Chocolate Roll with Cappuccino Cream (Page 750)

RECIPE #802

• Date: Sunday, July 27, 2008 -- 5pm
• Location: Somerville, MA
• Kitchen: Matty's Apartment
• Dining Companions: Matty, Juice, Mitch, Carrie, Alex P, Russ, Paps, Scarecrow, and Grant
• Recipe Rating: A-
  

I have been eying this recipe for quite some time. Cake roulades (something cakey rolled around some kind of filling) are generally fun to make and delicious. Despite the fact that this one sounded completely tempting, I hadn't made it yet due to its caffeinated nature (and my status as an decaffeinated person!). But, I wanted to make a cake for the bachelor party and this one seemed perfect. Reading this recipe you would probably think, "How is that possibly going to work?" The chocolate "cake" was actually a chocolate souffle, cooked in a 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan. The batter was flourless, and like a souffle it rose tremendously and then fell soon after coming out of the oven. This was all part of the plan. Once the fallen chocolate souffle cooled completely, I spread it with a delicious espresso cream filling, and then carefully rolled it up. This cake roll inevitably cracks, but that is part of the look of this dish. I made the cake a day ahead and chilled the roll overnight in the fridge. Just before serving I dusted with a mixture of cocoa and powdered sugar and garnished with espresso cream and chocolate covered espresso beans. The cake came out very tasty. The layer of souffle had a light texture, and a rich chocolate taste. The espresso cream was a perfect complement to it -- the flavor was slightly bitter from the coffee with the lovely richness of whipped cream. The slices were also quite pretty. The cake was well received by the bachelors, and I was generally pleased with it.

The recipe in The Book is almost the same as this one, but the filling in The Book isn't set with gelatin.

I am willing to at least taste anything that I make from The Book. This type of recipe presents a unique challenge for me. I don't consume any caffeine. For years I drank more Diet Coke that I would care to admit, and also my share of coffee. But it did bad things to my body and three years ago, I quit. Part of the problem with caffeine consumption for me is even if I have just one caffeinated drink (or slice of caffeinated cake!) I ave horrible withdrawl headaches. It is not pretty. So if I were smarter, I would have had just one small taste of this cake. But it was delicious! So I ate not just one, but multiple slices, and the next day or two I was miserable with headaches. We were busy packing and moving Matt, and I couldn't cope, so I started drinking Diet Coke. I had every intention of quitting after a day or two, but then we were driving 1000 miles in a moving truck and I was tired. To stay alert, I kept up the caffeine consumption. Talk about a slippery slope... Basically what I am saying is that I am bitter towards this cake. In just the last couple days I am finally weening myself off the caffeine re-addiction that started innocently enough with a bite of chocolate espresso cake!

All that said, the cake was delicious, and if you are free from this affliction that I have, you should definitely give it a try!