German Chocolate Cake Roll

Step 1

Grease a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan with butter or spray with non-stick spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, making sure that the paper overhangs the sides. Grease the parchment paper with butter - this will help with peeling the paper off once the sponge has baked.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2

Prepare your tea towel. Lay a tea towel or a piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust lightly with cocoa powder.

Step 3

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl if using a hand mixer, add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract and whip until the mixture is light and creamy, about 5 minutes. When lifting out the whisk, you want to be able to see trails of the mixture for a few seconds.

Step 4

Into a separate bowl, sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.Gently fold about half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined. Sift in the remaining flour mixture and again fold through while rotating the bowl. Ensure that you scrape right to the bottom of the bowl where flour pockets may be hiding. Do not over mix, as this will deflate the air that was created during the initial whisking of the eggs.

Step 5

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and gently spread with an offset spatula all the way to the corners.Bake in the oven for 7-9 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.Do not overbake as this is the most common cause of a cracked sponge!

Step 6

Once the sponge has baked, remove it from the oven and immediately invert the sponge onto the tea towel while it is still hot. Gently peel off the parchment paper. Starting from the sponge's short end, using your hands, roll the sponge up gently but firmly until it is totally rolled into the tea towel or parchment paper. Set the cake roll aside with its seam side down to cool completely.

Step 7

In a large saucepan, add brown sugar, egg yolks, evaporated milk, and butter. Heat on medium, stirring constantly, for about 15 to 18 minutes, until brown and thickened to a custard-like consistency.

Step 8

Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla, pecans, and coconut. Transfer to a large bowl and cover. Refrigerate, stirring often to cool thoroughly before using to fill the cake.

Step 9

Place the chopped chocolate and butter into a medium bowl. In a small saucepan or in the microwave, heat the cream gently on low heat until simmering around the edges. Pour the cream over the chocolate into the bowl and cover with a small plate to trap the heat. Let it sit for a couple of minutes. Whisk continuously until the chocolate is smooth and the butter has melted.

Step 10

Place the swiss roll onto a wire rack set on top of a baking tray. Slowly pour the ganache over the top of the cake roll to coat completely. Decorate with toasted coconut and let the chocolate set for 20 minutes before slicing ends off to neaten up the roll before serving.