Chocolate Kahlua Roulade

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

Happy Holidays!  Three weeks and counting until graduation!

Butter Cream:

• 6 ounces egg whites
• 16 ounces sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon Karo corn syrup
• 20 ounces butter, cold but softened by hand
• to taste: vanilla, Kahlua*
• optional: Trablit coffee syrup

*You can substitute other flavors in place of the Kahlua.  Endless possibilities! Some ideas: Bailey’s Irish Cream, Grand Marnier, Eggnog, cinnamon extract, almond extract… you get the idea.

Method:

1. Clean a medium sauce pot, add sugar and water.  Stir with hands, clean the sides of the pot with a wet hand several times to remove sugar.  Add corn syrup.
2. Boil the sugar, covering and uncovering the pot periodically. The steam will help prevent crystallization.  Cook the sugar to the soft ball stage.  This can be checked with either an ice bath or a candy thermometer.
3. Whip the egg whites and slowly add the syrup to the meringue.
4. Whip on high speed until the meringue comes back to room temperature.  I like to speed up the process by putting ice packs under the mixer.
5. When the meringue is cool and at a stiff peak, slowly add chopped butter by hand.
6. Stir by hand, add vanilla, coffee syrup and Kahlua.

Real butter cream can be tricky.  I’m not going to pretend it hasn’t given me issues. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.  Also, this recipe makes more butter cream than you’ll need for the roulade.  This is my standard butter cream recipe; the roulade will use one third to half of this, depending on how thick you like your frosting.  Freeze the rest and save it for next time.

Roulade:

Ingredients:

• 6 egg yolks
• 3 ounces sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 3 ounces sugar
• 3 ounces cake flour
• 1 ounce cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• vanilla
• optional: Trablit coffee syrup

Method:

1. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, spreading a bit of shortening on top, underneath and on the sides.
2. In a stand mixer, whip yolks on high speed briefly then switch to low, add 3 oz sugar, switch back to high until a ribbon forms.  Add vanilla and Trablit on low speed. Set aside.
3. In a clean mixing bowl, whip whites on high speed briefly then switch to medium, add 3 oz sugar, switch to low until whites reach a stiff peak.
4. Sift dry ingredients together.
5. Fold meringue into yolks.
6. Fold dry ingredients into mixture.
7. Quickly pour out onto half sheet pan. Level with an offset spatula. Clean around the sides once with your thumb.
8. Bake at 400 for 9 minutes.

Roulade Assembly:

1. Use a paring knife around corners to remove roulade from pan while hot.
2. Drizzle sugar on a 2nd piece of parchment and turn the cake out onto it.
3. Roll tightly with parchment, cool, uncoil.
4. Brush simple syrup mixed with Kahlua on top.
5. Spread a thin layer of butter cream on top.
6. Roll, pack tightly while rolling.
7. Optional: sift powdered sugar over the top before serving.