Cappuccino Roll Cake

Roll cakes take a bit of practice but aren't particularly difficult, and frosting or powdered sugar will cover over any number of flaws. In fact, there are few cakes more visually impressive. This one is also terrifically elegant and delicious, and can be made a day in advance.

Read the entire recipe carefully before you begin. Make sure you understand what is needed at each step.

Instead of decorating the cake with the mixture of powdered sugar and cocoa as the recipe specifies, you can double the filling recipe and frost the exterior with it.

Ingredients #

Instructions #

Make the Cake: #

Line a lightly greased 15 ½" by 10 ½" jelly roll pan with foil and grease the foil. Line the foil with waxed paper and grease the paper. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Set a metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, add the chocolate and cognac or coffee and melt together, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is smooth. Set aside until cool.

In your mixer bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/3 cup of the sugar until the mixture is pale, smooth and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Beat in the chocolate mixture and the vanilla.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they are frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until the whites hold soft peaks. Add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat the whites until they’re glossy and hold stiff peaks.

Stir a fourth of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites gently.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it to an even thickness. Bake the cake in the middle of the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until it is puffed and just set. Set the pan on a wire rack and let it cool completely.

Make the Filling: #

In a small saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tbsp. of water and let it soften for 5 minutes. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat until it’s completely melted, and let it cool for 5 minutes.

In a bowl, combine the cream, espresso powder and cinnamon and beat the mixture until it holds soft peaks. Add the confectioners’ sugar and gelatin, beating the mixture continuously until it holds stiff peaks. Cover and chill the filling for 10 minutes.

Assemble the Cake: #

In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and confectioners sugar for the garnish, and sift half of the mixture over the cake. Cover the cake with a sheet of waxed paper, invert a baking sheet over the paper, and reverse the cake onto the baking sheet. Carefully peel off the foil and waxed paper, and spread the filling over the cake, leaving a 1-inch border all around.

With a long side facing you and using the waxed paper as an aid, roll up the cake jelly-roll fashion, keeping it wrapped tightly in the wax paper. (The cake will crack, but it will hold together.) Chill the cake, firmly wrapped, on the baking sheet for at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.

The roll may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.

Very carefully remove the waxed paper. Sift the remaining cocoa powder mixture over the entire cake.

Make the Garnish: #

In a chilled bowl, beat the cream with the espresso powder, the cinnamon, and the confectioners sugar, until it just holds stiff peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a small fluted tip, and pipe it decoratively on and around the cake roll. Garnish the roll with the chocolate coffee beans, if desired.