The Christmas season is here and I am loving it! Mostly because I could finally make this roulade... I saw the fabulous Mary Berry make this at the BBC Good Food Bakes & Cakes Show back in October and the whole audience was drooling. Although her recipe doesn't feature any Baileys, at the show she put a good glug of it into the cream and I thought it sounded delicious. I was recently invited over for dinner at a friend's house and took this over for dessert, much to everyone's delight!
I started by melting 175g dark chocolate in a glass bowl over water.
Meanwhile I whisked up 6 egg yolks (keep the whites!) and 175g caster sugar until thick and creamy.
I used my food processor to whisk up the 6 whites from the eggs until stiff.
I whisked the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mixture. Then I mixed in one tablespoon of the egg whites. I folded in the rest of the egg whites gently, and 2 tbsp of sieved cocoa powder.
I poured the mixture into a lined baking tray. If you have a swiss roll tin you can use that, but I just use a regular baking tray.
I baked it on 160C/ /Gas Mark 4 for 20 minutes. I left it to cool in the tin with a tea towel covering it.
When it was completely cool I whipped up 300ml of cream and a good glug of Baileys. I tasted it to make sure the amount of Baileys was enough for me, so put in however much you like. I tipped the sponge out onto a piece of baking paper dusted with icing sugar and scored it about 2cm from one end. I spread the cream over. I didn't use all of the cream, I saved some for extra!
I gently rolled the sponge up. It will crack, this is meant to happen and also makes a nice effect!
I dusted it with extra icing sugar and served with the leftover Baileys cream. It's so light and delicious, plus as no flour is used it's a great dessert for anyone on a gluten free diet. The sponge has a great fudgey texture and the hit of Baileys in the cream adds festive decadence.
