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Classic chocolate roulade

Crowd-pleasing, indulgent and easy to make, this classic chocolate roulade is a great Christmas dessert.

Speedy dessert: A classic chocolate roulade is quick to put together because, compared with a deep cake, the sponge cooks in no time.
Make-ahead recipe: This is a brilliant dessert for dinner parties because you can assemble the roulade up to 5 hours ahead.

We’ve got lots of other roulades on the site to try, including a rather decadent chocolate coffee meringue roulade.

Crowd-pleasing, indulgent and easy to make, this classic chocolate roulade is a great Christmas dessert.

Speedy dessert: A classic chocolate roulade is quick to put together because, compared with a deep cake, the sponge cooks in no time.
Make-ahead recipe: This is a brilliant dessert for dinner parties because you can assemble the roulade up to 5 hours ahead.

We’ve got lots of other roulades on the site to try, including a rather decadent chocolate coffee meringue roulade.

Ingredients

For the ganache and decoration

Preheat oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Line a Swiss roll tin with baking paper.
Beat the eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk for 5 minutes until thick.
Sift over the flour and cocoa and fold in with the vanilla and chocolate extract, if using.

Spread in the tin. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Turn out onto baking paper sprinkled with sugar. Cool a little, then roll up from the long side with the paper. Cool.
Put the berries, sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a pan and cook for 7-10 minutes. Cool.
Put the chocolate and butter in a mixing bowl. Heat 450ml cream in a pan until almost boiling, then pour over the chocolate.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes, add the bourbon and stir until smooth. Cool for 10 minutes, then whip until light.
Transfer a third of the ganache to a bowl. Whisk in the remaining cream. Unroll the sponge, spread with the creamy ganache.
Spoon over the cranberries and re-roll the sponge.
Ice the roulade with the remaining ganache; you can use strips of baking paper to protect the serving plate and keep it neat.
Decorate with chocolate leaves and dust with icing sugar.

How to make chocolate leaves (see video below)

Melt 200g plain chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth.
Use a clean, fine paint brush to spread a thin layer of chocolate on the underside of some clean holly or bay leaves. Allow to set before applying the another coat to give you a double layer of chocolate on just one side of the leaf.
Put in the fridge to set. When set, carefully peel away the leaves to reveal the chocolate leaves. Discard the actual holly leaves (eating these can cause gastric problems).

Once you’ve got the sponge method cracked, the possibilities are endless. Start with these ideas.

Iced cherry and almond roulade

Make the sponge as in the master recipe but replace the flour and cocoa powder with 100g ground almonds. Roll up and cool as before.
Meanwhile, empty a 400ml tub of white chocolate ice cream (we like Waitrose) or vanilla ice cream into a bowl and soften in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Drain 500g cherry compote (we like Bonne Maman) in a sieve to remove any excess liquid and fold into the ice cream.
Unroll and spread the cherry ice cream over the unrolled roulade, re-roll and place in the freezer to firm up for 1-2 hours.
Decorate with toasted flaked almonds and white chocolate shavings, and serve in slices with extra cherry compote.

Cinnamon spiced roulade with figs, whipped mascarpone and port syrup

Make the sponge as in the master recipe, replacing the cocoa with another 40g plain flour and adding 1½ tsp ground cinnamon with the vanilla extract. Roll up and cool as before.
Cut 4 ripe figs into sixths. Beat together 200g mascarpone, 100g Greek yogurt and 2 tbsp icing sugar until light.
In a small pan, bring 200ml port, 90g caster sugar and a small cinnamon stick to the boil. Simmer for 7 minutes, until thickened.
Add the figs, turning carefully to coat them in syrup, and simmer for 2 minutes more. Set aside to cool. Unroll the roulade and spread with the whipped mascarpone and two-thirds of the drained figs, lifted out of the syrup with a slotted spoon.
Re-roll and serve with the remaining figs and syrup.

Cinnamon-Roulade_rt

Coffee and pecan praline roulade

Stir 2 tbsp hot water into 4 tbsp instant coffee granules to make a paste. Make the sponge as in the master recipe, with 100g light brown sugar in place of caster sugar and an extra 40g flour in place of cocoa powder.
Whisk the coffee mixture into the eggs before folding in the flour. Omit the vanilla extract and bake. Roll up and leave to cool as before.
Leave the oven on to toast the nuts for the praline (see recipe below). Whip 280ml double cream and 1 tbsp icing sugar together until just holding its shape, then spread over the unrolled roulade. Sprinkle with the blitzed praline and roll up. Decorate with the remaining praline.

Coffee-&-Pecan-Roulade

For the pecan praline

Spread 150g chopped pecan nuts on a baking sheet lined with non-stick paper and bake for 8 minutes, until toasted.
Dissolve 250g caster sugar in 4 tbsp water in a heavy-based pan over a low heat. Turn up the heat and boil, without stirring, until the syrup begins to caramelise. When it’s a deep chestnut colour, pour over the nuts and leave to set for 15 minutes.
Break the cooled praline into rough shards then pulse half in a food processor until it looks like rubble.

Nutrition: per serving