turn into the prepared tin and gently level the surface. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until firm to the touch.
Remove the cake from the oven, leave in the tin and place a cooling rack over the top of the cake. Place a clean damp tea towel on top of the rack, and leave for several hours or overnight in a cool place, don’t worry it will sink slightly. (If the tea towel dries out, simply re-dampen it).
Whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Dust a large piece of non-stick baking parchment with icing sugar. Turn the roulade out on to the paper and peel off the lining paper. Spread with the whipped cream and roll up like a Swiss roll, starting with one of the short edges, roll tightly to start with and use the paper to help. Don’t worry if it cracks – that is quite normal and part of its charm!
Mary Berry
Mary is the queen of family cookery. She is a regular contributor to TV and radio food programmes, such as Saturday Cooks and Daily Cooks, and has written over 60 cookery books.
