Chocolate-Raspberry Roulade

This raspberry roulade is a thin sheet cake spread with raspberry jam and whipped chocolate ganache, sprinkled with fresh raspberries, then rolled up and drizzled with chocolate.  It's the chocolate lover's alternative to yesterday's Blueberry Roulade, and the ganache is crazy good.

You'll want to plan this cake in advance, since the whipped chocolate ganache needs to be chilled for hours. It can also be made a few days in advance.  I've been leafing through Alice Medrich's Bittersweet, and I like her explanations for why chocolate behaves in a certain way, or her adaptations when using a chocolate with a higher or lower cacao percentage.  One thing Medrich points out for this recipe is not to worry if the melted chocolate and cream look too soft to spread, because it won't stiffen until it's whipped -- and it will stiffen more after it's chilled.

I'm going to miss farmers market berries when the cold hits!

Out of these three roulade combinations I've posted, my favorite has been raspberries and cream.  Because I like raspberries more, and the plainer whipped cream really lets the subtle summery flavor shine through.  But this whipped chocolate ganache is so good I'm bookmarking it for other recipes, like piping on top of cupcakes or using as a filling between cake layers.  Use a quality chocolate to really appreciate the flavor.  I used Callebaut.

Blueberry Roulade . . . or make it Raspberry!

This is so good, so easy, and so versatile I've made it three times in the past week now.  And Labor Day will be four.  No, I didn't polish them all off myself, but they were a hit at an intern's farewell party and then a beach picnic.  Nobody believes me that they're a cinch to pull off.  "It's just a sheet cake," I say, "filled with cream and jam and fruit and rolled up."  "Rolled up?" they ask.  "How do you roll up a cake?"

The cake itself is almost fat free -- no butter or oil in the recipe, just eggs.  There's the cream in the filling, but it still comes off feeling light.  And that was really welcome after the ultra-rich Pecan Bars I made last time.  This is just what a summer dessert ought to be, seasonal fruit in a cake that doesn't weigh you down.  And the cake is easy, going something like this: Beat eggs with sugar, then fold in flour with other dry ingredients, scrape into a pan, and bake.

This blueberries and cream variation was really good, but my favorite was the raspberries and cream version.  Dress the cake simply with a dusting of confectioners sugar, or pipe whipped cream on top.  Another possibility?  Come back tomorrow to see how to make this into a Chocolate Raspberry Roulade with whipped chocolate ganache.