Always in Season

It's getting much cooler here in the Portland area. Although we have had quite a few sunny days lately. The Autumn rustic and hearty meals are making their way to the table. And, as luck would have it, I've caught my first cold of the season. I think I'm on the road to recovery but I've been trying to take it easy over the last week. One thing that is in season year round in my house is chocolate.

I take my daughter to the library once in a while. While I'm there I cruise through some cookbooks looking for inspiration. A few weeks ago I checked out a book called; Ultimate Chocolate. I promptly went home, made an incredible dessert from the book, took a couple pictures, and about a week later sat down to write a post about it. Everything was going great until I realized that I had returned the book to the library without writing down the recipe. I had a chance to go back to the library a couple days ago and find the book again. So I present to you:

(the picture above is from the book)

Mocha Roulade:
from the book:Ultimate Chocolate
Cake:
4 oz (125g) semisweet chocolate
2 oz (60g) bittersweet chocolate
3 Tbs water
2 Tbs brandy (I omitted this)
5 eggs (separated)
3/4 cup (180g) superfine sugar
pinch of salt
Filling:
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 Tbs boiling water
1-1/4 cup (300ml) heavy cream
1 tsp superfine sugar
Decoration:
Melt 2-3 oz of semisweet chocolate and pour on to parchment paper in a thin layer. Allow to cool and then cut into triangles.

Start by melting both chocolates, water, and brandy (if using) together in a double boiler. set aside to cool.
Next, whisk egg yolks and sugar together until pale. Fold in the melted chocolate. Add the pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk until stiff. Fold the egg whites in to the chocolate/egg yolk mixture. Pour the mixture into a parchment lined jelly roll sheet pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cover with waxed paper and a damp cloth. Cool for several hours.

For the filling: Dissolve the espresso powder in 1 Tbs of boiling water. Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Finally, fold in the espresso and sugar.

Turn the roulade cake out on to a powdered sugar dusted sheet of parchment paper. Set aside 3-4 Tbs of filling to pipe on top of the finished roulade. Spread the remainder of the filling over the roulade cake. Roll the roulade it a long roll. Top with remaining filling and chocolate triangles. Perfect for any season. Enjoy!!!