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Active Time
40 minutes
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Total Time
1¼ hours
灵感来自迪翁颤音莱昂卢卡斯的秘方tine, this easy flourless chocolate roll cake will delight your guests with its airy texture and intense chocolate flavor. Here we filled it with Grand Marnier whipped cream (see Cooks' notes, below, for other flavor ideas). We tried several brands of chocolate and found that Lindt and Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolates produced the best flavor and texture for this particular cake.
This cake depends on separated eggs for its lightness and airy texture.
Editor’s note:This recipe was first printed in the January 2001 issue of ‘Gourmet.’ StafferLi Goldstein writes about how it’s been a favorite for family birthdays for decades.
Ingredients
Makes 12 servings
For cake layer
For filling
Make cake layer:
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil a 15- by 10- by 1-inch shallow baking pan and line bottom lengthwise with a large piece of wax or parchment paper, letting paper hang over ends by 2 inches.
Step 2
Melt chocolate with water in a small heavy saucepan over very low heat, stirring. Cool to lukewarm.
Step 3
Beat yolks, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 5 minutes in a standing mixer or about 8 minutes with a hand-held mixer. Fold in melted chocolate until blended. Beat whites with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat until whites just hold stiff peaks. Fold one third of whites into melted-chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
Step 4
Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake in middle of oven until puffed and top is dry to the touch, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack. Cover top with 2 layers of damp paper towels and let stand 5 minutes, then remove towels and cool completely. Loosen edges with a sharp knife.
Step 5
Sift cocoa powder over top of cake layer and overlap 2 layers of wax paper lengthwise over cake. Place a baking sheet over paper and invert cake onto it, gently peeling off wax paper lining. (Don’t worry if cake layer breaks; it will hold together when rolled.)
Make filling:
Step 6
Beat cream with confectioners sugar and Grand Marnier with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold in zest.
Fill and roll cake:
Step 7
Spread filling evenly over cake. Put a long platter next to a long side of cake. Using wax paper as an aid, roll up cake jelly roll–style, beginning with a long side. Carefully transfer, seam side down, to platter, using wax paper to help slide cake. (Cake will crack but will still hold together.)
Step 8
Dust cake generously with cocoa powder and confectioners sugar.
Do ahead:Cake may be rolled 1 day ahead and chilled in a cake keeper or loosely covered with plastic wrap.
• You can substitute the following for Grand Marnier and orange zest: 2 tablespoons Cognac and ½ teaspoon vanilla; 2 tablespoons cocoa and ½ teaspoon vanilla; or 2 teaspoons instant-espresso powder or instant-coffee granules dissolved in 2 teaspoons water plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
• This batter can also be baked in an unoiled 9½-inch springform pan. Bake until cake is set but still moist in center, 35 to 40 minutes (cake will rise and then sink as it cools). Top with Grand Marnier whipped cream.
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Reviews (80)
Back to TopEpi, cant you keep my subscription info instead of making me send a verification link to email every.single.time I want to look at a recipe? I've had a subscription for years and this is really annoying to do every time. Please set thst memory of me as a subscriber up! Thank you Peggy Mason
Anonymous
Colorado
5/31/2023
Outstanding dessert. It did fall apart a bit on the roll up but the icing held it together. The orange zest is a wonderful flavor addition. We used Kahlua since we didn’t have any grand marnier. It was a hit.
Aoc
Jacksonville beach
12/26/2021
I've made this a handful of times, followed the recipe to a T and it turned out PERFECT every time, with rave reviews! I love a good recipe riff (that's part of the fun!), but I'm not sure why some found drastic changes necessary.
Cara Baker
12/21/2021
This cake tastes good and it eventually looked good but it fell apart, which doesn't happen when I make other roll cakes. Truth is I would use this as a base because the flavor is rich and chocolatey but probably combine other recipes to get a reliable roll cake that doesn't fall apart.
jule6262
UK
7/22/2019
This dessert has been around for at least 50 years. The recipe claims to be easy. I had a recipe for this flourless chocolate cake at least 3 decades ago and it actually was easy and with good results. Several comments: No need for outside chocolate, just good chocolate powder, beat separated whites first and save. Then do the egg yolks to save cleaning the mixer. Use wet paper towels, then remove. No need to dump the cooked cake, just roll w waxed paper. Oil waxed paper. No need for chocolate powder sprinkling. Easier to roll from short side since it produces larger servings and stores more easily. Serve w pureed fruit or chocolate sauce or ice cream. Way to complicated, time consuming and produces a ton of dishes to wash. Needs complete revision and updating of recipe.
ShiShi2222
Phoenix, AZ
4/19/2019
This was not hard to make and turned out very well. Not a crumb remained at the end of the meal and everyone raved about it. The only modification I made was to use much less sugar in the filling, as when I tasted the cake it seemed sweeter than I would have liked so I thought I would compensate by not putting as much sugar in the filling as the recipe called for. For taste, it was a 4, but I'm giving it a three only because the roulade was a tad difficult to handle and very fragile, and without the dusting of cocoa and sugar would not have looked so pretty.
Anonymous
New York
4/9/2017
Yes, the cake is a wonderful, light surprise, and so suitable after hors d'oevres or sup and maybe a heavy first course. You need to concentrate and be out of reach of your mobile phone! I copied the recipe from the original cook book - about 30 years ago - but it says that the cake should remain in the oven for 10 minutes after the oven has been turned off. This is omitted in your recipe? Also, I find that I need at least 2 cups of heavy cream (for the original version using 8 eggs) to make a generous filling. Does anybody know whether this same, flourless cake, can be adapted to an apricot roulage, or is there any independent recipe for an apricot roulade ?
Anonymous
Norway
4/9/2017
This was delicious, moist, light and above all, chocolaty. My previous attempts with other recipes have been yummy, but just so so on the chocolate flavor, which came from cocoa powder. This recipe was amazing. I did think that whipping the egg yolks for a full 8 minutes seemed like overkill, but the texture did change just before the 8 minute mark, and it turned out great, so there's probably something too it. For those who are having difficulty with the sponge, I'm guessing that the temperature of the chocolate had something to do with it. Mine was still melted, but barely warm to the touch, and I did worry after I mixed it with the egg yolk mixture that it might cool and set, but it turned out fine. Don't let it cool too much, other wise you'll get chunks.
faylen
Salt Lake City, UT
2/28/2017
This was the richest most delicious roll cake I've made. It was a little delicate after baking, but it was easy to roll and slice. The cake was moist and chocolaty. I did omit the grand mariner and orange zest and replaced it with vanilla bean, but I was impressed with the sponge. I did allow it to cool in a rolled position, as recommended by the pioneer woman, and it unrolled and rerolled just fine. Will make again.
Anonymous
Salt Lake City, UT
2/28/2017
所以我觉得自己是一个相当熟练的贝克er & I couldn't master this recipe at all. Followed the instructions to the letter - except for orange zest which 9 year old wouldn't like - and ended up with a very dry sponge with chunks of chocolate. I make lovely chocolate souffles often with no such problem so am baffled as to the issue? At any rate, for me, waste of high quality ingredients & disappointed at result of much-anticipated treat.
oishi
NYC
1/21/2016
所以我觉得自己是一个相当熟练的贝克er & I couldn't master this recipe at all. Followed the instructions to the letter - except for orange zest which 9 year old wouldn't like - and ended up with a very dry sponge with chunks of chocolate. I make lovely chocolate souffles often with no such problem so am baffled as to the issue? At any rate, for me, waste of high quality ingredients & disappointed at result of much-anticipated treat.
oishi
NYC
1/21/2016
After reading a number of comments, I was a little nervous about this, particularly whether a standard cookie sheet would work since the recipe calls for a 1" deep pan, and cookie sheets are only 1/2" deep. Well, no problems there. I followed the recipe precisely and had no trouble with cracking (rolled when cool). When covered with sifted cocoa and confectioner's sugar, then decorated with a little fir and holly from the yard, it was lovely Christmas log - much simpler and less rich than the traditional buche de noel, light and delicious. Bravo! Everyone loved it.
Anonymous
Newbury, Mass.
1/5/2015
If you need to bake for someone who is allergic to wheat or gluten, you can't beat this cake for ease and flavor. I bake it in a springform pan, then fill the "bowl" that develops on the top the filling or, this week, when limited for time and cooking for a person with lactose intolerance, Cool Whip's Chocolate Frosting!
MissPeriwinkle
Utah
7/22/2014
I am NOT a baker. I followed the directions to a T and it was perfect. My guests, discerning foodies, insisted on seconds. The chocolate was perfect, to hint of orange just right and light and lovely. I made the Clemintine sauce to serve as an accent.
mew8458
12/23/2013
I followed the recipe exactly as written and also rolled it while warm. When I unrolled it it was in pieces. It didn't hold together at all so that is why I rated it a one. I will make it again though, perhaps as cupcakes because the flavor was delicious. If you are looking for an easy chocolate roll cake that WILL roll with no cracking use Martha Stewart's Genoise recipe.
Scrappingchic
Florida
12/8/2013
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