Malted Chocolate Banana Roulade

About a month ago, I started a new job at a bakery/café working as a baker/barista. As much as I appreciate having a job, especially one that has me baking every day and earning me some necessary moolah, I’m a little sad that I have less time now to devote to my blog. I really love experimenting with new recipes and posting them here for all of you to read. That’s the reason why, even after waking up at 4 a.m. and working 7 hours on my feet, I still make sure to whip up a few treats to share with you.

However, I’m appreciating the ease of a recipe more and more now. So when it came time to complete this month’s We Should Cocoa challenge, I tried to come up with something that wouldn’t require a trip to the grocery store and wouldn’t take all day to put together. It’s amazing what can be created by throwing together what’s lying around in the pantry and fridge!

This month we were challenge by Chele to make a Swiss Roll/Roulade (using chocolate, of course!). Amazingly, I’d never made one before. Luckily, Deb over at smitten kitchen recently wrote up about her attempt at making one of her family’s favorite cakes: a simple chocolate roulade. To her chagrin, this seemingly simple cake wasn’t so simple to roll up without it splitting apart. The trick, she learned, was to roll the hot cake in a tea towel immediately after baking it and letting it cool all coiled up. Then, she could unroll it, fill it, and roll it back up without the cake cracking.  Thanks to her efforts, I felt confident creating my own spiraled beauty.

Bananas, semisweet chocolate, some cream cheese and leftover Easter candy combined into a rolled delight. Not too rich, with just the right balance of sweet and tangy, creamy and crunchy, this is the kind of cake you just can’t stop eating. None of the flavors overpower the other, so with each bite you get just enough banana, just enough chocolate, and just enough tangy malted buttercream, not to mention those little crunchy bits of crushed malted milk balls! It’s taken probably twice as long to put this post together since I’ve had a slice of this cake beside me and I keep breaking for another bite.

Malted Chocolate Banana Roulade

© Copyright 2011 Carly Sullivan, Tart to Heart

Banana Sponge Cake

from Pinch My Salt

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 10×15-inch rimmed jelly roll pan and line with parchment paper.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In the bowl of your mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the eggs and sugar and whip until pale, thick and foamy. Add the bananas and whisk to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients and gently fold into the batter using a rubber spatula.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and gently spread into the corners. Bake until golden brown and puffed, about 10-12 minutes.
6. Dust a tea towel with powdered sugar. While still hot, carefully loosen the edges of the cake from the pan, then invert over the towel and lift the pan away. Peel off the parchment paper and carefully roll up the cake in the tea towel. Cool completely.

Malted Cream Cheese Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 5 Tbsp malted milk powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
2. Gradually add the powdered sugar, then the malted milk powder and salt and beat until smooth. Set aside at room temperature.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

• 6 oz (3/4 cup) heavy whipping cream
• 8 oz dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp rum (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine the chopped chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Set aside.
2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it comes to a simmer. Remove from the heat and pour the hot cream over the bowl of chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then gently stir until melted, careful not to incorporate any air.
3. Stir in the rum and set aside at room temperature.

Assembly:

• 1 cup chocolate covered malt balls (such as Whoppers), crushed
• Powdered sugar, for garnish

1. When the cake has cooled, carefully unroll the towel. If the interior is still warm, let sit unrolled for 5-10 minutes.
2. Gently spread the buttercream over the surface of the cake, leaving a 1/2-inch edge bare at the far end of the cake.
3. Pour the ganache over the buttercream (if the ganache has cooled and hardened at this point, heat in the microwave for 10 seconds to reach the right consistency). Spread evenly over the buttercream, careful not to smudge the two together.
4. Sprinkle the crushed malt balls over the cake.
   
5. Gently roll the cake, lifting and turning as you go rather than pushing forward so the filling doesn’t ooze out. Turn the rolled cake carefully so the seam is on the bottom.
6. Place in the fridge to chill until the filling has firmed (trust me, it will be very hard to cut otherwise!).
7. Remove from the fridge and dust with powdered sugar. Slice and serve! Enjoy!