Chocolate cream roll with strawberries

How big is your Easter egg haul? Probably too big to eat all by yourself (not without feeling just a bit guilty at least!) It would be a shame to let all that chocolate go to waste though, so why not melt down those surplus eggs and chocolate bunnies into pure chocolate, and make this family-sized dessert?

And if you’ve already eaten all your eggs, you can still make this – it is Easter after all. This recipe comes from Chocolate by Jennifer Donovan, the ultimate collection of chocolate recipes.
 

Chocolate cream roll with strawberries

Makes 1 x cream roll

Preparation time: 35 minutes 

Cooking time: 10–12 minutes 
 

butter, for greasing
4 eggs, separated
200g/7oz/¾ cup plus 2 tbsp caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling
75g/2¾oz dark or milk chocolate, grated
75g/2¾oz/½ cup plus 1 tbsp self-raising flour
150g/5½oz/1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
 

To make the Chocolate Chantilly Cream

250ml/9fl oz/1 cup double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
100g/3½oz dark or milk chocolate, melted and left to cool

1 In a large bowl, whip the cream and icing sugar together to form soft peaks, using an electric hand mixer.

2 Gently fold in the melted chocolate until just combined, before using.
 

To make the Chocolate Cream roll

1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F/gas 4. Grease a 33 x 23cm/13 x 9in Swiss roll tin with butter, and line the base and sides with baking paper.

2 In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and half the sugar together until thick and creamy, using an electric hand mixer. Stir in 2 tbsp water, the grated chocolate and flour, using a wooden spoon. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, using clean attachments for the electric hand mixer, then continue whisking, gradually adding the remaining sugar, until thick and shiny. Fold into the chocolate mixture until just combined, using a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly, using a palette knife.

3 Bake in the hot oven for 10–12 minutes, or until just firm. Remove from the oven and turn out on to a large sheet of baking paper that has been sprinkled with sugar. Remove the lining paper, then, using the baking paper to help you, roll up from a short side, enclosing the paper in the cake. Leave to cool completely.

4 When cool, unroll the cake carefully, spread with the chocolate Chantilly cream and scatter over the strawberries. Re-roll, transfer to a serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.