Why it works: Coffee and cocoa share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 91 recipes mention both. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Butter a large baking sheet, line it with wax paper and butter the paper.
Beat 5 egg yolks until light and fluffy.
Gradually add 1 cup fine granulated sugar and beat until the mixture is very thick and pale in color.
Melt 6 ounces of dark sweet chocolate over low heat, add 3 tablespoons cold coffee. Let mixture cool.
Fold in 5 stiffly beaten egg whites.
Bake and cool
Spread the batter evenly over the prepared sheet and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes or until the cake tests done. Be careful not to over bake.
Cover the cake with a damp towel for 30 minutes, until it is cool.
Loosen it from the baking sheet and dust the surface generously with cocoa.
Turn the cake over onto a sheet of wax paper and gently remove the paper from the bottom.
Fill and roll
Spread the cake with 2 cups heavy cream, whipped and sweetened and flavored to taste, and roll it lengthwise into a long slim roll.
To roll this delicate cake, lift up 2 corners of the wax paper and flip over about 2 inches of the cake onto itself. Continue to roll by lifting the wax paper.
The last flip should deposit the cake onto a long wooden board or platter. Dust the top with a little more cocoa.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Coffee + cocoatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together91 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Chocolate + coffeetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,497 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).
-
Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Chocolate + cocoatop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
-
Chocolate + creamtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together5,463 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Beaten with sugar to create a thick, pale, airy base for the batter.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the batter and give the roulade its rise and delicate structure.
- Dark sweet chocolate
- Provides rich flavor and, once melted and cooled, the body and color of the cake.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the yolks thicken into a stable, pale foam.
- Heavy cream
- Whipped and sweetened, it adds moisture and a soft filling that keeps the roll tender.
The step that matters
Do not over bake the cake. Overbaking dries the thin sponge and makes it crack when rolled. Pulling it out once it tests done keeps it moist and flexible enough to roll.
Flavor stand-ins for the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, chocolate, coffee, cream):
- Cocoathe original
- Pecansabout as good a flavor fit
- Filbertabout as good a flavor fit
- Almondabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, chocolate, coffee, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.