3.24.16
I have been wanting to make a Swiss Roll for a LONG TIME. Basically since I watched The Great British Baking Show and watched all the beautiful creations they made, and how nice they all were to each other making them, and how I wish I was British, and how it still doesn’t get any easier watching Martha get voted off. (Spoiler Alert)
When you see an epic sale on citrus, advantage must be taken, and so I snatched a bunch of blood oranges at Whole Foods and decided somehow it would be incorporated into a Swiss Roll. And that was the only idea I had. This project was made over a few weeks. And finally finished off this past weekend. It became much more involved than I wanted because quite honestly, the first one I made was garbage. Don’t believe me? Well I took a picture as proof to show you that sometimes you have to deal with failure, assess what went wrong, and just try try again. Here is a picture of failure.
Gross right? Ugh I know. I’m disgusted with myself. Two reasons this didn’t work out. First is that I tried to spread it way too thin on a rimmed baking sheet way too big. I think that was the biggest mistake. The other is that the recipe I was going off of involved butter. After regrouping and rewatching the episode of The Great British Baking show involving these cakes, the whole reason they’re so spongy and pliable is that they don’t involve butter! I’m sure some recipes have reasons why they do, but this clearly didn’t work for me. So I won’t name names, but the recipe associated with someone whose name rhymes with Gartha Lewert can go to hell.
I reassessed my ingredients, researched a lot more Swiss Roll recipes and pushed a restart button. Now luckily, I had candied the orange, and made the curd in the week or so before, so this cake was really the only involved piece that was left. Try number two was a success, and it was DELICIOUS. One of my coworkers actually said it was the best thing I had ever made. It basically tastes like a creamsicle with chocolate thrown in. And I will tell you this combination will knock your socks off. It’s a lengthy post, but stick with me.
Since I casually made the candied orange and curd days before, I don’thave pictures of the ingredients, but it’s pretty easy. Are you guys tired of reading about this already? Cause I’m tired of explaining things about it. So now, shiny things.
For the Cake
And there are technically five components, the candied blood orange, the blood orange curd, the cake, whipped cream, and chocolate ganache. And while it seems complicated, the cake, ganache and whipped cream don’t take much time at all. 
The tartness of this curd is beautiful. There is a good chance you’ll have curd left over, use it over ice cream, biscuits, or toast. Or just east it with a spoon.
Don’t feel bad if if the edges look rough, slicing them off will make it look perfect.
I didn’t take any beautiful pictures of pouring ganache over the cake, I lost my natural light and it never would’ve looked the way I’d like. A second layer of ganache is a great choice to make it even more rich.
This is a perfect decadent cake for a special occasion or if you want a fancy Ho Ho. I always underestimate how well chocolate and orange go together. This dessert was one I saved a decent slice for myself before letting it out into the world. Don’t be scuurrred! Challenge yourself.
Chocolate & Orange Swiss Roll
Ingredients
For the Candied Orange
- 2 blood oranges
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cold water
For the Orange Curd
- Juice from 3 blood oranges
- zest from 2 blood oranges
- 1/2 cup butter, soft
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp orange extract
- 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp lime juice
For the Cake
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons brewed coffee
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- powdered sugar for sprinkling
For the Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Ganache
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the Candied Orange
- Carefully slice the peel off the oranges, avoiding the pith
- Slice the rind into thin pieces and place in a medium sized pan
- Boil a pot of water and as soon as boiling pour over peel and allow to sit for 5 minutes
- Pour through colander and repeat this process 4 times to remove the bitterness from the peel
- Place sugar in a medium pan and pour cold water over, heating on low to medium to gently dissolve sugar
- Once dissolved, place peel into water, partially cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, until peel is soft
- Allow to cool completely, take peel out of pan and sprinkle with sugar, storing in an airtight container for up to a month
For the Orange Curd
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat add in juice, zest, eggs, yolks, sugar, and lime juice
- Whisk vigorously until smooth and turn heat to low and add in half butter, whisk in until melted in, and continuing to whisk add in second half of butter
- Continue to whisk and add in orange extract
- Whisk until thick, and can coat the back of a spoon
- Remove from heat, cool completely and place in airtight container in refrigerator until ready to use
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line and spray 10”x15” jelly roll pan
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, set aside
- In a stand up mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk eggs on high until frothy and dark yellow
- Add in coffee, vanilla, and pour sugar in slowly, switch to medium speed and whisk until just mixed
- Add in dry mixture and on low, whisk together until just combined
- Spread batter onto pan evenly with an offset spatula
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the middle springs back when you touch it (I’d begin checking at 9 minutes to be safe)
- While the cake bakes, lay out either wax paper, a clean kitchen towel, or a baking mat and sprinkle with powdered sugar
- Once cake is finished, carefully, but quickly, flip cake onto baking mat and roll tightly, creating a muscle memory into the cake
- Allow the cake to cool completely before unrolling
For the Whipped Cream
- While the cake cools, place your mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for 15 minutes
- Once chilled, in a stand up mixer place sugar and cream in bowl and whisk for 2 minutes on medium-high speed
- Add in vanilla and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form
For the Ganache
- Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl
- Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges
- Pour cream over chocolate and allow to stand for 1 minute
- Stir with spatula until combined and smooth
To Assemble
- Once cake is cooled, unroll back into it’s flat form
- Spread a layer of orange curd onto the cake, allowing a 1/2 border so filling doesn’t seep out
- Spread whipped cream over curd, there should be left over whipped cream
- Without the baking mat, roll cake back up, scooping away any excess filling the comes out the end
- Using a serrated knife, slice off rough or shaggy edges to create a cleaner look to the cake
- Place cake, seam down on top of wire rack with wax paper underneath
- Pour ganache over entire cake, using spatula to spread to the very bottom if needed
- Place cake in fridge to allow ganache to harden, up to over night
- Once chilled, take cake out and using a piping bag with flowered tip, use remaining whipped cream to pipe along the top of cake
- Carefull place candied blood orange on top of whip cream for decoration
- Allow to reach room temperature before slicing and enjoying
P.S.
*Any fruit curd can be delicious in this, or omit it all together for a more classic take on the dessert
Parts adapted from The Teatime Cookbook, Immaculate Bites , and Crazy for Crust
