Italian Desserts Recipes - Chocolate Almond Cream Roll (Torta di Crema al Cioccolato e Mandorla) Recipe

Ingredients                               

• 100 g/4 oz/1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour

• 2.5 ml/2 tsp baking powder

• 1.5 ml/1/4 tsp salt

• 4 eggs

• 225 g/8 oz/1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

• 5 ml/1 tsp vanilla essence (extract)

• 50 g/2 oz plain (semi-sweet) chocolate

• 1.5 ml/1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

• 45 ml/3 tbsp cold water

• 15 g/1 tbsp butter for greasing

• 1 quantity Almond Cream Filling

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Method:

1. Sift the flour and add the baking powder and salt. Sift together three times. Place the eggs in a deep bowl and add three quarters of the sugar.

2. Beat until very thick and light in color. Add the flour all at once, stirring well. Add the vanilla essence.

3. Melt the chocolate in a basin over boiling water. Remove from the heat. Immediately mix the remaining sugar, bicarbonate of soda and cold water in to the chocolate.

4. Stir into the flour mixture. Transfer to a 25 cm/10 in Swiss roll tin (jelly roll pan) which has been greased, lined with grease­proof (waxed) paper, and greased again.

5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/350F/ gas mark 4 for 15 minutes. Turn out on to a cloth, remove the paper and cover with a damp tea-towel.

6. Cool for 5 minutes. Quickly spread the Almond Cream Filling over the sponge and roll up.