Directions: |
Directions:CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10" x 15" jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Beat the eggs and oil until thick and pale. Mix in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder, and fold gently into the egg mixture. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake the cake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool it in the pan for 2 minutes. Loosen the cake's edges, and transfer it to a towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Roll the cake up from the short end. Cool completely.
VANILLA BEAN BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (FILLING)
Mix together sugar and butter until they are blended and creamy, about three minutes on high speed. Add vanilla bean paste, salt and milk and continue to beat for another minute. If desired, add more vanilla bean paste to taste or more icing sugar to make it stiffer.
If you plan to make a large swirl of frosting, this recipe will only cover about 6 cupcakes. Double as needed.
RICH CHOCOLATE FROSTING
In medium microwavable bowl, microwave whipping cream uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds or until it just starts to boil. Stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup; let stand 3 minutes. Beat gently with wire whisk until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Refrigerate about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until spreading consistency.
DECORATION
Unroll cake carefully, and remove towel. Spread filling evenly over cake; roll up cake. Place cooling rack on sheet of waxed paper. Place cake roll on cooling rack; frost cake. Using fork, drag tines through frosting to look like log. Let stand 15 minutes. Transfer cake to serving platter. Store loosely covered in refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.
The right pan for making a cake roll is a rimmed 15x10x1-inch baking pan—sometimes called a “jelly roll” pan. Double-check the dimensions of what you have before making the cake batter. If your pan is a little smaller you’ll end up overfilling it your cake will overflowing in the oven, and if your pan is larger, the cake will bake up too thin.
It’s important to prepare the pan so it will be easy work to remove the warm baked cake. Baking parchment, which is lightly waxed, is another option for lining the rimmed pan. It will easily peel off the bottom of the cake once you’ve turned it out onto the kitchen towel.
Test the doneness of the cake by lightly touch the surface with your fingertip. When it springs back it’s done and should be removed from the oven. If the cake overbakes past this point, it won’t easily roll.
Use a lint-free tea towel to roll up the cake. Its flat texture, coated with a fine sifting of powdered sugar, makes rolling up the warm cake super easy and prevents any sticking or cracking once the cake is cool. The towel will also be your best friend for rerolling the cake once it’s filled.
Double the recipe for the Rich Chocolate Frosting and freeze half of it with the cupcakes. Pull out the frosting and cupcakes to make an impromptu dessert over the holidays. Slice the top off of each cupcake and sandwich them with the frosting—finish them off with a generous dollop of snowy whipped cream and a sprinkling of toasted sweetened coconut.
For a garnish, brush cranberries with water and roll in coarse white or gold sugar. Add fresh mint leaves. |
This recipe for Yule Log is from