Chocolate Harvest Roll

Every wednesday we have Gospel Communities through our church which is basically a bible study/fellowship, and this week I got the pleasure of making the dessert for it! Even though sadly I was not there to enjoy it with everyone. I have been wanting to make a fall recipe so I was very excited for this one. It sound like a odd combo…pumpkin and chocolate? but trust me it is very good. The cake is very moist so make sure it is completely cooled when you work with it, but having a moist cake is essential. Also, the beauty of baking is you can always cover up an ugly dessert; so do not fret when you roll the cake and it is all cracked and ugly, because you will cover it with a delicious chocolate glaze that will make it gorgeous.

Chocolate Harvest Roll

This recipe serves about 12-14 people, depending on how large of slice you serve. If you do not have semi sweet chocolate you substitute 3 oz. milk chocolate and 3 oz. bittersweet chocolate. The reason we bake this cake at such a low degree is so it is flat on the t

op and does not rise in the center.

Cake:

2 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. He

rshey Cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. ba

king powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 c. milk

1/2 c. vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. boiling water

Pumpkin Cream Filling:

2 8-oz cream cheese, softened

2/3 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

dash pumpkin spice

Chocolate Glaze:

3/4 c. whipping cream

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

The Cake:

-Heat the oven to 325. Put parchment paper down on a cookie sheet, so the cake does not stick, and secure it with cooking spray.

- Combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl

-Add the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Stir in the boiling water. The batter will be very thin and that is okay, that is due to the boiling water. Pour into the cookie sheet and make sure it is evenly spread about. Tap the cookie sheet on the counter a few times to get all of the bubbles out.

Pumpkin Cream Filling:

-While that is baking you can make the filling and refrigerate it.

-Mix all the ingredients in a medium to large bowl and whisk all the ingredients together until there are no lumps and it is thickened.

Assembling the roll:

-Take a towel and generously cover it with either powdered su

gar or cocoa dust. (You are not going to want to go lightly. You need to completely cover the towel so it does not stick) (refer to picture above)

-Gently flip the chocolate cake onto the towel and peel off the parchment from the bottom of the cake.

-Add the filling to the top and spread around, leaving about 1/2 inch on each side. Make sure it is evenly spread.

-Carefully and gently use the towel to roll the cake into a log.(refer to picture above) Pressing the roll as you go so that it stays tightly rolled. Chill for at least an hour before adding the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:

-In a saucepan, bring the whipping cream just to a boil over medium heat

. Do not over boil here or else it will burn. You should continuously be stirring and you will know when it is done by the small bubbles that form when you stop stirring.

-Remove from the heat (you can keep it in the saucepan) and add the chocolate. Do not stir. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

-Now you can stir it until smooth. I used a whisk for mine to get out all of the lumps. Then transfer it to a bowl and let it cool for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.

-While is it cooling you can get out your roll and transfer it to your serving plate. This may take 2 sets of hands since the roll will be very moist and delicate to work with. Once it is on the plate or platter cut off (with a serrated knife) 1/2 inch on each side of the roll. This wil

l make it more appealing from the sides as you will be able to see the filling. (Refer to picture below)

-Once the glaze has cooled you can pour it over the roll and allow it to drip over the sides. It will not cover the whole log like frosting since it is just a glaze, so not try to s

pread it; just let it drip where it pleases. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

TIP: To keep messes small you can put your plate over a cookie sheet or over parchment paper that way the excess glaze does not get onto the counter.