- Serves 8 - Ready in 3.5 hours (includes 2 hours cooling mid-recipe)-
This is so delicious that it is worth the 24 steps needed to make it!
Gather together…
For the Sponge:
6 large eggs (switching for medium doesn't work in this recipe - quantities are precise).
½ cup (125g) white caster or white granulated sugar (sieved).
4 tbsp (60g) cocoa powder - plus 2 tbsp extra for dusting later.
For the Chocolate Sauce Filling:
100g dark cooking-chocolate - 'cooking-chocolate' melts far more easily than regular chocolate and is much less likely to shock and split. Sainsbury's own-brand cooking chocolate is sold in foil and card (so is plastic-free), Green & Black's cooking-chocolate is plastic-free AND palm oil-free, but is too pricey for me to use regularly. DON'T be tempted to add extra chocolate or the layer becomes too thick to cut once set!
100g milk cooking-chocolate. DON'T be tempted to add extra chocolate or the layer becomes too thick to cut once set!
2 tbsp golden syrup.
2 tsp butter.
For the Cream Filling:
300ml DOUBLE cream, NOT Elmlea as it doesn’t whip!
Get cooking…
1. Line a shallow baking tray (circa 31cm x 25cm x 2cm) with buttered greaseproof paper or with a reusable silicone cut-to-size liner.
2. Separate the 6 large eggs into 2 separate medium-large mixing bowls (ideally ones which will fit under your electric mixer). There are plenty of YouTube videos showing you how to separate eggs successfully. It is very important not to get any egg yolk into the egg whites, so I suggest breaking each egg over a small cereal bowl (to catch the egg white) before decanting the 'clean' egg white into the main egg white bowl.
3. Use a food mixer (if available) to beat the 6 egg YOLKS with the 125g of sieved white caster / white granulated sugar for 2 minutes, until mixture is pale and quite fluffy. Stop the electric mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and around the base of the bowl a couple of times, to ensure the sugar and yolks are fully mixed.
4. Pre-heat the oven 180 C (160 C fan) or Gas 4, arrange the shelves in the oven so one is at the bottom-level setting.
5. Sieve the 4 tbsp of cocoa into the yolk-sugar mixture and gently but thoroughly fold in using a plastic spatula or a metal spoon. Keep folding (gentle mixing) until there are no streaks of different colours in the mixture, this will take 1 - 2 minutes to do.
6. Put the 6 egg WHITES into a clean bowl and electric whisk them for 2 - 5 min until they turn to stiff, white peaks.
7. Use a plastic spatula or metal spoon to gently fold the fluffy egg whites into the cocoa-yolk-sugar mixture. Keep stirring gently until really, really well combined, this will take 1 - 2 minutes. There shouldn’t be any streaks of different colours visible.
8. Pour the final batter into the lined baking tray and bake for 22 minutes on the BOTTOM wire-rack shelf of the oven. Don't worry f it looks odd (i.e. underbaked) when it comes out - you want flexible sponge NOT crispy.
9. Take the sponge out of oven, LEAVE IT IN THE TIN and cover it with a wrung-out DAMP tea towel (this keeps it flexible enough to roll).
10. Leave the sponge for at least TWO HOURS to cool - still covered with the wrung-out DAMP tea towel and STILL IN ITS TIN, ideally sat on a wire rack in a cool room. (If you don't cool it fully, the cream filling will immediately slide out).
11. Only start to make the chocolatey filling JUST BEFORE you intend to use it, or else it will cool down too much and be too solid to roll inside the sponge. The sponge MUST be cold before it is filled though.
12. Once the sponge has cooled (and when you are ready to complete the chocolate log) start making the chocolatey filling – gently melt the 100g of dark cooking chocolate and the 100g of milk cooking chocolate, the 2 tbsp of syrup and the 2 tsp of butter over a bain marie ( a pan over GENTLY boiling water). Do not put lid on or condensation will form causing chocolate to split. Melting the chocolatey mixture will take about 5 minutes, DO NOT rush it by turning up the heat or the chocolate could split and go grainy.
13. Remove the chocolatey mixture from heat. (I used to add 2 tsp of cream at this point for added gloss, but adding cold liquid can cause the chocolate to split, so I don't suggest adding it anymore).
14. Tip out the hot water in the bain marie and replace with a little cold water from the tap. This will help cool the chocolate-mixture a little, DO NOT cool it down too much or else it won’t bend when you roll the sponge!
15. Whilst the chocolate cools a little, whip the cream that forms the second layer of the filling (circa 2 - 5 minutes with the mixer whisk attachment, or much longer if whisking by hand).
16. Put a clean, dry tea towel onto the work surface. Sprinkle the tea towel evenly with 2 tbsp of cocoa powder.
17. Turn the cake out of the tin onto the cocoa-covered tea towel, so the top side of the cake ends up upside down. Remove and discard the top layer of greaseproof / reusable liner (that was originally lining the baking tray).
18. Spread the slightly-cooled chocolate mixture evenly onto it with a knife, right to the edges.
19. Dot the whipped cream over the surface of the chocolate sauce, then spread cream out with the back of a spoon, so it covers the chocolate layer.
20. Roll up the roulade carefully (ensure the short side is the width so the long side is rolled up to make at least a turn and a half) with the help of the tea towel, lifting it so that it will naturally fold over itself. Again, watch You Tube to see videos on how to roll up a roulade. It will crack open in places, but that adds to the rustic charm of a chocolate log.
21. Gently nudge it onto a serving board or plate and wipe round the plate with a cloth to remove any chocolate smudges. Put the tea towel in soapy water to soak clean!
22. Decorate with a fake branch and robin (or with fake holly etc). DO NOT decorate with real greenery containing poisonous berries.
23. Keep the chocolate log in the fridge (as it contains fresh cream) but allow it to come to room temperature for 20 minutes before serving, so the chocolate is easier to cut. It will last for 3 days if kept in the fridge.
24. Enjoy! This is so yummy!
Adapted from a recipe cut out of The Telegraph Magazine from the early 2000s.