CHOCOLATE & MARZIPAN SWISS ROLL
A deliciously chocolatey Swiss roll, sprinkled with marzipan and filled with silky almond buttercream – topped with a triple chocolate drizzle and crushed mini eggs (because, well, why not!).
Ingredients
FOR THE SWISS ROLL
- 65 g Magical plain flour blend
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
- 100 g caster sugar
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 tbsp milk
FOR THE FILLING
- 80 g butter
- 200 g icing sugar (sifted)
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1-2 tsp water (to loosen, if needed)
- 20 g marzipan, grated (frozen)
FOR THE DECORATION (OPTIONAL)
- 1 small amount chocolate, melted
- 1 handful mini eggs, crushed
Instructions
FOR THE SPONGE
- Grease and line a Swiss roll tin.
- Preheat your oven to 190c / 170 fan / gas 5.
- Put the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on a high speed for eight minutes until the mixture is pale and creamy and leaves a trail when you lift up the beater.;
- Add in the almond extract and then whisk for another minute.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, coffee and salt until completely blended and then gently fold into the egg mixture along with the milk using a metal spoon. Be as careful as you can when you are folding in the flour because you want to keep as much air as possible in the mixture.
- Pour the cake mixture into your tin ensuring it reaches the sides and edges. Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the top of the sponge springs back when you press lightly on it. Be careful not to over bake your sponge as this will make it more susceptible to cracking when you roll it.
- Roll up your sponge while it is still warm.
FOR THE FILLING
- To make the buttercream filling, put the butter and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attached and beat for a good few minutes until much paler in colour.
- Add in the sifted icing sugar and beat to combine.
- Whisk in the water, if necessary, to loosen the buttercream so that it is a nice, spreadable consistency.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Once your rolled sponge is completely cool, carefully unroll it so that you can add the filling.
- Grate your frozen marzipan over the top of the sponge.
- Now spread an even layer of buttercream over the sponge using a palette knife if you have one. The secret here is to use sweeping motions across the sponge with your knife and *not* to lift the knife up off the sponge or you may well pull chunks of sponge with it! Don’t spread the buttercream to the ends of the sponge – leave a gap round the edges so that it doesn’t ooze out when you roll up the sponge!
- Time to complete your Swiss roll by rolling it back up again. Your sponge should have ‘retained a memory’ of the roll you put in earlier and so shouldn’t be too difficult to manoeuvre. Be firm with your rolling but try not to push down too hard or you’ll squeeze out the filling!
- Melt a small amount of white, milk and dark chocolate and liberally drizzle each over the top of your Swiss roll.
- Scatter some crushed mini eggs over the top.;Putting your finished Swiss roll in the fridge for five minutes to firm up slightly will make it easier to cut.
- Enjoy! xx Millie, Marcus and Me xx
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AN ADAPTABLE RECIPE!
I originally created this chocolate and marzipan Swiss roll for a feature in The Evening Standard on Easter baking – hence the marzipan and the mini eggs.
If you’re not a marzipan fan you can omit it from the filling and take out the almond extract from the recipe for a plain chocolate gluten-free Swiss roll.
You could give it an orangey twist by adding orange extract and zest to the sponge and orange juice/extract to the buttercream and spreading a layer of orange marmalade over the sponge before rolling it up.
And if you’re a lover of Black Forest gateau but don’t have time to make one, you could spread lashings of cherry jam over the sponge and add a splash of Kirsch to the buttercream 🙂
Happy baking!
