heavenly chocolate cake roll
I attempted to sidestep the expletives a few years ago and shared a doubled version with you that was stacked four high, a layer cake of the finest proportions. I included directions for making it as a roll cake — i.e. like a Yule log, or a Yodel, or a Ho-Ho… — but it seemed wrong not to have a post entirely devoted to the way we actually make it at home, and so I decided I would update the rolled recipe this year. Seeing photos of the process helps, I reasoned.
Of course, they only help if I manage to pull it off with some semblance of success but while the cake usually cracks once or twice, the version I made on Monday must have sensed that a) I was on my fourth day of being sick and really not in the mood to be cooking and then shuffling off to the suburbs for dinner and b) that I was expecting the cake to be ready for its photographic close-up and decided to rise to the occasion by sighing and then slumping into itself like a shuffled deck of chocolate cake chips after it was rolled.
Um, delicious cake chips but seriously, this take was so bad that I decided it high time to find a new approach to my family’s beloved cake. I was on a mission! And food blogs, I love you. There are a million big food machine websites out there, but not a single one of them offered the tip I consistently saw across food blogs, which was to roll the cake while still warm in a tea towel and let it cool in a spiral. This seems to set the threads of the cake in the right direction, so that when you unroll the cooled cake, spread the filling and re-roll it, it doesn’t groan and fight you at every turn. I’ll admit that I didn’t wait for my cake to fully cool before unrolling it — patience has never been my particular virtue — so there was a crack, but it was on the inside and all but disappeared when re-rolled. 36 years later — my mother has been making this since 1975! It’s older than me! And him! — this might be the most intact version of the cake yet. Sheesh, I mean, it took long enough!
One year ago: Classic Cobb Salad and Lime Yogurt Cake with Blackberry Sauce
Two years ago: Cinnamon Swirl Buns and Pickled Grapes with Cinnamon and Black Pepper
Three years ago: Caramelized Shallots, 17 Flourless Dessert Ideas and Peanut Sesame Noodles
Four years ago: The Most Tart Margarita
Heavenly Chocolate Cake Roll
Adapted from Jean Hewitt for The New York Times, June 8, 1975
Every time I have a slice of this cake, I wonder why we don’t make it more often. The realm of flourless cakes tends to be populated with brick-like truffle cakes but this one manages to be intensely chocolaty but also featherlight. They also tend to be flooded with butter and while you will never hear me complain about the presence of butter in a cake, the absence of it in this cake allows it to almost float away. We can’t let that happen, so it is anchored it with the most minimal frosting we know, whipped cream. The cold sweet cream against the airy bittersweet cake is, as far as I’m concerned, perfection itself. And it doesn’t exactly hurt that the cake looks like a pinwheel. Or a Yodel. Or a Ho-Ho. You know, whatever your poison may be.
[Updated 5/9/11: To clarify some cake rolling confusion, pointed out by a helpful commenter. The prior directions had you roll the cake with a piece of waxed paper underneath, towel on top. In hindsight, the cake is much easier to roll with a towel underneath, as my photos show. Apologies to anyone who ended up with (delicious) cake chips because of this!]
Cake layer:
6 ounces semisweet bittersweet chocolate, chopped or 1 cup semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons water or strong coffee
6 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
Filling:
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar (use more if you prefer a sweeter filling)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur of your choice, such as Grand Marnier
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 10-by-15-inch shallow baking or jellyroll pan. Line the bottom lengthwise with a piece of waxed or parchment paper that extends up the short sides one inch.
Melt chocolate with water or coffee in a small saucepan over very low heat until it is 75 percent melted. Remove from heat and stir until the remaining chocolate is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
Beat egg yolks with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to beat until yolks are pale and ribbony. Gently stir the chocolate into the yolk mixture.
In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites with salt until they hold stiff peaks. Stir 1/4 of egg white mixture into the chocolate-yolk mixture to lighten it. Fold the remaining whites into the cake batter in three additions. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until cake layer feels dry (but very soft) to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. It will still seem a little underbaked.
Transfer to a cooling rack and cover the top with a light damp towel or two layers of damp paper towels for 10 minutes. Gently remove towels; don’t fuss if they have a bit of cake stuck to them. Run a knife around the edges of the cake. Sift one tablespoon cocoa over the top of the cake and cover the cake with a thin tea or flour sack towel [Updated, see Note above] that is a little longer than the pan. Place the back of a baking sheet or a large flat tray over the towel and invert the cake and paper onto it. Gently peel back the parchment or waxed paper that lined the pan. Sift the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder over the top of the cake (that was, one minute ago, the underside). Using the towel underneath to help lift and roll the cake, roll the cake from short end to short end with the towel inside. Let cool completely, encased in its towel.
Once cool, beat heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until it holds stiff peaks. Get your serving plate ready and place it near your cake roll. Gently unroll chocolate cake and remove tea towel. [Try to get the tea towel to the hamper without touching anything, as it is saturated with smudgy cocoa and trust me, can mess up a white kitchen fast.] Spread whipped cream filling evenly over cake. Gently use waxed or parchment paper once again to reroll cake. Place on serving platter, seam side down.
If you’re fancier than us, you can now garnish it with shaved white or dark chocolate or even a drizzle of each, melted; raspberries are pretty too. Serve immediately in 1-inch thick slices or refrigerate until needed. This cake is best to serve on the first day it is made. It’s still delicious after that, but the whipped cream filling does begin to deflate a little into the cake spiral.
About this cake’s origin/name: When I first wrote about this cake in 2007, I was unable to find the original New York Times article my mother had clipped the recipe from but after finding an almost exact match of my mother’s recipe in a 2001 Gourmet, attributed the name and cake to it. Now that The New York Times online archives are in better order, I was able to find the actual article my mother read on a June day the year before I was born promising that you couldn’t go wrong if you made this heavenly chocolate dessert on Father’s Day. In this version, there are a bunch of minor changes, such as using coffee instead of water with the chocolate, vanilla extract in stead of Grand Marnier, and much less of it, more whipped cream filling (which I find unnecessary) but less sweetener in it (which I preferred) and the option to roll the cake from the short end, which my family always does. I prefer most of these original nuances, as that’s the way my mother always made it, but give some hybrid suggestions above. Neither recipe origin recommends pre-rolling the cake with a towel, but I picked that tip up from various food blogs and find it essential in virtually eliminating cake cracks.
Note: There’s a four-layered version of this cake in the archives.























I love finding recipes for gluten-free cakes and this one looks sinfully good!
Heavenly indeed! Love this!
Your family has three cakes! My family doesn’t have any, well I take that back we do have a rhubarb cake that I consider a “family cake”. The name “heavenly cake” is better than its nickname, ha!
-Brenda
What an awesome trick!! Now I want to go off and make all sorts of roll-cakes just for fun.
That looks delicious but I’m always wary of rolled cakes because it’s tough to make them look good. That’s pretty awesome that you were able to re-roll it out when it didn’t work the first time around.
In my family my aunt’s sister always makes stuffed Lebanese cookies (ma’amool) for family events and it’s not the same without them!
I would try this cake – but the rolling/cracking would probably send me over the deep end too! I’d need a lot of help from my daughter in this project.
I may have to make this for a Passover dinner on Saturday!!
Ah, memories of holidays past! I remember at 16 being so enthralled by Julia Child’s Buche de Noel –I think on TV — that I made it, with the assistance of my aunt, for Christmas. I remember rolling the cake up in a tea towel. But as the recipe proceeded in all of its complicated majesty from cake to buttercream to meringue mushrooms dusted with chocolate to moss spun from sugar syrup and draped over a broom handle, I can only remember Aunt Mary’s tears of laughter as I proceeded with fanatic obsession to make every pot and pan in the kitchen dirty – and then trash the floor. She was an epic cook, but of the more basic Middlewestern “maybe a little cream would make it better” sort.
Woohoo, a gluten-free cake! The husband has to eat gluten-free. Hiis mom always stocks up on gluten-free baked goodies from the Jewish bakery during Passover. Heh. Works out nicely as his birthday is in April.
This looks fun, but I’m still scared even with the tea towel tip.
It is so true about rolling it in a towel, it’s (almost) fool-proof that way. I’m going to HAVE to try that filling, it just looks like pure fluffy bliss! Mmm, thanks so much for making this and sharing with all of us. :)
You’ve done it again! I have never attempted a rolled cake before b/c I have heard too many stories about the cracking and how difficult they can be…but after reading your post you have inspired me to try something I haven’t done before. This cake looks amazing! I’ll be making it this weekend :) Thanks for the inspiration once again.
I love chocolate cake rolls. The Cake Bible has a great one, also flourless, that uses cocoa instead of chocolate, although that one uses some butter. My only problem with rolls is the top–the plain cake looks, so, well, plain, unless you want to glaze it, and I don’t.
One of these days I’m going to try to replicate the chocolate roll at a bakery near where my grandma lived. They fill it with chocolate pudding, and I can’t remember what’s on top, but it’s covered in chocolate cake crumbs. I was always a sucker for bakery pudding filling.
thank you for such a lovely recipe. i’d love to try & make it but i don’t think i’ll be rolling it. maybe make into like a sandwich cake. i hope u don’t mind. mmmm can’t wait to make it!
I just want to eat it and have someone else make it for me!
yum.
I love the idea of this cake and think I may try it for Easter. It’s GLUTEN-FREE! Yippee and thank you! xo
Another trick to avoid cracking is to take out the cake from the tray when still hot and then immediately put the cake tray over the cake (without the filling) and cover it with it until it’s cooled and you put the filling in – at least that’s what the tried and tested cookbooks from “Betty Bossi” (a very famous baking/cooking-bookbrand here in Switzerland) suggest. With my cake rolls it works very well!
I always wondered how to make rolled cakes! That looks scrumptious. Yum!
Thats a great filling to cake ratio. So wonder you call it heavenly!
Funny, I’ve only ever made one rolled cake and that was last Thanksgiving. I was trying to replicate a pumpkin roll that my 2nd cousins make every Fall and went looking for a recipe. There it was, on the Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Filling can, complete with instructions to cook on parchment paper and roll in tea towel while still warm and let cool. Like you, I was too impatient to let it cool there for long but, it worked and while the cream cheese filling melted a tad, the end result was as anticipated – and no cracks! As a result, I just plain assumed that every recipe for a rolled cake called for rolling it warm in a towel. Who knew? This cake looks awesome and it will be tried this weekend, I’m sure. Happy Passover, Happy Easter, Happy Spring to all of you.
This brings back memories. For the past 40 years my mom has made chocolate rolls using a very similar recipe. Amazingly good. After years of having her version I got her recipe and made it myself. It is excellent and if the cake cracks it becomes either a layer cake or I use powdered sugar to fill in the gaps.
But the real creme de la creme in our household is a hazelnut version of this roll. Instead of chocolate or flour, we use ground hazelnuts. The cake rolls a slight bit more easily and it is really heavenly. Plus it’s kosher for Passover. When I was a kid I asked mom to combine the two and she came up with a chocolate-hazelnut roll. That was the best ever!
Thank you for posting a dessert that’s naturally gluten-free (no xanthum gum or sorghum flour? from the world of Celiacs – a sigh of relief) and seasonally adaptable (+ some bunny ear inserts and a coating of whipped cream = Peter Cottontail not a day too soon)!
I was searching the web (read: screening all the foodblogs I regularly read) with hope to find a dessert for my brother’s birthday this weekend.. I may have found it! He loves chocolate, It looks festive and is more special than the chocolate cake I usually make because of the filling.. And the way it looks of course!
I love that every family has its own cakes, in our family, everybody has their own birthday cake.. For me a carrot-cake, my father apple, my mother something with fruit and my brother and the man in my life both crave chocolate.. I think I’m going to have to introduce this cake to my family (if your mother allows me)!
Chinese Bakeries also have their jelly roll cakes and we love them, but I’m always afraid to attempt it at home. Plus the fact that you can’t seem to get the ‘secret’ Chinese Bakery cake recipe. I love your blog because you tested your recipes and confess your flops, so that I’m then unafraid to try it. I’ve never tried flourless cakes, what is the science that holds it up? The eggs? Facinating.
Sounds delicious! I can never manage to roll cakes correctly….they always end up breaking at some point. You’re courageous for attempting this in my book!!
That’s amazing that it’s flourless and still looks so light, and my mum always taught me to roll the cake in a tea towel while warm :)
a giant yodel!! Love it. Yodels remind me of girl scout meetings after school. I would make this just for the nostalgia :-)
WOW unreal that this cake is flour-less and kosher for passover..was laughing as I read …” I used to call it the “sh*t” cake in honor of the word that kept slipping from my mother’s mouth as she tried to roll it without it cracking” … but it kinda looks like it would be yum even if it did fall apart …
Daniela
This is my favorite dessert, ever. My Oma (grandma in German) has been making a similar chocolate roll since my dad was a kid (45 years, yow!), and it’s one of my favorites. One of the things I miss most about living 1,500 miles from home is her chocolate roll – it really is the epitome of the perfect desert.
Thanks for sharing.. such a great way to start my day. And your chocolate roll, even the crumbled one, looks absolutely delicious.
What a delicious looking cake! I’m so glad you were finally able to “fix” the problem of the cake cracking and falling apart. At my house, whenever something doesn’t work out just right (cake sticks to pan, cookies get a little dark, icing slides off cake, brownies are too gooey), we say that we can’t give it away so we’ll just have to eat it!! Happy Passover to you!
My family makes a cake like this for christmas. After rolling it gets frozen and then covered with lots of chocolate. We serve it still frozen with that thick layer of chocolate on the outside. All I can say is that the pre-roll in the tea towel is a key element of making it work. Looks lovely!
Congrats on rolling it without the thing falling apart! It looks so lovely. And gluten-free – woohoo!
I knew about the tea towel trick because, like your mom, my mom also used colourful language when making jelly rolls. I like the flourless idea here, and the sugar is not too over the top. Although this recipe looks fantastic on its own, I think I might experiment with an alternative sugar. I’ll let you know if it works out. I think this is one dessert my little one might actually like – at least to look at it :)
Wow! My family makes this on Passover too. We always just call it a chocolate roll though. :) It is traditionally made by my grandmother and she has already told me that when the time comes and she can’t make them anymore she is giving me her serving plate (the only one she has that is long enough to accommodate the size). I look forward to carrying on the tradition. I’d never heard of anyone else making this type of cake–thanks for the happy find this morning!
That’s some impressive work Deb! I had made this cake (from one of your earlier recipes) before (not as a roll, but as several layers), and I love the souffle-like texture that it has. I had covered it with coffee flavored whipped cream – divine.
But it feels like a sauce is needed to put it over the top. Something like a home-made Raspberry sauce?
This cake looks so amazing! Thank you for the beautiful photo tutorial. Your hard work and ingenuity will prevent many small children from hearing that accidental profanity due to technical cake difficulties. :)
I learned the tea towel trick at Christmas when making a red velvet peppermint cake! It really does work :)
What a fun and delicious looking Passover dessert recipe! I will definitely be filing this one away for next year’s seder, but will have to try it at least once in the meantime!
looks so good. I have the immense fear of rolling a cake, much like your mom, and am thanking you so much for the tip about the tea towel.
Oh man. I wish I had this recipe before Monday when I had a seder for 50 people. We needed some dessert.
My mom’s tip for rolling a cake (we’re of Chinese descent and she’s been doing this for years!) is to lightly spritz the tea towel with some vanilla-scented water, or alcohol or whatever you prefer, so that when you roll the cake in the tea towel, the cake will be able to retain its moisture while rolled up in the tea towel :) Also, do this while the cake is fresh out of the oven, it helps the cake not crack when it’s being rolled with filling. Works every time – I swear!
I have always wanted to make a cake roll, but been too afraid it would fall apart. Thank you so much for boosting my confidence and give such wonderful pics :-)
Goodness that roll cake looks DIVINE!
I’ve made lots of roll cakes…family recipe from my Austrian mom. She said that if you want to fill it with cream (or frosting) that you need to roll it up “blind” with a kitchen towel sprinkled with sugar. If you want to fill it with marmalade you can do that while the cake is still warm. :-) I never guessed there was a reason to roll it up in the kitchen towel….I just did it because she said to! Now I know!
Oh my goodness. Now all you need to do is drench that puppy in chocolate you will have an actual huge Yodel!
Heavenly sounds about right.
Ha! I love the ‘alternate’ name for this cake. I’ve only made a rolled cake once and yes, the language was colorful. There were also moments of absolute faith where you hope that praying to every god in the sky would make it roll crack-free. Baking this cake is a religious experience.
You are a brilliant woman and this is proof! The cake is lovely and the sharp contrast between the filling and the cake is stunning. I love the fact that it flourless to boot.
I just made your old layer cake version of this last night to bring in for a co-workers birthday today (without angering my Passover-observing, sweet-loving boss). The fallen crumbs that I was able to eat (dipped in the leftover, divine whipped cream) were phenomenal, so I can’t wait to share it with friends today. It seems to have survived overnight well, let’s see if it can hold off until after lunch. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s the most gorgeous sh*t cake I’ve ever seen! ;) Seriously though…rolled cakes have always seemed daunting, but now I’ll never forget that tea towel tip. Will have to make this one, especially when I’m looking for something for my GF friends.
Looks amazing!
Oh you temptress you
This is beautiful!!! And I always learn so much as you describe your process of getting to the final recipe. Thank you for that! A question, if you don’t mind – I’m thinking about serving this on Easter, but what with serving a midday brunch, and the required Easter egg hunt, etc. I don’t think I’ll have time to make it all fresh Sunday morning. Any thoughts on making the cake Saturday evening/night and leaving it rolled in the towel until morning? Thank you!
my oh my!
My mother-in-law makes this cake every Christmas, and it is beloved and discussed all year long!
Rolled or not, this is next on my cooking docket! YUM!
this looks amazing! I’ll save it for next Passover – I’m always on the lookout for good passover treats (this year, I made an orange curd sponge cake w. strawberries from cooking light, coconut macaroons a la Barefoot, and my cousin made amazing chocolate covered matzoh with fleur de sel).
So – I’ll be the annoying person who asks – what kind of cocoa powder? I know that you like Valhrona, so I’m assuming dutch-process…?
It is hard to believe it doesn’t have flour. I haven’t made a jelly roll cake in a long time. I am not sure why – they are so good. chocolate and cream, yum.
Yeah for the internet to set on on the track to figure things out we don’t have the time to experiment with ourselves! This kind of cake is right up my alley…a little drizzled ganache couldn’t hurt. ;)
We were just discussing the use of a jelly roll pan in class this morning. My students did not know what it was and how it was used. In talking to them about a jelly roll cake one student said “Won’t the cake crack.” This was a perfect post for my class discussion! They loved the name you gave the cake! I love high school students.
Yum! Even if it does fall apart, it would make an excellent trifle!
My mom makes a very similar cake, only she fills it with vanilla ice cream rather than whipped cream, then freezes it. She does, however, always use the roll-while-warm technique – you shoulda just asked my mom for that secret! ;)
And there must be something about guys and this cake – my dad goes NUTS for it!
Sally — The kind of cocoa doesn’t matter. It’s acting as a flour to prevent sticking rather than a cake ingredient.
TrishR — I think it should be just fine. I didn’t test leaving the cake overnight, but from what I read with other roll cakes, letting it cool for up to a day in the towel shouldn’t be an issue.
oh goodness me, this looks divine! have you ever added fruit to the center filling? fresh strawberries, blueberries and/or blackberries would be delicious!
A light flourless chocolate cake!? Hurrah! We’ve been struggling to find a recipe that doesn’t sit in your stomach like a lead weight…this looks delicious!
Looks fantastic… kinds of like a “yodel” without all the chemicals! It’s funny because I’ve been working on a similar cake idea recently but with vanilla and swirled with cinnamon, sugar, and butter. It was supposed to be a cross between a cinnamon bun and rugelach. Your technique here with the tea towel is fantastic. I’m going to have to use that. Wonderful!
I really need to make a cake roll…its something I’ve wanted to make for years now, and yours is beautiful!
Deb, do you think there is any way this might work as cupcakes?
I was going to mention Julia Child’s buche de noel, but MK beat me to it – very similar memories. As I recall she had us roll the cake up while it was still warm, so I’m glad you figured that out as well.
Mmm. That looks delicious. I’m going to try this asap.
Oh. My. This looks like one of the most incredible recipes you’ve ever posted.
Thank you so much for posting a passover recipe. I can’t wait to try this. Hopefully I’ll be able to replicate your succesful results, and not have to call it a sh*t cake!
Wow! That looks so fantastic! I never would have guessed it was for Passover. Super yum!! I need to make this!
Who you callin a Ho Ho? I love that you call it sh*t cake. Brings back memories of my mom cursing extensively while rolling up jelly rolls in sugared kitchen towels. This cake/post: awesome as usual.
Elizabeth — Cross between cinnamon bun and rugelach? Done! :)
wow – i’ve been away a while and this is a lovely post to come back to !
thank you – will definitely be making this! :)
i was wondering why you’d go and post a cake 2 days into passover, but it’s flour-free! will have to make it pronto!
I LOVED the Little Debbie’s version when I was little. I can only imagine the face on my little cousins if I pulled out a huge cake that looks like their favorite little treat!!
Reminds me of my next door neighbor who use to make one similar to this one with mocha. This looks delicious.
When I was in 8th grade, my home economics teacher taught us how to make a jelly roll. I remember her introducing the tea towel but, for me at least, it was a little unclear why we needed one. I’ve never rolled a baked good since, although I’m pretty much done with macaroons and we’re only on the second day. Thanks for the recipe!
OMG. I have to make this. I want to lay in this cake. It looks so amazing!
Looks absolutely delicious.
Three words: Swiss. Cake. Roll!
No matter how delicious homemade, fine cooking is, I have a deep, trashy affection for Little Debbie’s. Swiss cake rolls are the trashiest love. No matter if they taste similar, I now want to make this cake for the giant SCR visual alone. The Southern blood in me would be happy.
OMG! This looks like so much fun for my 10 year old! I was always afraid of it cracking, but what a great trick! And beaters to lick, too!
Thanks Deb! :-))))
We’ve never met but I love/hate you. This just jumped to the top of the to-do list.
I also LOVED Swiss Cake Rolls as a kid. This brings me back.
Chocolate is a family favorite and we’ve always rolled in a clean towel. This still doesn’t mean 3 chocolate rolls get made for one finished product. (Ala this past Christmas).
Curses! You are the little devil on my shoulder, Deb. I was feeling so virtuous having packed myself a healthy lunch and planning a healthy dinner, and now the ONLY thing in the world I want to eat is a chocolate cake rolled around whipped cream. This looks like a dream!!!!
I made this cake for Passover this year, and wow, did it get raves. I introduced it under the name in the archives, “Lighter-Than-Air Cake,” which resulted in my daugher’s comment, “Oh, instead of the heavier than lead cake you usually make?”, in reference to the flourless chocolate cake that has been our tradition. I gotta say, this one was WAY better.
My mom makes an ice cream roll cake that is very similar but with softened ice cream instead of whipped cream. Basically any ice cream is fabulous–and chocolate ganache makes an awesome frosting!
Oh that looks amazing! I think I better not make it or I will eat the whole thing at once!
so gorgeous. i think i’d have to go for the layer cake version, there would definitely be expletives involved if i tried the roll.
I don’t know what looks better: this chocolate roll cake or the sour cream cinnamon chocolate chip coffee cake…? In any case, your family baking arsenal is clearly full of treasures! And funny anecdotes, too!
Bang! Pow! You are awesome! I’d love to know your mom’s reaction to this post. I’m off to get the eggs out of the fridge…
Hi Deb, I posted the pic and tagged you on FB. I should have used a tea towel. That is how I make the libbeys pumpkin cake roll and that always comes out great. Oh well. Also, I had to melt the chocolate twice because it siezed the first time when I added the water. The second time, I added it to the mixer when I poured in the melted chocolate. The taste was fantastic, everyone LOVED it. Thanks.
this looks gorgeous, I wish I had a plate in my cubicle.
When I saw your lead shot, the first thing I thought was “A giant Little Debbie swiss cake roll!” I loved those as a kid and I actually used to UNROLL them when I ate them. Had I known, the painstaking process it takes to get this to roll, I may have been more considerate. . .
Yum! You had me at the very first picture. I imagine that me rolling this would be a recipe for something very interesting, but I’m definitely willing to give it a try. Yours looks gorgeous!
My mom makes a cake like this for Easter. A little carving, some chocolate whipped cream spread on the outside, and some construction paper ears = an adorable bunny cake. Last time I tried on my own I burnt the whole cake, but maybe it’s time for another shot.
Looks delicious -fun way to present a cake
Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Cake Bible has a number of rolled cakes, and she always instructs bakers to use the tea towel method! (Rose’s advice is always spot-on.) This looks wonderful and I am going to try it this weekend! Thanks as always for the wonderful recipes.
Now I feel bad….I read the prior version you posted of this recipe and I recall wondering why she cursed extensively…I’ve done the damp tea towel trick for years with our pumpkin rolls. I will totally be trying this recipe, right after I’m done with my diet from all the other goodies you’ve posted recently that I just HAD to try!!!
for what it’s worth, we refridgerate ours after wrapping it up and I am pretty sure that it would be fine left in the fridge overnight…I’ve forgotten them for a few hrs and then remembered I needed to fill them!!!
Yay! Gluten free!
I’m bringing dessert to our family’s Easter gathering this Sunday, where we’ll be serving the very traditional but very dense Norwegian Kumla and ham. I had been planning on making my grandma’s Strawberry Angel Food Cake, hoping its lightness and the fresh fruit would counteract the heaviness of the rest of the meal, but now I’m very tempted to make this instead, especially since I’ve been worrying about whether there will be enough chocolate at this particular gathering. (Easter eggs usually supply plenty of it, but since most of us are rather beyond the age for hunting for them and I haven’t given Grandpa and Grandma the OK to shower my 19-month-old with candy, I wonder if there will be any chocolate at all.) Oh well, if I don’t make it this weekend, I have a mother-in-law who cannot eat gluten, so this WILL be making an appearance at some sort of family gathering in the future, for sure! Thank you for this and other gluten-free recipes that are delicious in their own right, even for those of us who can eat gluten. I really appreciate it!
This looks fantastic! I am starving right now and looking at this picture just put me over the edge. Must find chocolate (preferably in rolled form) now!
Deb – thanks so much for sparking a memory – it was the single baked item in my mom’s extensive skillful repertoire; she’d spend the whole day baking and I remember the anxiety over rolling it up!
I’m sure I’m going to sound like an idiot, but is there any way to avoid the dairy component of this cake? Can you use soy milk? Or would that just be wasting my time? Or, as an alternative, would a non-dairy chocolate frosting work instead? My cake would, undoubtedly crack, so I’d probably make the one originally posted if that makes any difference.
Thanks for a gluten free recipe! Both my boss and my mother are gluten intolerant, so I am constantly searching for sweet recipes I can make, and this one looks perfect! A lovely alternative to the flourless chocolate cake I generally turn to which can get a bit dull and dense.
Thanks!
My very old Betty Crocker cookbook had directions for rolled cakes and they always rolled them in a towel when they were warm. I didn’t know there was any other way to do it.
I laughed out loud at your comment about the unholiness about process for this cake–thank you for that!
this cake roll looks fantastic. i’m tempted to make it tonight.
my mother does the trick with the tea towel when making cake rolls or savory rolls, but she dampens the tea towel a little. that way the cake won’t dry out while cooling.
My grandma makes a cake like this, but with a mocha filling. She has a tendency to ruin desserts though (since she doesn’t believe in things like sugar, or butter, or salt), luckily when my mom married into the family she raved about the cake so much its the only dessert made by my grandma that still contains otherwise banned ingredients.
I kept looking for a post on the corn bread, but alas, it appears it is not meant to be.
I’ve been making this cake ever since I saw the recipe in the NY Times and it is always a hit – I also use lots of interesting phrases when trying to roll this and am interested to see if your method will alleviate my stress when I make this for Easter :-)
Tucked away in my mental cooking tips file, I read that dampening the tea towel with water flavored with vanilla or your choice of flavorings (as some others before me mentioned), was the way to keep the towel from absorbing any moisture from the cake and it keeps it from sticking. Especially important for sponge cakes. I’ve never put the tip to use, as I’ve not found a recipe for the filling that wowed me, until recently. I made a cake filled with a mock whipped clotted cream that I adapted which included mascarpone cheese, whipped with a combination of heavy and sour cream and a few T’s of sugar. I swear, it held up without shrinking or weeping for days and it wasn’t too sweet or too tangy like the original cream cheese version that I had riffed. I am dreaming of a coconut cake with this as the filling or frosting.
I never rolled a cake without flour, and I rarely had to swear while doing it. But this version must taste seriously rich and light, my favourite combination. And I’m not afraid of ending up swearing, now that I have so many good tips.
Such beautiful photos
My grandma made this same cake for every special occassion, but she would add sliced bananas to the whip cream. Always awesome.
Our family has loved a cake similar to this one. Four generations of us have now made it for birthdays and other celebrations. One major difference- we serve a homemade chocolate sauce on the side!!! We are all major lovers of chocolate and I can’t wait to try this cake.
I have read the tip with the tea towel before, but never actually seen it put into action. It looks like it really did the trick. Theoretically I have a jelly roll pan somewhere, but haven’t seen it for at least 2 moves. Do you think a rimmed cookie sheet will be too shallow?
I’m organizing an Easter dinner at my friend’s house since none of us have family where we live and we’re all too poor to go home. I’ve been trying to figure out what to make, and I believe I will be making this for the dessert! And because we’re all crazy grad students, I think I’ll use the coffee in place of the water. And maybe some Kahlua in place of the vanilla/Gran Marnier.
I can see how this cake would test my patience – as I am also not a patient baker or cook! My first thoughts were not only is this cake beautiful and perfect for passover but also gluten free (I try to adhere to a gluten free diet – I just feel better).
oh dear goodness. this looks like a must-bake!
My Mom and I make the annual pumpkin rolls every year for various friends and family. I would suggest rolling this cake the same way you roll the pumpkin cake. Dust with cocoa powder and roll into a tea towel while it is hot and fresh out of the oven. Then make your frosting. After your frosting is made, unroll the cake and spread frosting and re-roll. I always wrap my rolls in plastic wrap to help keep its shape and keep the frosting in, then chill in the fridge for 12hrs-how ever long it takes to set (turning occasionally to help keep its roll shape). Then unwrap and devour.
I’m going to second, third and fifth rolling the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. OtherMother makes a Yule Log every year and she says to just dust the tea towel with confectioner’s sugar (her’s is a yellow cake), flip it out, peel off the parchment, dust the back side and roll it up immediately and hers never cracks.
This looks Yummy, and I need chocolate cake like right now!
This cake looks wonderful. Family favorites are always the best cakes. Thanks for the tea towel tip! That will sure save us all a lot of stress :)
Oh my, the ‘shit cake’ looks amazing. It reminded my of the book The Help & it made me laugh. I love your dishes, I wish I could just grab the food right out of the computer (they’ve got to be working on the technology, right?). I don’t comment much, but I am a big fan of your humor, food, images, etc. Looking forward to many more delicious dishes.
e
I make a similar one that has marscapone and rum in the filling, and serve it with a raspberry sauce. It’s so yummy, and great for folks who can’t have gluten.
Deb, I’ve been an avid SK follower for a couple of years now, but have never left a comment – until now! My mom used to make this cake whenever my birthday fell on Passover, as it does this year (tomorrow). She passed away six years ago and despite my love for baking and all things chocolate and cake I have yet to attempt this. Of all the baking tips and recipes I picked up from her this was one I just never retained (though I do remember some expletives being used in the process!). Anyway, seeing it posted here this week along with my pesach birthday just might give me the inspiration to finally give it a go. Thanks!
Your name for the cake had me cracking up. Love the tip on the rolling process. My pumpkin roll cake always tastes great but, not much in the looks department. It is always nice when you can improve upon a family recipe. Looks good.
See, MY family didn’t have cakes. We had a specific recipe for Haroset, and Grandma’s macaroni & cheese (which is really weird and unlike, for example, Martha Stewart’s) but no cakes. UNTIL. Until I made your sour cream cinnamon chocolate chip coffee cake, and made it ours. In an odd way, does that make us related, somehow? That cake of yours, and this cake of Martha’s: http://www.marthastewart.com/336020/strawberry-cake are now my family cakes. Strangers to my family will now think we have an Aunt Deb and Aunt Martha :-)
Hi there – I know this is going to sound stupid – but I’m not much of a baker & am not quite positive what a tea towel is… this sounds like an amazing treat and would love to give it a shot. Probably would not want to buy something new to make it though since I haven’t used a tea towel yet w/my lame cooking skills yet… any alternatives? Thanks!
uber drool!
This sh*t cake sans butter is ETHEREAL! Ha! Seriously good, Deb! I think I let it cool too long because I got a few cracks. However, the roll held together perfectly. The texture reminds me of a good tiramisu. Very nice. I’m looking forward to adding vanilla (I’m out of vanilla sugar). This is probably my very favorite recipe of yours. Thank you!
I love recipes with great stories behind them! You’re an excellent writer and congrats on making a successful roll! It looks beautiful.
Oh yum! I cannot wait to make this!! I have never made a roll cake, so I’m so glad you went before and did all the research for me :)
I love that you link to the original recipe from the 1975 New York Times. As a librarian, I salue your research!
And that should read SALUTE!
One of the first from-scratch cakes I made as a kid was a chocolate roll cake from the Betty Crocker cookbook with the pie-chart design on the cover, which recommended the tea towel technique. Worked perfectly!
O, yum. That’s all I have to say about this cake.
OH YES. We call it a chocolate roulade, but it’s the same thing. In a family with gluten intolerance (my MiL and husband) and Celiac disease(my SiL), this cake is a regular. But I have no problem with gluten whatsoever and still request it for my birthday. So it’s a winner all around.
This is very similar to our “Family Cake”. Ours is a Mocha Roulade. Starts with the sponge cake, then I make a chocolate glaze adding Tia Maria and espresso powder.
I also flavour the whipping cream with espresso powder. Finally before rolling, dot the whipped cream with fresh raspberries.
We have never cared about the look of the cake. Thank you for the tip about rolling the cake in a tea towel while cooling. I have only placed a damp tea towel on the cake while it was cooling in the refrigerator. My birthday is next month and I will try your tip when I bake our “Family Cake”.
I have heard the trick of using the tea towel, but have not attempted as of yet. You have given me hope though. The recipe sounds amazing and will try soon. Love your recipes and images! Happy baking :)
I don’t think I have the guts or patience to make a rolled cake, but making this as a layer cake sounds awesome!
So many memories of making these as a kid! This looks awesome.
Love the pictures. The cake looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing your journey with the ugly parts :) I am totally going to make this!
oh my goodness! this cake is my all time favorite. my mom or my grandma would make this every year for birthdays–only they crushed up peppermints for the filling. i’m dying right now. my birthday is this week…i might just have to make it for myself!
This look so good and what a fun treat to make one large Ho-Ho! I never buy them for my kids so they will love this!
Thank you for this! A friend and I went to a coffee shop today and I was seriously lusting after her fluffy banana bread and quietly wishing I could eat something cake-like. You’ve made my Passover heart very happy. :)
THANK YOU for a beautiful gluten free recipe! More gluten free recipes please!! I can’t wait to make this.
We’ve made this cake throughout my life as well. We had a couple variations to this as well – one version was with a chocolate frosting that goes over the final/rolled cake. The other was the addition of peppermint – either to the whipped cream, or to the chocolate frosting. No matter what, this is a fabulous cake, especially with a glass of cold milk to wash it down.
@jrm A tea towel is just a kitchen towel, like the one you dry dishes with or wipe your hands on after you wash them (but, you know, just wrap the cake in one you HAVEN’T wiped your hands on ;) ) And you’ll want to use a smooth, woven cotton or linen towel, NOT a terry-cloth (plush, bath-style) towel or you’ll end up with bits of lint in your cake. Good luck!
It turned out beautiful. You have some serious patience – I would have given up after the cracked first one :)
I was surprised you didn’t know the towel trick. It was one my mother show me years ago. I use it to make pumpkin rolls in the fall and to make one with melted seedless raspberry jam and whipped cream. My daughter will love that i can now make a chocolate one. Also the pic of Jacob is adorable. I have a similar one of my daughter sitting in her walker next to the couch on which my husband is sitting and they are both reading. She is now almost 18 and still an avid reader.
my mom also fills it with vanilla ice cream since the 70′s and we all love it esp my Dad. Now I’m teaching my girls to make it – the cracks are less noticable with ice cream, cause you can push it together and the freeze it, once you cut it- you can’t tell what happened to it. Ha. It’s delish.
I’m drooling. I’ve always been much too intimidated to try to make any sort of roll or log cake, but you just might have inspired me to give it a go! What’s the worst that could happen, right? Either way, a cake’s a cake.
That looks absolutely delicious. If I wasn’t grounded (when my mom “grounds” me, it means I can’t bake for a week… haha) I’d definitely give this chocolate roll a try.
Well, I always thought I knew the secret with flour-based jelly roll cake (replace 3 TBS flour with cornstarch to make it flexible) but since this is flourless, I don’t have a clue.The tea towel trick looks clever so WHEN I attempt this lovely looking creation, I will try it your way. Thanks for always sharing.
I have a question! Why doesn’t adding water to chocolate as its melting cause the chocolate to seize up? I am far from an expert baker, but I thought getting water in melting chocolate totally messes it up? (I have had a bad experience or two with a double broiler myself …..)
Hey Deb happy passover!
Quick question: have you ever made a vanilla (or non-chocolate) version of this cake? I’d love to try making it with a white chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry filling. (Although, that would be great with chocolate too!) I’ve made this many times with chocolate but I’m not sure white chocolate would act the same way – its consistency is slightly different. Any suggestions?
Also: I have let the cake cool in the towel overnight with deliterious effects – it craked badly the next day. Since then I usually take it out of the towel after an hour or two. (With success)
Oh my goodness, Passover Cake that actually looks AMAZING and doesn’t use any matzo meal? I’M SOLD. In fact, I can’t finish typing this comment as I’m busy rushing off to my kitchen. No really, this is amazing! Can’t wait to try it.
I patiently wait and wait for ANYTHING chocolate coming from you next and what do I get? A rolled cake with whipped cream… even that cracked piece has my name all over it. I think the rolling-when-cake-is-warm trick is also used commonly in making Swiss rolls, if only your mother had access to food blogs in her days huh? Thanks for the recipe Deb, are you sure your family doesn’t have a fourth cake?.
This looks like an awesome recipe. I need a dessert for this weekend so I think I will be brave and atttempt it! Chocolate always hits the spot.
Yeah! You did it! You finally did it! Last time you posted about this recipe I (along with others?) mentioned the tea towel technique. You seem to be using a thick towel doubled over. I always use a thin flour sack towel, not doubled. When the cake has cooled for five or ten minutes, roll (pretty snug) then twist the ends (like a big Tootsie roll). I tie the ends with twine or rubber bands and let sit over-night. I’ve never ever had it crack on me. Hey, if it does crack you can make some ganache and frost. At Christmas I’ve used peppermint flavoring in the whipped cream then frosted it to look like bark. Either use the tines of a fork to score or just use your knife to artfully make it look like bark. I’m not Martha, and if I can do it — you can. One Christmas I cut some holly leaves from the huge bush in my backyard to decorate the plate. When I arrived at my friends’ house I went and put the Buche de Noel on her back porch. Then I noticed a trail of ants crawling from my plate. Oy vey! Lesson learned. If using fresh holly — always wash and check for ants!
Funny. I just read another commenter who said she never leaves her cake rolled up over-night. I, natch, always leave it rolled over-night. *Sigh.* Jacob, you’re never too young to have your very own library card and you’re definitely, positively the 100% cutest. Mazel tov. I forgot to say — Happy Passover! Happy Easter!
Gluten free? *swoon* Jacob reading a book? *swoon* You have won me over again, Deb. Oh, and the broken cake picture looks like a face sticking its tongue out. You cannot unsee it!
When I was young, i occasionally made a lemon cake roll. That trick to let it cool coiled up is quite common in german baking books, no absolute insurance for non-breaking though.
Must try this flourfree recipe,my friend suffers from celiac desease.
Thanks!
There is something we do with this that really makes it more special:
Use only VERY slightly sweeted whipped cream inside, then dot the inside with pitted SOUR cherries. These aren’t always easy to find, but when you do, stock up.
Then roll up the cake and frost it with a melted Cadbury bar or two. We call this ‘Lincoln Log” and there are never any leftovers.
Hi Deb. My family has been making Buche de Noel for generations for Xmas Day dessert. We use a very small amount of cake flour but everything else looks the same with the exception of the coffee (I will try that this Xmas). We also sprinkle powered sugar on the tea towel before rolling the cake to help keep it moist and to prevent cracking. Typical decorations are meringue mushrooms and marzipan shaped leaves to help make it look like log. My kids just love it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been trying to find a good cake recipe for my husband’s birthday. By George, I think I’ve got it, now!
XoXoXo
Joy
My mom and grandma make a very similar cake, but they fill it with melted ice cream and then freeze the roll. Sometimes they dust it with powdered sugar or sometimes it’s drizzled with melted chocolate. My favorite birthday cake even though I have a Christmas birthday!
Looks delicious! My mother and grandmothers (I actually wonder how many generations back this goes) make similar cakes, though with flour. Here in Europe (Germany) it is really common to use the towel rolling method.
They have always placed the warm cake from the oven on a *slightly sugared* clean tea towel, and then rolled it up until it was cool. When cool, unroll, fill, re-roll and carefully transfer to your cake platter. A thin cutting board can be a godsend at this point. I don’t think I’ve cracked one in years with this method. The sugar stops the moist cake from sticking to the towel.
Often, we also put more of the filling (whipped cream, or sour cream/whipped cream mix types) on the outside and decorate with whatever is handy.
Thanks for sharing!
i made this yesterday for holiday lunch! for the third passover in a row! it’s worth beating the eggs and cream by hand. after that, rolling the cake doesn’t seem too hard, but maybe next year i’ll try the tea towel. happy passover!
Looks delicious! My neighbor and I are going to bake this but he’s a bit of a neat freak. Do you think it would be ok to line the inner layer of the roll with a piece of parchment paper, underneath the tea towel? I’m hoping that would prevent cocoa powder tea towel mess issue.
I made matzoh crack for Monday night and along with some over-the-top rocky road brownies, we’re a bit high from the chocolate. Next year, I will make this for sure. My babies are 14 and 16, and I remember fondly lugging home 30 or more books at a time from the library to be devoured (literally and figuratively) when they were Jacob’s age.
This looks divine… I love the texture of cakes like this, creamy and cakey at once.
This looks great! My Dad used to love this chocolate cake roll from the ice cream section of the supermarket that had vanilla ice cream in place of the whipped cream. The markets around here in PA don’t seem to carry that desert any more, but I bet that I could make that switch for him and it would be perfect. Thanks!
I am LOVING the roll while warm tip! I have long been afraid of these fancy rolled up cake things… my grandmother never ever swore except when trying to impress with a fancy filled cake dessert! But that is a fantastic tip, and this cake looks so, so much better than the chocolate covered matzo I am snacking on now.
That looks really good, I’m so hungry right now :(
You should try making rosti! I would love to see how you approach it!
Lovely looking recipe – will try it next week with a gluten intolerant friend coming to visit. But I think there’s an error in your post. You said “They also tend to be flooded with butter and while you will never hear me complain about the presence of butter in a cake, the ***absence of this cake*** allow it to almost float away.” I’m assuming you meant to say helge absence of butter in this cake, yes? Because I can’t for the life of me figure out how the absence of the cake itself would be a good thing. ;)
I just made the cake and it broke completely, it was a total mess me, my kitchen everthing was covered in chocolate powder. I sweared a aweful lot and will never make this cake again-but the bits an pices with whipped cream were delicious.
I laughed when I saw this post. I just finished having a go at making a pumpkin roll, persisting until (4 rolls later) I had a recipe that’s a keeper. Actually, the recipe didn’t require as much fiddling as the technique to do “the roll” part. Shored up by info from the Internet, my resulting recommendations:
- Line the bottom of the baking sheet with waxed paper. No need to oil.
- Remove cake from oven and run a knife around the edges. Depan as follows while cake is still warm.
- Briefly wet a dishtowel (or any material without loops. I used an old tshirt) and firmly wring so that it is evenly damp. It should be just moist, not frankly wet. Place on top of cake, careful to have the edge of the towel lined up evenly with one short end (the side you will start rolling). Place another cookie sheet or similar support on top of the towel. With confident wrist action, flip the whole stack over. Remove the pan and carefully peel off the wax paper.
- Roll the cake in a coaxing rather than firm manner. Allow to rest and completely cool on the countertop for at least 2 hours.
- Reserve the cocoa powder for dusting the finished roll prettily for presentation.
(a warm cake seemed more amenable to rolling and a damp towel prevented sticking much better than powdering the towel [which also adhered to the cake unevenly for a mottled appearance]). cheers!
Lindsay — Yes, thanks.
Carla — Oh no!
Amy — You are so so so right!
Mary Anne — You melt the chocolate with the water. Cold water might make chocolate seize; hot does not.
The first roll-up cake that I ever made was from the recipe book that came with my kitchen-aid mixer, and it suggested the rolling in the tea towel method. I remember being very suspicious that it would be impossible to unroll it without destroying it, and then pleased that it turned out (although I will admit there may have been some internal cracks).
I can’t wait to try this version – I may offer to bring it to my mom’s for Easter this Sunday.
Wow. I need this cake. NOW!
Just want to mention in case no one has… if at first you don’t succeed with rolling, a trifle is an awesome dessert too ; )
Whaaaa?! Ok I just picked my jaw up from the floor. That looks uh-mazing! In middle school, I used to love buying lunch because I’d always get a package of Swiss cake rolls (essentially a small, processed version of this cake)…and then tell my mom I was buying fruit.
I love the chocolate cream cheese cake recipe!! I can’t wait to try it.
Not to be cliche or anything, but this truly does look just heavenly :)
What a coincidence. My mother taught me a slightly different version of this cake – our recipe is called a chocolate roulade. Ours is from The Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook by Dione Lucas, published in 1964. My mom has been making it since the 1960′s and I began sometime around the 1980. You’ve described the angst of rolling the cake just beautifully. Personally, my favorite moment is inverting the sheet pan onto the waxed paper. Dione Lucas calls it “the moment of truth.” The loud clap as I flip the pan always makes my heart stop – until the cake stays on the waxed paper as I lift the pan off. I make it all year round – and can’t wait until my own daughter wants to learn how to make it. (Ha Ha, she’s 22 yrs old and happy to have me make the cake for her at this point in her life!) I have to make a dessert this weekend and you’ve just given me the inspiration to do the roulade – thanks.
Ah…so glad to learn about this! All of my rolled cakes have always looked like your first picture. And your recipe looks divine, too. Thanks!
Gorgeous.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I will definitely try it this Passover. And I love this. Hilarious “I used to call it the “sh*t” cake in honor of the word that kept slipping from my mother’s mouth as she tried to roll it without it cracking.”
It was such a shock to see my family’s favorite dessert featured today.
My Mom has been making this since the around 1950. She got the recipe from a friend and we always called it “Betty M.’s Chocolate Roll” Mom always froze it, so she could make it ahead. My children all love it.
My mother taught me the dampened towel trick forty years ago when I was a teen-ager but I didn’t think about sprinkling it with sugar–fabulous!
Part of what made this a favorite cake for us was the banana that my mother rolled into the cake. After you spread on the whipped cream, lay the banana—you’ll have to straighten it out— across the width of the short end closest to you, then start rolling. You might need a portion of an additional banana to reach across the width. (I was going to write, “second banana”, but didn’t want to invite unnecessary, silly comments :-)
In keeping with my mother’s tradition, I cover it with chocolate frosting. Then, the artists out there can use colored frosting to draw vines, flowers, write names, etc.
At Christmastime, I’ve made this for my non-Jewish friends and decided to call it a “Jew-le” log!
Thanks for the perfect-for-Passover flourless version.
I made this today and it came out fantastic, though the cake cracked a bit while rolling it up with the tea towel. I suspect it might have cooled too quickly and was just barely warm by then – will try 5 mins with the damp towel instead of 10 next time. I used espresso in the cake and coffe liqueur for the filling, it was excellent and became a Passover favorite. Thank you!
Great cake recipe! But the cocoa powder with the wet towel makes too much of a mess. Peel off the waxed paper after the cake bakes then line both sides with fresh wax paper and roll up the cake while warm. I did not cool for 10 minutes, more like 5.
It’s beautiful. Well done! Rolling tiny crumbed substances = not easy. Great solution.
I made the almond cake for passover, but seeing this sort of makes me wish I could go back and bake this one instead!!! so good
Girl, you are too funny! Your mom and I could be twins, as I,too, say the lovely ‘s’ word when stuff like that happens! Thank you SO much for being (and saying) who you are! BTW:Love the recipe. Gotta make this one. I’ve made pumpkin rolls same way, but chocolate has a language all its own, and this one is speaking to me……..
I started making this cake in the 1960′s from a James Beard book, and always thought he had originated it. I believe it is identical, though I don’t have his book in front of me.
Look for another NYTimes rolled cake from about the same time period — I think it was called Famous Nut Roll. Ground walnuts, sugar, egg whites. Same rolling technique. They filled with whipped cream, but I have always used chocolate ganache filling. A fabulous cake. Probably would be good with hazelnuts or almonds. Great for Passover. Quick and easy. Can also be a layer cake.
Now I want a Yodel.
Heavenly indeed! Yum!
WOW!! Chololate and cream together is always a winner and gluten free is even better. Thanks!
looks very yummy!! hope we were friends, so i can visit you, say hi, and have that beautiful cake together over girls talk!!!! but, in reality, we’re not, so i should visit my sis instead, coz she’s a pastrist.
Hey Deb-
You’re probably tired of people asking, but how’s the cook book coming? I was at Tartine in San Francisco this week (my personal heaven) and it made me think of the baking posts on your site. Hoping for a giant dessert section in the book. Oh, and this cake does look heavenly.
The recipe a year ago was what brought me to this site. Yogurt cake and broccoli slaw are only two of the many delicious things I have prepared. I’ve learned so much from your pictures and descriptions. Thank you! (When will your cookbook come out? I’ve got Christmas presents planned already!)
Thanks for this recipe…the pics are amazing! I looked through the comments and didn’t see any questions regarding replacing the sugar with Splenda. My DH is a newly diagnosed diabetic and I would like to try to make a flourless chocolate cake for him. Deb, do you think it would work with half Splenda and half sugar?
Thank you, thank you! I’ve been looking for something light and chocolaty to make for Easter, however nothing felt right, till now. Will probably make it as a cake, but still, this is perfect!
I have made some pretty involved stuff, some of it even from your recipes (the ten layer cookie/cake with jam stands out as a huge success). I have lived in fear of tackling anything that involved the jellyroll method.
Turns out I was right.
I followed your directions to the letter (and I swear I am not blaming you for this!), but this was a disaster! Cake chunks, yummy whipped cream (with a dash of cinnamon), OH MY! Cocoa EVERYWHERE!
However, my 5 year old just asked to have “some of that cake” for breakfast.
Obviously, I will be making this again! Be afraid, be very very afraid.
Oh, how I would love to make this TODAY… but:
1) I’ve got TONS of dish towels, but don’t think I have any clean tea towels!
2) Anything I can use besides a jelly roll pan? Don’t have that either. A regular tray/sheet pan won’t work, huh?
Sigh. Regular old Pesadich brownies instead, I guess…
I made this last night for a dinner party and it was perfect! I followed the directions exactly and had one crack that was not very noticeable and did not make the cake any less delicious or beautiful. The cake was ridiculously light but still intensely chocolatey, and freshly whipped cream was the perfect accompaniment. We served it with fresh strawberries on top. Yum!
This is such a delicious looking recipe. With easter coming up on Sunday I might actually attempt this dessert for the family. The fact that it’s gluten free is a bonus as i’m trying my best to start a new gluten free diet.
I love it and would like to try this myself. It’s mouth watering..
Well done, Deb! I had my first (successful!) encounter with a pumpkin log last Thanksgiving. Also, I really appreciate the photo captions that you make when the cursor scrolls over your pictures. Those little details make all the difference.
P.S. My mother could DIE over your mother’s apple cake. We love it, and we have 12 granny smiths right now!
Can this be made a day ahead?
I always have making roll cakes look nice and put together, but yours is absolutely perfect!
This looks great. Will serve with warmed up organic homemade jam (it makes a good sauce). Thanks!
You just made my celiac mother’s Easter! Most GF cakes taste like kaka- or are a form of lava cake. I thank you for this delicious recipe.
Oh my I love this cake. The coconut macaroon with the blackberries, was my favorite dessert in a long time. Couldn’t stop eating it until it was gone. I am making up for it this week by hiking everyday.
I made this today (well, the cake part – haven’t filled it yet). I had some trouble getting it off the parchment paper once inverted. I think I probably should have let it stay in the oven a couple minutes longer? I had to piece some sections back together. I might lose out on presentation points once I attempt to roll it up, but at least the flavour won’t be impacted! The kitchen smelled great while it was cooking!
Oh my goodness…I am so impressed! I made a simple Chocolate Fudge cake for Passover this year and it turned out in more pieces that your rolled cake. Luckily, it still tasted FABULOUS!
OMG. That cake cooks so fabulous – creamy chocolately deliciousness – and it’s even gluten-free! I am in heaven:)
-Erin
Yum, this is almost the same as our families favorite chocolate cake, except we fill ours with chocolate mousse and cover it with the same…so if the cake cracks (which still happens sometimes even though we always roll it to cool, the cracks only show up sometimes in the slices. We call it Brazo de Gitano (gypsy’s arm) or Chocolate Log (we are spanish). It’s been a family favorite for any special occasion and many birthdays since the early 70′s and both my wheat allergic husband and coeliac niece can eat it.
Thanks for sharing! My recipe is made with cocoa, so I may have to try yours with some good chocolate….mmmm
I made this for Passover (even though the cornstarch doesnt technically make the cut for most). It cracked when I unrolled it, so instead I layered it. It was great! I did half the recipe (it’s just the 4 of us), so maybe it was harder to work with a smaller cake. I would make it again though!
I have yet to attempt a cake roll. It just intimidates me! You showed a lot of great pictures though making it look doable:)
Have been making cake rolls for 30 or more years, and the tea towel or I use flour sack dish towels my mother( now 80)embroidered, they are large and perfect, no fuzzies. The tip was in Betty Crocker cookbook given to me for a wedding present 35 years ago. I usually make a vanilla version, alas not flourless. But fill with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, and use powdered sugar for dusting.a family favorite that signals summer:)
Just made it an hour ago..it was awesome! Loved it. Next time, planning to have it with some berries. Thank you so much :).
This cracked into four pieces when I unrolled it, and the outside looks gross :( You’ve never done me wrong before!
Are you NOT supposed to roll with the parchment paper as well as the towel? You might want to edit the recipe to be more explicit about this.
ugh! i underbaked the stupid f*&*ing sh*t cake. have left it in the parchment/tea towel roll and am going to sit on the couch with a drink (or 6) to ponder the great injustice that has been wrought upon me but the stupid oven (because we know it wasn’t the baker).
sigh. all because 1 brunch attendee lives a gluten free life. i pre-blame my hang over on him.
Another fantastic recipe! Not one curse word was uttered as I rolled it up beautifully!My family was amazed at my creation. I poured cholate glaze on top and added one strawberry rosette in the center. Gone by the end of the night.
My grandma used to make this and we all loved it, so I’m excited to try the one I just made (now cooling, all bundled in a towel).
I did have some trouble removing the waxed paper from the bottom of the cake… it looks like 1/3 of the cake came off with the paper, and the end of the cake tore off despite my gentleness. Ah well, that part will be on the inside. Next time I will try it with parchment paper instead, and maybe I will grease/dust the paper before pouring in the batter.
made the rolled version yesterday, devoured it last night… made it in layers today. Everyone is talking about how pretty it is! but worthy of note is how YUMMY it is!
thanks for the tips!
I made this. Sort of. I did it with almond meal and 1/3 cup apple sauce instead of chocolate, 4 egg yolks, not 6-I was out because I made mayo & my whipped cream was flavored with green tea and honey. Plus, I failed at both correct pan size and remembering all the rolling techniques. It still tasted great. Even though only half was roll worthy and the rest became layers with cream within. Thanks for the new recipe to play with!
We just consumed every last morsel of this recipe. My dad is a celiac and is always complaining that gluten-free desserts are dry. He loved this recipe as did everyone else. They’re already plotting for me to make it again soon. Thanks so much for sharing your family recipe.
Oh Deb. You are my hero. I made this cake for our (late) Seder today and the potatoes last night. sigh…. bliss…. thanks…. ahhhh….
I made a similar lemon roll cake for my son for his birthday a couple of Passovers ago becasue his birthday fell on Passover and he loves lemon…go figure…..I thought it was going to be super tricky to roll up the cake even though they did give the “when warm” instructions. Anyhow, it was easy as pie and please do not let the rolling intimidate you…..it will work if warm. With this cake, I would chop some fresh strawberries (or raspberries or blackberries…;-) and mix them with the cream filling…….strawberries and whipped cream and chocolate is a favorite among my kids. Also, just a dusting of powdered sugar for the top would be a nice contrast with the chocolate. For Passover, powdered sugar is not allowed so I just buzz some cane sugar in my coffee grinder or mini food processor and it comes out powedered. Yes, really;-)
Big hit this weekend! No problems at all thanks to your tips! Thank you for sharing!
This was yummy! And I followed the directions exactly, but it still cracked – it cracked in the roll shape while cooling – when I unrolled it the next morning, it was already cracked – any thoughts on why? It worked out fine because once I put in the whipped cream and re-rolled it, it kept its round shape and all the cracks were hidden so you couldn’t even tell, but they were pretty big so if I can avoid them next time (and there will be a next time – thank you), that’d be even better.
Made this cake today for an Easter BBQ. Made double the whip cream frosting and frosted the outside. Added some Reese’s peanut butter eggs as ears, jelly beans for eyes and nose and sprinkles for whiskers and BOOM. cutest cake ever. Huge hit too. Everyone loved it. The coffee is a must. Can’t imagine using water. Had some cracking issues but the whip cream helped seal it up. RAVE reviews. :)
yum! I love a good ‘roll cake’ as we used to call them as kids – especially when it’s gluten free (like me!)
I’m soooooo psyched to try a “jelly roll”
I believe that’s what they call this cake style….
To stop cracking, you can try a few things:
1. Don’t over cook.
2. Add a pan of water (bain Marie) to your oven. To add moisture.
Good Luck!
Bon Appétit!
ps. yeah, the pan for this cake is called a jelly-roll pan.
Hear that whooshing sound? That was me racing out the door for cream. I’m all over this recipe! Happy it’s flourless too!
I’m a pumpkin roll maker, so I was not intimidated by this recipe. Rather, I was thrilled to make this for Easter. I followed the directions exactly, and my cake cracked in 4 large pieces as I was rolling it. I threw it away (after eating some chunks of yumminess) and tried it all over again. I was determined. The second time, it cracked when I unrolled it. I hand’t read any of the comments prior to making, but I impressed myself when I came up with a trifle idea. My family thought it looked lovely yesterday (in the trifle dish), but I was too disappointed to even taste it. I’m so upset that it didn’t work. Please help!!! I’ve never been disappointed in any of your recipes, but this one truly bummed me out.
Hi Deb,
I love your recipes and often print them out…can I not obnoxiously request a “print” button be added to your site? Otherwise it turns out to be 43 pages after all the comments print out. I usually copy and paste, but it’d be so nice to just hit Print, if it’s not a hard thing to make happen, programming-wise.
Thanks!
Barbara
this was obscenely good. The three of us ate almost the whole thing yesterday, after easter dinner. I added a bit of nutmeg to the whipped cream. yum!
@Barbara: There’s a print link at the bottom of each post, just above the comments.
I tried this recipe yesterday for Easter: oh dear. I wouldn’t say it was a complete disaster, but it was close. I pulled out a puffy baked cake form the oven, but somehow by the time I took off the paper towel 1/4 of pan had been reduced to wet batter. Fortunately, the cake still tasted delicious and I served squares of it warmed with the Grand Marnier whipped cream. It was divine.
I’ll have to re-attempt the advanced technique again someday when I’m not such a novice baker. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
This looks awesome! It’s inspired me to pull out an old recipe from my aunt that’s very similar to this, except I think the filling was mocha… I think she uses the towel trick, too. Can’t wait to give it a try!
Absolutely gorgeous cake! Drool worthy!:)
this looks amaaaazing…
Sh** cake, haha I love it! Love that you included a picture of the failed attempt, too. Good to know I’m not the only one who screws up every once in a while!
So I just had to update. I did indeed make this cake, and made it with a Kahlua cream filling (instead of Gran Marnier). It was a HUGE hit. And the fact that I used Nestle cocoa powder turned out perfectly since we had a guest who can’t have the alkylated cocoa powder, so usually can’t have anything chocolate. Perfect!
We just had some of the left over cake tonight (2 days later, still tasty!) and threw some mixed berries on the side. Just saying, it’s a fantastic garnish for this cake.
I made the round version of this over the weekend and it was a huge hit with my family. Thanks for the recipe.
Deb, it was deeeelish for our Easter dinner. I made the stacked layer cake version and was convinced by a guest when about to ‘build it’ that 2 layers were enough at one time. I did the two and it was fine, but for real impact I think next time I will do four layers. I used Triple Sec to flavour the whipped cream it is still orangey but half the price of Grand Marnier and Cointreau.
what’s the brand of that big mixer you’re using? didn’t see it in the smittenkitchen gift guide, but I am looking for one.
This was one of the best desserts I’ve ever made! I didn’t have the jelly-roll pan, so figured out an equal amount of space to dam off with a foil barrier with my larger pan. Parchment paper rules here, hardly lost any cake when peeling off. Filling amount perfect for cake. Served with fresh raspberries, but am thinking a little chocolate sauce would be even better. Beautiful airy texture of cake is perfect with the cream filling. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much for posting this! I had just ordered myself a mixer and didn’t know what I was going to try it out on – being the middle of Passover and all!
http://thelifeofmegananne.blogspot.com/2011/04/isnt-it-pretty.html
annemarei — I just have a basic KitchenAid. It’s great, but I’ve never done any comparison shopping on these things.
The ingredients for this heavenly chocolate roll are practically those of chocolate macarons with salted caramel. I hope you’ll consider making these too at some point.
YUMMY! :)
Uau!!!!!!This is just beautifull…Congrats!!
Kisses,
Rita
Oh yes- how I remember and love this cake…. and remember and love the expletives! which explain why this cake only got made about once a year……
I think you should make a separate blog for your baby pictures. Quite frankly, I liked this blog a heck of a lot more before the random (and painful) inclusions of pics of your kid. Honestly, I really do love this blog, but I come here for recipes, not for endless and needless references to a kid.
the pictures of jacob are anything but painful! painful is following this recipe exactly only to have it all fall apart after rolling. thinking maybe it needed another minute or two in the oven. luckily, it broke into 3 roughly evenly shaped rectangles so i reworked it as an ice cream terrine – layers of chocolate cake filled with a homemade coconut-chocolate chip ice cream, now in the freezer being pressed into shape in a loaf pan. chocolate and coconut are two of my MIL’s favorites, and this is for her birthday tomorrow. will probably add a chocolate glaze depending on what the top cake layer looks like when i unmold it later! (also – the cake itself is superb! will definitely add to my passover desserts next year. i might even try rolling it again.)
Hi Jess — This is a blog about life in and outside the kitchen. It always has been which means that there have been stories about family, about work, about apartment hunting and now about the member of our family that demands the most attention. Anyone can skip right down to the recipe, if that’s all they’re here for. That said, it seems an odd choice to choose this post to mention the kid focus — the post doesn’t mention him but a single word; the other 1,627 words are about an incredible chocolate cake.
Made this 3 days ago. Absolutely AMAZING!
Well… I made this on Sunday – it was a disaster. :) I rolled it in the towel – my husband said “that seems like an awfully bad idea” – “Right I know – but Deb did it and it worked great – here are pictures!!”
Well… mine – less than steller… it all turned to pieces… so… I pulled it off the towel, pieced it together, used some wax paper and made it work. it tasted awesome – it just looked like crap. :) Oh well… guess I’m not meant to do rolled cakes.
PS I enjoy hearing about your little guy – also seeing pictures. So fun to see him get big! :)
I’m thinking of making this but instead of the whipped cream filling using your peanut butter frosting from http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cake/ . But I’m worried the peanut butter frosting will be a little too thick to spread over the relatively delicate chocolate swirl cake. Deb do you have any suggestions for how I would thin down the peanut butter frosting if necessary? I’m never too sure when using cream cheese-based frostings instead of just standard butter frostings. Thanks!!!
If I don’t have that size pan, could I use a 9×13 size pan instead? If so, what adjustments should I make to the time? Thanks!
Jessica — I think it would be just fine as long as you had the frosting whipped and airy.
My mom used to make this cake for company and it also sometimes cracked and flopped. As she would nervously roll it we’d watch her praying (sometimes aloud) that it would flop! If it did, the delicious mixture of cake and whipped cream was all ours to eat on the spot because she wouldn’t serve it to company. I might surprise her make it for Mother’s Day.
Lovely, lovely! Definitely will go on my to-do list.
The first time I attempted a jelly roll-type cake, I used a tea towel, per the recipe’s instructions, but realized AFTER the fact that my tea towel had been rinsed in Downy fabric softener. Ugh. NOT a good flavor in a cake, to be sure.
Deb — This cake MADE my seder. And this was the first time ever that I’ve been able to make a rolled cake without having it crack. You are my hero. Thank you thank you!
It’s my first time commenting, and I just want to say that if there ISN’T a link to the latest photo of sweet, sweet Jacob, I am disappointed. In fact, I usually look for the link first! I have been a recipe-aholic for over 40 years, so it takes a lot to get my focus off a new recipe–especially anything involving chocolate! Your cutie-pie does every time.
I am a weary casualty of the sh*t cake! It got me! I really tried so so hard to get it not to crack- think it was a tad over-baked. (My suspicion is my oven runs hot) No worries however, it is delicious and totes worth it- regardless of its appearance!
Your roulade looks fantastic and is making me feel envious. I’ve just attempted my 4th and it was the worst ever, the whole thing just fell to bits. I think the lesson is, give up on roulades! I do like them though ;-)
Made this yesterday for Mother’s Day. I had never attempted a roll cake before and this one turned out perfectly! The cake is so rich, but light and airy… absolutely delicious. I will definitely be making this again or the four layer version, being that everyone wanted seconds! I sprinkled fresh raspberries over the top of each slice, which, of course, are perfect with rich chocolate. Thank you and YUM!
I have to say, the instructions for rolling this confuse me to no end.
I tried making this for Easter, but was left with cake chips – delicious cake chips, but cake chips nonetheless.
You say to roll with the towel inside, but your pictures show the towel outside. I also don’t know where the parchment paper/wax paper went that you use to help “lift and roll”.
I think I’m missing something here, because I am completely lost as to how you rolled the cake. Any help? Anyone?
It was so delicious, I’d like to make it properly in the future.
Yikes. I realize that the photos make this completely confusing — I’m so sorry (and am shocked you’re the first of 277 folks to mention this!). The towel can be on top or underneath. The waxed paper, if underneath, can be used to lift the end of the the cake to get it started — you’re not rolling the waxed paper, just using it to lift, instead of your fingers which would surely break the cake.
I am going to update the instructions to make this more clear. In hindsight, the towel underneath makes it easier. Again, I’m terribly sorry if you ended up with cake chips because of this. Emily, I owe you a drink!
I made this for a work friends birthday on Friday… and I had to make it twice :-) The first time, I think it was a little under baked, and I kept looking at the directions about rolling, getting confused, and I cracked the whole thing. The second time, I baked it for about 18 minutes, it was much easier to work with, and forgot about the directions and just did what I thought would make sense. It was AWESOME. I brought it into work (restaurant, which serves tons of gluten free-fare), and no one detected a hint of gluten-freeness. Thanks again for another great recipe, Deb!
Also, kudos to you for your constant composure in the face of comments that would totally ruin my day. All that time in the kitchen must have given you some thick skin!
I just made this cake two days in a row for my mother-in-law and friend who are visiting. So chocolatey and delicious. It was really, really ugly, but so, so tasty. I’m eating an enormous piece for breakfast.
This cake is amazing. Light and fluffy, just like my Aunt Patty’s hair in the 1980s– and she had some amazing hair. Fortunately, this cake required far less White Rain.
I made it in a cookie sheet (jelly roll pan, who needs ‘em?) and despite all of my fretting about overbeaten egg whites, humid cramped apartments, and the fact that my oven is about as level the deck of a pirate ship in a storm, it cooked beautifully. Rolled beautifully, too, after some tense moments and a stern talking-to. Mint whipped cream with chopped Andes and a poured chocolate ganache topping with more chopped Andes finished it in a way that was almost too much. But not quite. Not. Quite.
Deb – do you think it possible to make the cake, roll it in the tea towel and keep in an airtight container over night… then add the cream filling the next day prior to serving? Just trying to time manage for a dinner.
I haven’t tried it with this cake, but many other roll cakes I’ve seen suggest that it can be kept rolled overnight, so in theory, it should be fine. Definitely makes more sense for dinner prep.
I’ve made this three times now and each time it’s failed :( It doesn’t cook right through! The top will be all spongey but the bottom (or sometimes middle) will end up as a layer gelatinous/ jelly like substance. I really want to master the flourless sponge! Help?
Been a reader for a while but never posted. This looks like something my wife would absolutely love! I will have to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!
I tried this recipe today, and it turns out the most moisture and fabulous cake I have ever eaten. Thank you for sharing. Totally love it!!
My first comment, but have been following Smitten for a couple of years now. And I love it. Thanks for this recipe – it is a triumph. Made it 2 days ago for my husband and I to enjoy for our wedding anniversary. It was divine. I have never been able to make a sponge that is light & airy, but this was just melt-in-the-mouth. And it was quick & easy and your pictures were very helpful. I will definitely be making it again.
mmm so good! I made it tonight for my friends b-day. i think I let it cool a little too long because it broke on me. between the layers I whipped coconut milk (the solid part with some mascarpone, coconut sugar, and vanilla) it was amazing and we almost finished the cake between the five of us! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
This was my first rolled-cake. The pictures and notes were of immense help. My only hangup was the parchment paper – the cake wouldn’t release from it as easily as I would’ve hoped.
I modified the recipe by folding in some cheesecake filling and strawberry puree with the whipped cream – I figured that would hold up longer than whipped cream alone. Also added strawberry sauce at the end (1/2 frozen puree’d strawberries with 1/2 fine-chopped fresh strawberries). All in all, a smashing success.
My kids loved making and devouring it. Thank you, Deb!
Thanks, Deb!
After some thought (and seeing a proper-sized jelly roll pan in a store), it also appears that part of my problem was my pan – MUCH too large, so my cake was impossibly thin (I THOUGHT yours looked thicker), so it collapsed under its own weight. My mother (at whose house I made this) said, “Of COURSE I have a jelly roll pan,” and handed me a pan which looked much like yours. I used it without even thinking of the dimensions.
But thanks for the clarification, nonetheless! I think I’ll be making this again sometime over the summer. A nice, light cake with some raspberries, methinks? Mmmmm.
An additional note: I should have suspected my pan was the problem, because I did not have nearly enough whipped filling to spread over the entire cake.
Really itching to try this again now.
This recipe is part of The James Beard Cookbook, with very few minor tweaks (but it does include the wet towel). I first made the cake about 35 years ago (from Beard’s recipes) and last a few years later. I suspect that the fact that it cracked (not badly and the crack certainly did not effect taste). I will make this during the holiday weekend because I did love it when I made it years ago.
I made this cake awhile ago during a trial gluten-free run – tasted amazing, unfortunately the tea towel trick didn’t work for me and I ended up with a bit of cracked mess. I just covered the entire thing with the rest of the whip cream and some berries and it worked out fine, but I wish I’d gotten the roll part right!
For those of you who made this and ended up with a cracked chocolate cake roll, fear no more. Instead, I followed the recipe above and made it into two 9″ cake layers. After cooling a bit on the rack, I followed Deb’s instructions (for the four layer cake version of this recipe) and stuck it in the freezer to chill for an hour.
Here’s the liberating way to make this puppy and thrill your guests….parfait glasses. I cut up the two cake layers in large chunks and layered it with the whipped cream. I made three layers….cake, whipped cream, cake, whipped cream, cake, whipped cream. Topped each parfait with some beautiful ripe strawberries and everyone was in awe.
No more need to cuss my friends :-)
An addendum to my previous comment….the two 9″ cake layers and 2 cups of whipping cream filled eight parfait glasses. You could also do this in a trifle bowl as well (that might need three or four cake layers).
I am actually going to be trying this out tonight for a cook out tomorrow. I am completely unafraid of rolling cakes because my mom has been making pumpkin rolls for the holidays for years!
I am going to be nixing the frosting (I have no whipping cream!) and adding a raspberry cream cheese filling. I think I even have some raspberry dusting cocoa!
Thanks so much for your blog, you are amazing. I started a couple years ago with one cake and now you have become one of my most favorite food blogs!
I really am not sure why, but this cake completely failed on me. :( I am sure it was user error, as I’ve never had a problem with any of Deb’s recipes. I couldn’t get it off the parchment, and the bottom was very burnt, even though it was in the middle of the oven! I make pumpkin roll cakes yearly, so I get the idea, and can’t figure out what went wrong. It turned into a beautiful and delicious “trifle” though!
And I can’t help myself… “Jess” above is CRAZY. The baby is the cutest thing on this planet, and is usually included as a link, so you don’t even have to look at the photos (although why you wouldn’t want to is beyond me). Please Deb, never stop including him!
how would this fare as an ice cream roll?
i got chocolate cake chips + like, half of a cake roll… and they were delicious. also, your baby is flippin adorable. i think you should include him in EVERY SINGLE POST <3
Wow this looks great! And as always, I love the progress photos throughout!
One question though, how long does a cake like this last in the fridge? I’m assuming not long due to deliciousness, but otherwise, what do you think the maximum amount of time it might be ok to stay in the fridge between serves?
my five year old says, “i want to jump into that cake and EAT IT!”
me too, buddy, me too…
So…made this the other day. when the cake was done…I turned it out onto cocoa’ed parchment..and while still warm, rolled it up in to parchment. when I unrolled? cake cracks.
any ideas? is it JUST that I didnt use the towel?
Made this for my cooking club last night and it was AMAZING and came out perfectly. I followed the recipe/directions exactly. Will certainly be making again!
@ Megan–Desserts with whipped cream generally are best eaten that day. Twenty four hours tops is the most I’d keep this around in the fridge. After that, things tend to get a little mushy and the texture changes. Hope this helps you :-)
Hi, I’m Fira from Indonesia! My first time baking roll cake and your recipe is my second attempt after failed due to the cake came out too crispy! And never thought this gluten free cake is soooo delicious! Thank you thank you thank you !
Hello, we have done this cake twice now. Both times it has turned out well, even though we made a couple of procedural errors. We are at 5000 feet altitude and the cakes are denser than the ones in your photos, but very flavorful. We do an ice cream roll cake, using home made vanilla ice cream and the deep chocolate flavor of the cake stands up to the pronounced flavor of the vanilla (we use actual vanilla pods).
We bake for 10 – 12 minutes, cool for 10 minutes, roll in tea towel without dusting. It has rolled out without a problem. We dust one side with cocoa, then put down softened ice cream and re-roll. No breaks! It is a very nice treat for potlucks and get-togethers here in the Philippines.
I just found your website when looking for a decadent birthday cake. With rose-water for the flavoring in the whipped cream and with the addition of four-fruit preserves, this is hands-down the most decadent cake I’ve had for my birthday … ever! Yummmmmm!
Looks great. I think it’s a great base to make sesona cake, for instant now add a little bit pumpik marmalade or even frozen fruits melted with sugar.
Can I bake and roll in a towel the night before and then wait to fill with the whipped cream on the day of? I won’t have time to do the whole thing on the day it’s eaten, but I don’t want it to get soggy or worry about the cream separating if I put it all together too far in advance.
Funny story: I found your blog when I went looking for a chocolate passover cake recipe this past April. Found this chocloate roll and made it. It was the hit of the night. Then I made a few other of your recipes…chicken with forty cloves of garlic is one that I can recall off the top of my head. Recently, I made your babke and sour cream cake…both are super delicious! Everything I’ve made from here has been delicious so while I was chatting with some friends at my synogogue sisterhood meeting, I mentioned your blog and the passover roll. One of my friends gave me a curious look and asked, What is the name of the blog again?” I said, ” Smitten Kitchen”. She then replied, “Oh that’s J. R. ‘s daughter!!!!” Shortly after that I ran into your mother and I told her this story. I also told her that I made the chocolate roll and not one dirty word fell from lips, that’s how perfect it came out. Now I’ve learned you’re coming to do a demo at TBE in December. I’ll be there!!!!!!
Just used this recipe for Black Forest Cake with much success, after two failed attempts at a traditional sponge – thank you!
My favorite recipes are usually pastries with a ton of butter (cream puffs, croissants, puff pastry), but this looked so good (and doesn’t use any oil!) I thought I’d give it a try. I think I gauged “a little underbaked” wrongly, and 15 minutes in my oven was actually a lot underbaked. Thus it stuck to the towel completely even with a layer of cocoa powder sifted. I had to scraped it off chunk by moist, fluffy chunk.
Has anyone tried to fill this roll cake with ice cream? Is it too soft… I am looking for a intensely chocolate favored cake and think this might be the cake to counter balance peppermint stick ice cream!
Well, I just made this instead of a chocolate genoise layer for our usual Buche de Noel and it cracked. And it retained its colourful name which you described in the previous post. I honestly think it’s because I didn’t wait too long for it to cool before rolling it up with some damp paper towels – so, totally my fault for skimming the recipe rather than reading. Anyway, the ends tasted delicious and I filled it with a mixture of whipped cream and lemon curd (so lemon curd whipped cream?) so what it lacks in appearance it will make up for in taste. FYI, your recipe is almost identical to the “chocolate souffle layer” in the Joy of Cooking.
It tasted great, although it cracked. Like the previous commenter, I think most of the problem was in lack of patience– well, lack of time for me– I had to unroll and fill it too soon because we needed to leave! Oh well. I spread it with a wild berry jam before layering on the whipped cream, and it still looked quite nice as a “yule log” when I used greenery and winterberry to disguise the crack.
It wasn’t easy but I managed to pull this cake off! :) Thanks so much for sharing this recipe, I love the that it is very light and not too sweet! This is my version: http://mondomulia.com/2012/01/01/chocolate-cake-roll/
And I am so glad that my cake didn’t break or crack!! I was very patience and careful though! :)
I finally tried this, and Thank You! It was perfect for my Bûche de Noël this year – the few cracks in the cake (I think I slightly under-cooked it) made the yule log look much more realistic!
And, it was delicious: http://katrinacooks.blogspot.com/2011/12/buche-de-noel-2011.html
I made this cake yesterday and my two little children love it so much! They said it is their most favorite cake now. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I can’t wait to try other recipes from your blog.
I tried 3 times to make this cake! The first attempt resulted in the cake getting completely stuck to the tea towel. Total and Utter Disaster. My kids snacked on the crumbs and I moved on. I decided that I needed to up the quantity of cocoa powder on the tea towel. The second attempt resulted, when successfully unrolled and using a dry tea towel sprinkled liberally with cocoa powder, in a very deflated cake – almost as flat as a pancake. The third attempt was a little better – this time the cake seemed a little less deflated but still not as flat and sad looking as the second attempt – but when I rolled it back up with the cream it cracked and tore all over. Literally a huge mess of cream and chocolate cake on the serving plate. WHAT IS GOING ON? I generally pride myself on my baking skills, but for some reason, can’t quite get the hang of this one! Please help!
tried to make it but i guess i baked it too long cause the parchment paper would not come off :( so i just got chocolate chunks. My family ate it with the cream filling and strawberries. I recommend putting strawberries in it.
Everything I’ve made from here was delicious. I’ll try this too. Thanks
Love your blog! But I need HELP, please :) I tried this recipe last nite and I feel so ridiculous asking, but do you grease the pan and then put the wax paper on top of it? Also, my cake bottom turned out a little gelatinous… any ideas of where I went wrong? Thanks for all your recipes and wonderful writing!
I like the “nickname” better….if only because I can justify my frustration! It did look pretty horrible….but……the taste….stupendous! My teenage daughter’s were were laughing hysterically when I was rolling it together……as I was doing this, they asked “what’s the name of this cake”…..I, of course, said the “nice” name!
I’m trying this again this year. I made it last year and tagged you on FB. It cracked so I ended up layering it like a napolean. It was delicious, but I really want to roll it. Wish me luck.
I made this today for the first time – it took me about 1.5 hours. I had a hard time getting the tea towel out from under the cake, so I just left it and used it to roll the final time. My cake did get a bit flat – I noticed a few others mentioned the same thing. I’m thinking it could have been the damp tea towel I used was too wet? Or else maybe I didn’t cook it long enough. Otherwise, I only had few cracks and it rolled really well! I drizzled it with white chocolate and served with raspberries. My family loved it! I will definitely be making this again.
This cake looks lovely. I am looking for a gluten free or flourless cake recipe for my two year old’s birthday cake. (which is june 5th) Do you think this recipe will be ok for a barely two year old to eat guilt free. am asking since chocolate has been a rare eat for him, up until now. And I want him to indulge just this once! let me know what you think.
Having spent the best part of a day making this recipe,I was so disappointed with the result. The cake cracked and was a mess. Given the amount of eggs used, choclate and my time, i would not bother to make this again!
This cake is awesome. I will spend the next few weeks perfecting it. my first attempt was a midnight bakeathon, and i got distracted by a gassy baby around 2 am and 2 30 am and 3 am :D it was too thin, its incredibly rich though. i cut the sugar down to 1/4 cup and used 4 oz of bittersweet chocolate and 2 oz semisweet. i think i would use 1.4 cup sugar and 4 oz bittersweet and 2 oz unsweetened next time. Is the 2/3 cup sugar crucial to the chemistry? because my cake ended up a little flat.
Made this espresso chocolate roll but got nervous when there was no flour listed in the ingredients.I did add 1/2 Cake flour and it came out beautifully. What gives with the recipe
Thank you so much for the only accurated recipe of the web (at least french, italian and english speaking network), I’m a Food Stylist and yesterday i had a shooting about christmas desserts, and the inside of my log was just perfect, thanks to your precious tips!
keep doing such a good job. not many blogs manage to be so effective recipe and tecnique wise.
This is pretty much identical to my family’s traditional chocolate roll cake! Yes the tea towel or cheese cloth is essential.. Wrap the cake warm and we actually slightly dampen the towel before rolling to keep the moisture in and prevent cracks!!! I like to decorate the top with shavings from a hershey bar or holiday inspired sprinkles. A few marichino cherries are often a nice touch. Whenever I make this for friends i get rave reviews – it is always a hit. You can also add food coloring to the whip cream to make it more festive!
I’m going to make this for Christmas as a Yule Log. With marzipan mushrooms (maybe)!
Anyway, my question is how many does it serve? I have 9 (adults, big fans of chocolate/dessert) coming. I was thinking of making two (I have two appropriately sized pans). A log made with 1.5 and a “branch” with the other half. Because too much cake is better than too little, right?
Has anyone else doubled the recipe?
I am curious about doubling….. did u get any answers??
I haven’t tried doubling the recipe but see little reason it wouldn’t work. Good luck!
Made this for Christmas Eve, not sure whatbindid wrong but it stuck to the tea towel & fell apart. I made it into a trifle, it was delicious. I am going to attempt it again today, looking for advice so it doesn’t stick to the towel, considering skipping the towel part, but not sure. Thanks!
Thanks, Deb, for another fabulous recipe! I can’t wait to see my daughter’s face when I surprise her with this cake tonight. It came out beautifully. This is my first time commenting, but my family regularly enjoys your recipes. I sent you a card after I missed you in SF. I hope to catch you on your next tour!
Made this today & had the same problem as Leigh Ann #336 Dec 28, 2012. Was so easy to make & rolled easily too but broke apart in many pieces when unrolling. I baked it 14 min & toothpick came out clean. Was totally cool when I tired to unroll. Tastes delicious though & want to try again. I see many others had the same problem & many more that had no issue at all. HELP!