A lovely celebration cake.
I first met Paul de bondt & his wife Cecilia in 1996, at the Eurochocolate festival in Perugia. He is one of the best chocolatiers and pastry chefs in Tuscany, based in Pisa. We spent a weekend running a cookery school, sharing our recipes – I demonstrated my tapenade and this is one of his recipes – it’s a really light Genoise sponge, and makes the perfect foil to a creamy filling or ganache.
For the filling you could choose a variety of things…
Soft berries, crème fraiche, chocolate truffle….
Coffee, Tea, or water ganache, which is dairy free…
Serves 8
Prep 30 mins
Cook 12 minutes
Ingredients
- 75g strong white flour
- 25g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 eggs, separated
- Pinch of salt
- 100g caster/ sugar
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Line a rectangular baking tray (approx 30x 40cm) with greaseproof paper.
- Sieve the flour and cocoa powder together into a bowl.
- Beat the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl with the salt and sugar how, until they reach meringue consistency. Gradually mix in the egg yolks, then gently fold in the flour and cocoa with a large metal spoon until well combined, keeping as much air in as possible.
- Spread the roulade mixture onto the lined tray and bake for about 12 minutes, or until just cooked, test with a skewer or the palm of your hand.
- Cool on wire rack
- Turn out of the tray and remove the paper, although you can keep it as a base to make rolling easier. Spread your whipped cream and ganache or whatever you choose, roll and dust with cocoa powder & icing sugar.
Keep cool until consumed
Chantal Coady
Mastering the Art of Chocolate Published by @wnbooks Weidenfeld & Nicholson
Photo by @jamesmurphyphoto