German Chocolate Cake Roll

I have wanted to make this every since I saw it in the November/December issue of Food Network Magazine.  I loved the idea of it totally.

The thing is that when I copied their cake recipe it was not what I wanted.  It did not roll well, it broke and it was a weird texture. Didn’t like the chocolate flavor, or lack thereof, either.

Sorry, Food Network.

But other than that it was awesome.

So, if you have a rolled cake recipe that you are comfortable with then use it by all means.  If not the following is the recipe that I use.

The other thing that I did was to use Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk instead of the milk they called for.  I allowed it to heat and caramelize which added a little more complexity to the filling.

Sorry, the images are of the cake that I made using their recipe and you can see that it did not roll well.  But it was amazingly delicious, and unusual enough that everyone is going to be impressed.

Rolled Cake

5 eggs room temperature

1 c sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 c cake flour, sifted

1/4 c dark cocoa

1 1/2 oz finely grated German Sweet Chocolate

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Combine eggs and sugar and beat until thick and lemon colored, and a ribbon forms when you lift the beater, about 5 minutes.  Add vanilla and chocolate.  Fold in the dry ingredients carefully.

Spray a 15×10 inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray, line with wax paper or parchment, and spray again.   Spoon the batter carefully into the pan, smoothing it out into corners and being careful not to deflate it.

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over bake!

While the cake is baking prepare a large towel (I use a bath towel) by laying it on the table and sprinkling with confectioners sugar.  Tip the finished cake onto the towel, and working quickly, trim  1/8 inch off the edges of the cake. Roll up in the towel and set aside to cool.

Coconut Pecan Filling

1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

1 stick unsalted butter, chopped in chunks

1 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups toasted coconut

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or macadamias

Heat the condensed milk over low heat stirring constantly.  It will begin to caramelize. When it gets a golden color carefully add some to the egg yolks to temper and whisk back into the pan.  Add the butter and stir until thick and very creamy.

Stir in the vanilla, coconut and pecans.  Allow to cool slightly but if you allow it to cool too much it will be hard to spread.

Unroll the cake and spread with the filling.  This is a thin layer, if you want it thicker double the filling recipe.  It is very rich so keep that in mind.

Image: (c) marye audet 2009