My mom was not much of a baker. At our house, the year round cookies were chocolate chip (from the recipe on the bag of chips) and holidays meant decorated spritz cookies. Her cakes were from boxed mixes. (She still calls them “stupid cakes” because “any stupid fool can make one.”) That was pretty much her dessert repertoire. Mom did have one dessert that always wowed the crowd, Roulage Léontine, from Dione Lucas’s 1964 classic, The Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook. While I’ve updated the recipe and called it Chocolate Mocha Roulade, in my heart this is still the 1960’s-era dessert that my mom made when she really wanted to impress her dinner guests.
This post is, perhaps ironically (given that I celebrate Chanukah), part of Christmas Week. Be sure to enter the Christmas Week Giveaway for one of three Amazon Gift Cards for $500, $250, and $50! Details and a description of the event are at the end of this post.
The cookbook is organized as a set of menus. The roulage or roulade ( a more modern term) is part of Menu 27, which starts with an Omelette aux Fines Herbes, moves onto Poulet Majorca and Pommes de Terres Sauteé, and finishes with the roulage/roulade. The recommended wine for the meal was Portugese Lancers. Quite a throwback to be sure.
As I page through the book, I’m transported back to the days of Julia Child and the American fascination with classical Continental cuisine. In the intervening decades, Julia became an icon and Dione faded from our collective culinary consciousness. Still, I keep coming back to Dione and her roulage/roulade.
As to the recipe, I’ve toned the sweetness down by switching from sweet dark chocolate to a combination of bittersweet and semi-sweet, and by moving from a fairly sweet vanilla whipped cream to mocha filling. Still, it continues to be a glorious, flourless (gluten-free) fallen chocolate soufflé filled with flavored whipped cream.
Although Chocolate Mocha Roulade has more steps than most recipes on this blog, don’t be intimidated. With these tips and a can-do attitude, you’ll make an awesome holiday dessert.
How to turn eggs, chocolate, sugar, and whipping cream into an elegant, gluten-free Chocolate Mocha Roulade:
- Be organized. Mise en place (or everything in its place – setting out your ingredients beforehand and keeping the next step in mind as you move along) takes on new meaning when you are working with what is essentially a fallen chocolate soufflé.
- Tips on working with eggs. Start with cold eggs. They are easier to separate than room temperature ones. However, the warmer egg whites whip up better. So separate the eggs soon after taking them out of the refrigerator. Let the whites warm up while you work with the yolks and chocolate. When you separate each egg, let the white drip into a small container. Do not allow any yolk to get into the white. Pour that white into the larger bowl of whites. (Even a drop of yolk in the whites will prevent them from whipping.)
- Don’t overbeat. Be gentle as you whip the egg whites and cream. Resist the urge to overdo it. An extra minute of beating “just to be sure” can decimate fluffy egg whites or turn whipped cream practically into butter. The same goes for folding the egg whites and the chocolate. A few soft sweeps that melds the two almost-but-not-completely is better than a vigorous mixing that deflates the air you have so carefully whipped into the egg whites.
- Keep track of time. The chocolate soufflé should not be over-baked and needs the specified resting time (under paper towels) to remain moist for rolling. These steps take less than 45 minutes, but are essential. (You may notice that my roll is less than perfect. I attribute that to time spent futzing around with my camera during this critical period. Oh well, do as I say, not as I do in this case.)
- Be brave. As you flip the fallen chocolate soufflé and roll it, the operative words are “don’t hesitate.” Take a deep breath and just do it. If it doesn’t roll perfectly, sift a bit of cocoa over the cracks, then close your eyes and taste.
Prep Time | 30 minutes |
Cook Time | 17 minutes |
Servings |
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- 8 eggs
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
- 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate finely chopped
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 1 cup superfine sugar or regular sugar spun in a food processor
- pinch of kosher or fine sea salt
- 2-3 tablespoons baking/unsweetened cocoa not drinking cocoa
- 1 + 2 tablespoons cup heavy cream can substitute whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons confectioners or superfine sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder not crystals
- 1/2 teaspoon hot water
Ingredients
Chocolate roll
Mocha Filling
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- Oil a half-sheet pan and cover it with a long sheet of wax paper. Let the edges of the paper extend 1/2 - 1 inch beyond the shorter ends of the pan. (Leave the wax paper unoiled.)
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a medium-large bowl and the whites in a large bowl.
- Put the chopped chocolate and the cold water in a small, heavy pot and melt the chocolate under a low light, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula for approximately 4-5 minutes until the mixture is thick and smooth. Set it aside to cool.
- Add the superfine (or ground white sugar) to the yolks and beat the mixture for several minutes until they are light and fluffy. Set it aside.
- Once the chocolate has cooled, add it to the egg yolk and sugar mixture, and gently fold them together. Set that mixture aside.
- Beat the egg whites. After about 2 minutes (with a mixer), as they get foamy, add the pinch of salt. Keep beating only until the whites form soft peaks, about 6-7 minutes on medium speed.
- Gently fold the chocolate/egg/sugar mixture into the egg whites, using a spatula. Once the mixture is a reasonably uniform, light brown color, pour it onto the wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Smooth the batter out and bake it for 17 minutes.
- While the soufflé is baking, lay out two overlapping pieces of wax paper the size of the pan on a table with the one closest to you on top.
- Once the soufflé is done, put it on a counter and immediately cover the top with 2 layers of paper towels well-sprinkled with cold water and gently wrung out, plus a top layer of dry paper towel. Leave the paper towels on top for 20 minutes, then gently remove them.
- With a small, sharp knife, gently cut the side edges of the fallen soufflé away from the pan and try to lift them to make sure the cut has released the fallen soufflé. Using a small strainer and a spoon, dust the entire top of the soufflé with cocoa, completely covering the area.
- Pick up the pan and without hesitation, flip it over onto the wax paper laid out on the table, hopefully somewhere near the center of the long strip and with the long edges of the souffle aligned with the long edges of the wax paper. Phew! It's now on the table with the wax paper it baked on now on top.
- Gently lift off the covering wax paper (it's a bit oily on the side now facing up.) You may have to use the sharp knife to release the souffle from the paper in places. If a bit sticks to the wax paper, you can skim it off and place it on the souffle - this will be the inside of the cake and it won't show once you roll it up.
- Now for the filling. Mix the brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of the confectioners or superfine sugar, the vanilla, espresso powder and water. Mix them into a smooth or almost-smooth paste.
- Whip the heavy cream until it has soft peaks (about 5 minutes on medium speed with a mixer) and then add the espresso paste. Continue whipping for another 2 minutes or so. the cream should still be soft, but also hold its shape.
- Put heaping spoonfuls of the filling over the souffle, leaving about an inch or a bit more at the end nearest you. Gently smooth out the filling, then roll the souffle toward you, using the wax paper farthest from you to pull the roll over on itself and toward you.
- Done! Let the roulade chill in the refrigerator at least an hour before cutting it.
If using a mixer when beating the egg whites and the heavy cream, start at a low speed and work up to medium. Do not use the highest speeds - although that accelerates the process, the egg whites and cream won't be as stable as they would if you beat them for a longer period at a medium speed.
Yes you could make this whole recipe without a mixer - just using a whisk and elbow grease. It would take a long time, but you would certainly give your arm muscles a workout.
The time set out above does not take into account the 2 resting periods - 20 minutes (under the paper towels) just after baking and 1 hour (of refrigeration) once the roll is made.
Welcome to Day 6 of Christmas Week. This annual event was started in 2012, and is hosted by Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic. This year we have over 35 bloggers sharing festive sweet recipes for the event. Plus we all chipped in for a huge Amazon Gift Card Giveaway so be sure to enter!
Recipes from Day 6 of Christmas Week! Please visit all our talented participants:
Red Velvet Swirl Fudge from Cravings of a Lunatic
Christmas Wreath Cupcakes from The Redhead Baker
Gingerbread Sugared Almonds from Crumb: A Food Blog
Fresh Cranberry Mini Scones from Farm Fresh Feasts
Chocolate Praline Pretzels from Food Lust People Love
Cranberry Tangerine Mojito from Mind Over Batter
Creamy Espresso Hot Chocolate from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
Gingerbread Cookie Bars from From Gate to Plate
Stained Glass Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
Macadamia Coconut Macaroons from Aloha Flavor
Peppermint Popcorn from Poet in the Pantry
Mexican Chocolate Panna Cotta from Cooking in Stilettos
Peppermint Mocha Truffles from Try Anything Once Culinary
Chocolate Mocha Roulade from Mother Would Know
RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Janet Hall says
This recipe looks fabulous and perfect for our Christmas Eve dinner. Thanks for sharing. Love this one!
Laura says
Janet, Thanks. It really is easier than it looks. Hope yu try it.
Amanda Potts says
In our family, monkey bread means Christmas morning. Though there are many treats that I like, I look forward to this simple one year after year.
Laura says
Monkey bread on Christmas morning – what a lovely tradition! I can still see your smile from the Amanda-the-teacher days, and can just imagine your joy on Christmas morning.
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories says
That’s pretty incredible! How you can roll that delicate thing up blows my mind. I’m so impressed! Your mom sounds like mine. She had one scratch dessert, and I think it was a chocolatey whipped creamy thing too, but this is just “wow!”
Laura says
Awww Karen, it’s not hard. with a bit of courage and a knowledge that once you’ve started there is no turning back, you just flip the bugger and roll! Your mom and mine would enjoy each other – they had other ways to amuse themselves and mine at least is constantly amazed that I get so much pleasure out of cooking and baking, when to her, it was just something one did as a necessity.
Kirsten says
Laura,
Honestly, I think a Can Do attitude can get you far in life.
It’s one of the few things you’re in control of, you know?
This looks so impressive and you’ve broken it down into steps so nicely.
Thanks!
Laura says
Thanks Kirsten. Yup, I’m a Can Do kind of gal – most of the time. Just not when it comes to learning to drive a stick shift:)
Angela | Mind Over Batter says
My mom wasn’t much of a baker either. If it wasn’t on the table in 20 minutes, it wasn’t happening. I love roulades; such an impressive dessert and yours is no exception!
Laura says
Many thanks Angela. My mom allowed more than 20 minutes – but only if the rest of the time the item was baking, like her “stupid cake” 🙂
Kim Beaulieu says
I want to shove my whole face in this cake. But that would be wrong. So I’ll settle for eating it like a lady. And by lady I mean I’m shoving it into my face, instead of shoving my face into it.
Thanks so much for joining us for Christmas Week. Love working on things with you. Happy Holiday season.
Laura says
You can even get a shovel and use it to shovel the cake:) Love working on stuff with you too. Happy holidays.