Semisweet Chocolate Roll
Todd saw a picture of this in Bittersweet and said, "That looks great!" So here it is. I even think mine turned our looking about as great as the one in the cookbook. It's tasty, too, moist and chocolaty. I was a little worried since I used what I had, Callebaut semisweet chocolate chips, instead of good 70-percent chocolate, but the espresso powder gives it a hint of that almost bitter, burnt taste that I love in my chocolate. Maybe a darker chocolate would be bitter enough to cut the richness of the whipped cream filling, which I thought was almost too much.
I've begun to use my jelly-roll pan a bit more lately, which was another reason this cake appealed to me. The batter doesn't have any flour, either. Now, this is the recipe I used, which has a couple differences from the basic Bittersweet Roulade recipe in the book.
This is from memory, so I'll have to double-check it when I get home. Separate 6 cold eggs, putting the whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a small one. Let them come to room temperature. When they're almost there, melt 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon espresso powder dissolved into 3 tablespoons hot water. (I used the microwave, on 50-percent power in 45-second intervals, stirring between each, to melt the chocolate. Stop before the chocolate's completely melted because the residual heat will finish the job.) Let the chocolate cool a bit, then add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and the egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites at medium speed with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar to soft peaks, then gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, beating on high as you go along, until they're getting stiff. Stir 1/4 of the whites into the chocolate, then fold in the rest. Bake in a 11 x 17-inch jelly-roll pan lined with parchment paper at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake 5 minutes more or until the top of the cake feels firm. Cool in pan on wire rack.
When cake's cool, beat 1 cup heavy whipping cream with 1/2 cup sugar until it's getting stiff. Use a sifter or strainer to dust the top of the cake with cocoa powder. Spread a sheet of foil over the cake, then invert cake onto foil. (My cake didn't want to come out, so I dug around on one short end until I found the edge of the parchment paper. Then I used that to pull the cake up, sliding a rimless baking sheet carefully under it as I went along. Then I re-dusted with cocoa powder, put the foil on top, and inverted.) Peel off the parchment, then spread the cake with whipped cream. Roll up from one short end (I went from the one I dug up), using the foil to assist, then rolling the final thing in foil (it actually kind of goes along perfectly with the foil underneath to guide it along). Refrigerate up to a day.