Chocolate & clementine log
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep:
- Cook:
- Easy
- Serves 8 - 10
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 200g bar dark chocolate (a standard supermarket own brand is fine)
- 7 eggs, separated
- 200g soft light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp cocoa, plus extra for dusting
- zest and juice 1 clementine
For the frosting
- 200g bar dark chocolate
- 200ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
For the clementine cream
- 200ml double cream
- 200ml crème fraîche
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- zest 3 clementines, plus juice 1
To decorate and assemble
- 100g caster sugar, plus a little extra
- 1 clementine
- silver balls and white stars, if you like
Method
- STEP 1
Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a roughly 37 x 25cm tin with baking parchment. Melt the chocolate over a pan of barely simmering water. Set aside to cool while you get everything else ready. Whisk the yolks and brown sugar until pale and thick enough to hold a trail. Whisk in the cocoa, chocolate, clementine zest and juice. Whisk whites until stiff, whisk a third into chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest. Transfer to tin, gently spread to corners and bake for 16 mins until firm to touch.
- STEP 2
Meanwhile, dust a large sheet of baking parchment with a little cocoa. When the cake is done, turn it out onto the parchment. Don’t remove the paper stuck to the bottom of the cake – just roll the cake up with the paper inside from one of its longer sides. Leave to cool. This can be made a day ahead: wrap it in cling film or keep in an airtight container once cool.
- STEP 3
For the frosting, melt the chocolate, cream and icing sugar together in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Cool and chill until spreadable. Or chill for up to 24 hrs, then leave at room temp until spreadable again.
- STEP 4
For the clementine cream, whisk the cream, crème fraîche, icing sugar, clementine zest and juice until thick. Chill for up to 24 hrs.
- STEP 5
To make the decoration, melt the caster sugar with 100ml water in a small pan and gently bubble. Peel the zest from the clementine with a vegetable peeler. Thinly shred into strips, then drop into the bubbling syrup. Simmer for 2 mins, then turn off and leave for another 2 mins. Scatter a little extra sugar onto a plate. Lift out the shreds with a slotted spoon and toss in the sugar. Set aside to dry.
- STEP 6
To assemble, gently unroll the sponge and peel off the paper. Squeeze over juice from final peeled clementine. Thinly spread with a tiny bit of the chocolate frosting, then spread with half to two-thirds of the clementine cream. Carefully roll back up and trim each end. Transfer to a serving plate and cover with the rest of the chocolate frosting, using a round-bladed knife to stripe the surface. Scatter with the sugared clementine peel and silver balls and/or stars, if you like. Serve with remaining clementine cream.