Black Forest Roulade with Cherry Filling - Sweet Punch for August

Hello friends,


It is Sweet Punch time again. This month, it was Maria's turn to select a theme and she chose Black Forest Roulade recipe. This recipe is from Australian Women's Weekly (AWW) Magazine.


As usual, I procrastinated and prepared it only this afternoon. Now, I have to say, a great recipe Maria, I love dark chocolate and this was an amazing dessert for whoever loves dark chocolate. Not so good for my husband as he doesn't like chocolate and on top it was dark chocolate. Anyways, I am glad that it is all mine... yum... yum... yum...


I was really scared by the recipe and the accompanied picture as I have never ever ate roulade in my life. So, it was like reading about it and making, so a bit skeptical. But, then glad I made it, because it was actually simple to make, just 3 things to make (cake, cherry filling and cream) and then assemble them. It took about 30 minutes (including the time of making cake). So, a great one. The only thing is that, the base cake itself was sooooooooooooooo soft and moist that it was a scary task to roll it up and it did break in few places.


Black Forest Roulade with Cherry Filling

Ingredients

Dark chocolate - 200gm, chopped coarsely

Hot water - 1/4 cup (60 ml)
Instant coffee powder - 1 tsp
Eggs - 4, separated (room temp)
Caster sugar - 1/2 cup (110 gms)
Caster sugar - 1 tbsp, extra
Thickened cream - 3/4 - 1 cup
Kirsch - 1 tbsp (Optional, I did not use)
Cherry filling
Seedless black cherries - 425gm can
Cornflour - 3 tsp
Kirsch - 1 tbsp  (Optional, I did not use)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 360 degree F. Grease 25 cm/30 cm swiss roll pan; line base with baking paper. Combine chocolate, water and coffee in large heat proof bowl; sit bowl over saucepan of simmering water. Using wooden spoon, stir until chocolate melts then immediately remove bowl from fire.


Beat egg yolks & sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until thick &; creamy; this will take about 5 minutes. Using large metal spoon, fold egg mixture into warm chocolate mixture. Beat egg whites in small bowl  with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Using metal spoon, gently fold egg whites into chocolate mixture, in two batches. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven about 10 mins.

Meanwhile, place a large sheet of baking paper on board; sprinkle with extra sugar. Turn cake onto sugared baking paper; carefully remove lining paper, cover cake loosely with a tea towel. Cool cake to room temp.

Beat cream & kirsch in small bowl with electric mixer until firm peaks form. Spread cake evenly with cooled cherry filling then spread Kirsch cream over cherry mixture. Roll cake from a long side, using paper to lift and guide the roll; place on serving plate. Dust with cocoa powder. Cover roll; refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. You can also dress up the roulade  with cherries or by piping some cream on top. 
Cherry filling
Drain cherries, reserving 1/4 cup (60ml) of syrup. Using knife, chop cherries coarsely. Using wooden spoon blend cornflour and reserved syrup in a saucepan. Add cherries; stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat, cool to room temp.
Serving

Do I need to tell you how to serve? I know I will keep nibbling on it, till it is all over. But, yes, best time, dessert time :)

Notes:

• If you dont have a swiss roll tin, use a rectangular baking tin.
• I used canned red cherries instead of black cherries and skipped using alcohol completely.
• The roulade is a bit delicate and tends to stick on to the baking paper, be careful while removing the paper and also while rolling. 
• It's a very moist roulade, its very soft even if you serve it straight out of the fridge. 
• This cake is a cross between a mousse and a fallen souffle. It's ideal to make it on the day of serving.
• To successfully make this cake, it is vital that the egg yolk/sugar mixture is beaten until thick and that the egg whites are beaten only until soft peaks form. Overbeating will dry out the egg whites and make it difficult to fold them into the chocolate mixture.
• To test if the cake is cooked, touch it with your fingertips: it should feel slightly firm and springy. 

That's all for now. Take care till next post.