Chew on This | Chocolate Roll Cake Roll

Hi All! Happy December!

How was Thanksgiving? Are you full? Sick of turkey and potatoes? 

Well, I've got just the thing to rally your taste buds. 

Chocolate Roll Cake Roll. 

You might be wondering, "Why such a strange name for this lovely chocolate roll…roulade…yule log… Bûche de Noël...cake?" A cake like this enjoys many names based on geography and/or season. However, my name choice is based on a particular college football team.

Significant. I know.

This team suffered a difficult loss last weekend. Ouch. The loss came from a team that was tough but whose luck has been miracle and movie worthy (ehmm, excuse me, just got some sour grapes stuck in my throat). Anyway, I thought we all needed a bit of sweetness to drown out the bitter.

This cake will do the trick. 

Rolling roll cakes can be tough. Don't be discouraged. Cracks and faults are something you can work around. What matters is the delight you and your fellow eaters will have digging in, when it's ready.

Roll Cake Roll

Cares

Here's our recipe:

Chocolate Roll Cake Roll

Cream Filling:

1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened

2 C Confectioner's (powdered) sugar, sifted

1 t vanilla

1 C heavy cream, whipped into soft peaks

In a medium bowl, beat your cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add your sifted powdered sugar, one half cup at a time, to your cream cheese while mixing on low speed. Add in your vanilla. Thoroughly incorporate the sugar and vanilla with the cream cheese. 

Finally, fold in your whipped cream, a third at a time, into the cream cheese mixture. Once blended, place the bowl, covered with plastic wrap, into the refrigerator until needed.

Chocolate Cake:

Preheat your oven to 350℉. Grease and flour, or line with a sheet of waxed paper, a  jelly roll pan (15x10x1).

Large, clean dish towel

extra powdered sugar

2 pints raspberries

This is the easy part - mix one store bought box of chocolate cake as directed. I happened to use a delicious gluten free chocolate cake -King Arthur Flour brand- and only made one change to the directions. I used coconut oil instead of the suggested vegetable oil. The coconut oil adds amazing flavor!

So, once you've prepared your cake mix, pour the mixture into your prepared jelly roll pan. Place cake into the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the cake, when touched lightly  springs back. Watch the cake carefully, you DO NOT want to over bake. 

When the cake is finished, quickly turn the cake out onto a large, clean dish towel that has been generously dusted with powdered sugar. If used, peel the waxed paper off of the cake. Now, carefully, begin to roll the cake and towel, from the short end of the cake, into a roll/spiral. Roll to the end of the towel and now allow the cake to cool completely.

When your cake is cool, unroll carefully, leaving the cake on the towel. Spread on your prepared cream filling, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Next, add your raspberries. Try to do this in some sort of uniform way so that each serving has raspberry goodness. Push the raspberries down into the cream filling, this will make re-rolling easier.

Re-roll the cake, using your towel to help guide you. Tuck the first edge under and continue to re-roll. If you should experience any cracks in the cake, no worries, keep going! Once the cake is rolled, you may not even notice a crack if it got tucked inside the roll. If the crack is on the outside of the roll, whip out the powdered sugar, chocolate ganache, or even your favorite frosting. Coat, dust, or spread on your cover-up of choice and hide that crack! No big deal!!

If you're ready to serve, place the cake roll on a pretty platter and enjoy! Otherwise, you can also carefully wrap the roll in plastic wrap and chill until you're ready to serve.