Chocolate Roll

It would not be Christmas without Chocolate Roll. I think that between my mom and my Nonnie, that they have made thousands of these chocolate and whipped cream creations. This is what my mom used to make for our teachers every year. Surprisingly, this was the first time that I have ever made one myself, despite the fact that I have eaten chocolate roll for most of the years that I have been alive.

This is a strange little recipe. Of course, I was reading my mother’s recipe and there was very little in the way of instruction. So I had to go back and remember watching her make it. I do have vivid memories of chocolate cakes rolled up in towels all over the counter tops. It is a very easy cake to make, but you do need to have a little faith. She would make these, and then freeze them, filled with the whipped cream until she was ready to frost them.

For the cake:
4 eggs
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 Tablespoons coffee

For the whipped cream:

2 cups whipped cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Chocolate Butercream

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the eggs for about 5 minutes. Gradually, add the sugar and beat until the eggs are pale and lemon colored.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa over the bowl.

Gently fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Pour in the coffee and vanilla. Fold together.

Pour the cake batter into a 10×15 jelly roll pan that has been lined with parchment and sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. The cake will be ready when the cake pulls away from the sides and the cake springs back when you touch it.

Here is where this recipe gets a little weird. While the cake is still hot, turn it out onto a hand towel that has been coated with confectioners sugar.

Roll the cake up and let it cool completely in the towel.

When the cake is cool, whip the cream and add the sugar and vanilla.

Unroll the cake, and spread the whipped cream evenly over the top.

Roll the cake back up and put in the fridge to set up. Maybe a half hour or so?

Doesn’t that look delicious?

Meanwhile, make some Chocolate Buttercream. I reduced the butter to 1 1/2 sticks and added a few Tablespoons of cream cheese.

Frost the chocolate roll with the Chocolate Buttercream. I piped the extra frosting onto the bottom, but you do not have to do that.

Sprinkle with some powdered sugar. Merry Christmas Eve!

Triple Chocolate Gingerbread Biscotti

A few years ago I made biscotti for the first time. For whatever reason, it wasn’t something I thought about making myself before. In fact, it wasn’t even a favorite treat of mine. The versions in various bakeries and stores were so ho-hum, dry, flavorless and generally just a disappointment that it wasn’t really even on my radar.

Then, thanks to one of my baking clubs, we made an almond biscotti recipe that has since been one of my all time favorite treats. I fiddled with that recipe as well, because while I do like a good crunch biscotti, I like it slightly softer with a little chew, not rock hard.
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Since then, I’ve made several versions of homemade biscotti’s, but possibly my favorite unique version is this recipe for a holiday worthy gift—a rich, deep chocolate flavored biscotti with a good crunch, but not too hard. Lots of bittersweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips for contrast and a good gingerbread flavor underneath for that added oomph and holiday spice. This Triple Chocolate Gingerbread Biscotti is a real winner, especially when dipped in a cup of hot chocolate like the Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate recipe.

While technically, because of the cocoa powder in the biscotti, I guess these could be called a quadruple chocolate. The triple in the title refers to the amounts of actual chocolate in the cookie. The cookie dough itself has, not only cocoa for depth, but melted chocolate for extra richness and chocolatey flavor. Add in the two kinds of chocolate chips and you are well on your way to some of the best chocolate biscotti you’ve ever had. If you really want to go over the top, you could drizzle more melted chocolate or dip these in chocolate after they are cooled, but honestly, they don’t need it. And that’s saying a lot from a chocoholic like me!

So, if you have last minute gift giving to put together, mix up a batch of chocolate mix, bake off a pan of biscotti and enjoy as the oohs and ahhs roll in. Happy Holidays!

Triple Chocolate Gingerbread Biscotti

Recipe by Holly Hanks at PheMOMenon

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup good quality Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsulphered molasses
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 ½ ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup white chocolate chips
• ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, set aside.
2. In a bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together the softened butter, brown sugar and sugar, on medium speed until fluffy—about 2 minutes. Turn the machine off, scrape down the sides and add the eggs, vanilla and molasses. Turn the machine on to low to incorporate, about 1 minute, then turn up to medium speed and beat until smooth and a little fluffy. Add the melted, cooled chocolate and beat 1 minute more to mix well.
4. Turn the mixer off and add all the dry ingredient mixture. Turn the machine on low speed and incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until well combined. Add the chocolate chips (and candied ginger if using) and combine well to make a very stiff dough.
5. Use a spatula or bowl scraper to divide the dough in the bowl in half and place half the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, down one side (you’ll be making two logs, lengthwise, on the same sheet). Use floured hands to shape the dough into a 14-inch by 2-inch log (about 2 inches high). Repeat down the other side of the baking sheet so you have two logs. You’ll end up with each log being about 2-inches from the sides of the pan, with about 4-inches in between down the center of the sheet.
6. Sift the confectioners’ sugar onto the two logs. Place the baking sheet on a rack centered in the oven and bake the logs 35 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven and let the logs cool for 10 minutes. Carefully pull the parchment lined sheet off the baking sheet and onto a cutting surface. Use a sharp knife to cut the logs on a slight diagonal angle into about 17 pieces each. Place the cut pieces back onto the baking sheet and bake them for the second time for 12 minutes. Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet.
7. Store in an airtight container for 1 week. In the freezer they keep for up to a month.

A Feast For Chocolate Lovers

Have you ever wanted a chocolate fix but was tired of the old bar of chocolate? Because this recipe could be the solution to satisfying your cravings.

To put it simply, this is heaven in your mouth. The Chocolate cupcakes with ganache is a combination of a dense and earthy cupcake fused with the overwhelming explosion of chocolate and cream that makes up the ganache.

At first bite you are met with the base of the dessert, a warm and thick structure, and then you are hit by the delicate yet powerful ganache, which is more refined than mousse. The cupcake and ganache create a sensation in your mouth that cannot be ignored.

Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake Recipe

‘The beginning of the season for holiday baking. Years ago I gave the much-maligned fruitcake a makeover, dressing it up with plumped-up sour cherries, an overload of chocolate, and a boozy bath of liquor added at the end.

You may remember my fruitcake disaster, so I’m not about to give anyone advice on preservation techniques. And you’ll notice my cake dipped a bit in the middle since I was playing around with French flour, which is softer than its American counterpart. But in looking at it afresh, I like the graceful little dip, which I find rather appealing.

Feel free to swap out any other dried fruits that you like. I’m a big, big fan of dried sour cherries, which I find especially appealing with chocolate, but dried pears, cranberries, candied ginger or apricots would be wonderful. Or use a combination of whatever you’d like, although I do recommend it with cherries if you can find them—I make everyone heading this way lug for me as many little packets as they’re willing to from the states, although right now, I can’t shut my kitchen cabinet door (honestly) since the bags keep sliding out.

You can also use another favorite liquor in place of what I recommend. And if you wish to omit the liquor altogether, soak the cherries in boiling water or hibiscus tea until plump. If taking the water route, squeeze any excess eau from the cherries before using them.

And for those of us in Europe where chocolate chips can be difficult to find, chopped bittersweet chocolate works really well in lieu of those elusive little buggers. (In Paris, G. Detou sells them by the kilo.) But do be sure to grease the pan very well, especially in the corners. The cherries can make the finished cake sticky and if you tear the ends off in the pan, you’ll be forced to eat them.

Chocolate-Cherry Fruitcake
Makes 2 loaf pan-sized cakes

Adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

1 1/2 cups (210g) dried cherries (sweet or sour), well-chopped
1/4 cup (60ml) plus 6 tablespoons (90ml) rum, whiskey, or amaretto
1 1/4 cup (170g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process or natural)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
10 tablespoons (140g) butter (salted or unsalted), at room temperature
2 cups (400g) sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup (180g) buttermilk or plain yogurt (regular or low-fat)
1 cup (135g) walnuts, pecans, or almonds, toasted and finely-chopped
3/4 cup (120g) chocolate chips

1. A day or so before you make the cake, toss the cherries in ¼ cup of liquor. Cover, and let macerate.

2. To bake the cakes, grease two 9-inch (23 cm) loaf pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper or dust with cocoa powder. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

3. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

4. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Stir together the eggs and yolk with the vanilla, then dribble them in while beating.

5. Mix in one-third of the flour/cocoa mixture, then half of the yogurt or buttermilk. Then mix in another third of the dry ingredients, then the rest of the yogurt. Finally add the remaining dry ingredients, and gently stir in the nuts, chocolate chips and cherries. (Which should have absorbed all the liquid. If not, add that as well.)

6. Divide and smooth the batter into the two prepared loaf pans and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand on the counter top for about 15 minutes.

7. With a skewer, poke 50 holes in the cake and spoon 3 tablespoons of liquor over each cake. Let cool.

Storage: These cakes will last, well-wrapped, for about a week. If you want a really boozy cake, you can brush with additional liquor every few days before serving.

They can also be frozen, although if you choose that route, don’t add liquor to them. You can rewarm them once they’re thawed and add it later.