CHOCOLATE ROULADE with PEACHES & CREAM

Sigh! Sometimes you start with something and end with a totally different something! I had bought a tin of cherries a few months ago and since we were getting fresh ripe juicy cherries, I didn't bother opening that tin. But when the Sweet Punch Bake for the month requested for a tin, I opened it. Pop!

Yuck! It smelled so bad and it tasted even badder! I turned the tin to check it's expiration date, a long way to go! The next thing I knew was that it went straight into the bin. I usually have a stock of fresh cherries at home, but that day I had some peaches,red plums and black plums. There was no time for me to go out and get the cherries, because I didn't want the cake to cool so much that it would crumble when I roll it up! So, peaches & cream it was!

The whole affair was a breeze. The cake rolled beautifully, except that it had some cracks when I tried to lift it from my baking tin. Otherwise, everything went smooth.

CHOCOLATE ROULADE with PEACHES & CREAM

Recipe source for the cake : AWW through Maria

Recipe for the filling : My own

Ingredients:

Cake:

Semi-sweet chocolate- 200g , coarsely chopped (I used choc. chips)
Hot water-1/4 c
Instant coffee powder- 1 tsp ( I used Bru)
Eggs- 4 , separated (at room temp.)
Caster sugar-1/2 cup + 1 tbsp extra for sprinkling

Filling:
Peaches- 1 large, chopped into small pieces
Cream- 1 cup
Sugar- to taste ( optional , I avoided it)

Method:

Cake:

• Pre-heat the oven at 180 C /350 F.
• In a heat proof bowl, melt the chocolate, coffee and water together either by double boiling over simmering water or by using a microwave oven.
• Beat the egg yolks and sugar together till pale and fluffy,about 4-5 mins.
• Add the egg yolk mixture to the cooling chocolate and mix well.
• Beat the egg whites till soft peaks and fold that into the chocolate mixture in 2 batches, carefully. Do not deflate the egg whites as it is the main ingredient which gives the body to the cake.
• Pour into a parchment lined swiss roll tin /rect. baking tin and bake for 12- 15 mins or till the top is springy to touch.
• Lay a sheet of parchment on a cutting board and sprinkle it with 1 tbsp of caster sugar.
• As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, invert it onto the sugar- sprinkled parchment , cover with a tea towel and let it cool completely.

Filling:

• Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Add sugar if needed.
• Keep 3-4 tbsp of whipped cream aside for garnish.

Assembly:

• After the cake has cooled completely, remove the tea towel.
• Spread a layer of whipped cream and arrange the chopped fruit on it.
• Keeping the long side of the cake parallel to you, start rolling it away from you using the help of the parchment paper.
• Decorate on top with dollops of whipped cream and fruit slices.

Verdict: 'It looks so beautiful!' 'Mmmm, it's delicious!' 'Sure, I can have some more!' 'Mmmm, that was good!'...those were the responses of 4 people who ate it (including Jobin, excluding myself).

My verdict? YUM! YUM! YUM!  :) It is worth all the anxiety that you go through while rolling it up! :)