This delicious chocolate log will delight your family this Christmas, go on, give it a go!
Ingredients
- 75 g odlums cream plain flour (less 2 tbsps)
- 3 eggs separated
- pinch of salt
- 75 g shamrock golden caster sugar
- 2 tblsp cocoa powder
- level tsp baking powder
- filling and icing
- 50 g butter
- 150 g dark chocolate (broken into pieces)
- 1 tblsp golden syrup
- 250 ml carton of cream
- 225 g icing sugar (sieved)
- to decorate
- icing sugar and holly sprigs
Method
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Line swiss roll tin 28cmx18cm/11”x7” with greaseproof paper.
- Put egg whites into a large clean dry bowl, add a pinch of salt. Beat until mixture is stiff and dry looking in appearance. Add sugar and continue beating until thick and shiny. Finally beat in egg yolks until thick and trail of beaters remain. Sieve flour, cocoa and baking powder together and gradually add to egg mixture, folding it in with a metal spoon.
- Transfer to prepared tin and spread evenly. Bake for 10 minutes. Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper dusted with caster sugar on work surface. When cake is baked, turn it onto paper remove lining paper and trim edges with a sharp knife. Roll cake up from its longest edge with paper side. Leave to cool.
- Make the icing: Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Take from heat and stir in syrup and 5 tbsps of cream. Beat in icing sugar until smooth.
- Whisk remaining cream until stiff. Remove paper from the cake, spread with cream and carefully roll up again into a log.
- Cut a thick diagonal slice from one end of the log. Lift log onto a plate, then arrange slice on the side with diagonal cut against cake to make the branch.
- Spread icing over the “log” and the “branch” (don’t cover ends).
- Use a fork to mark icing to give the effect of tree bark. Dust with icing sugar to resemble snow and decorate with holly leaves.
