Chocolate log

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs, separated
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tbsp (heaped) cornflour
• 2 tbsp (heaped) cocoa powder

Filling

• 1 cup thickened cream
• 1 tsp icing sugar

Chocolate icing

• 180 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 large eggs
• Chocolate leaves
• 50 g dark chocolate, chopped
• about 6 firm, unsprayed garden leaves, washed and thoroughly dried

Direciotns

Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas 6). Line a 40 x 28 cm cake tin with baking paper.

Beat the egg whites using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, then slowly add the sugar, beating until the egg whites look glossy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then add the vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Sift the cornflour and cocoa together, then fold the dry ingredients into the beaten eggs by hand. Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the cake in the oven for another 5 minutes.

Turn the cake out onto a clean tea towel. While the cake is still hot, gently roll it up in the tea towel into a log shape, so it looks like a Swiss roll. Leave it in the tea towel to cool.

To make the filling, whip the cream and icing sugar together in a bowl. When the cake is cool, unroll it, spread the filling on top, then roll it up again.

To make the chocolate icing, melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, then pour it into a bowl. Add the eggs and beat for 30 seconds — don’t overbeat or the icing won’t spread. Spread the icing over the cream-filled log.

To make the chocolate leaves, melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, making sure it doesn’t burn, then spread the chocolate thickly over the back of the leaves. Refrigerate the leaves on a flat plate lined with baking paper until they are firm, then peel the leaves off the chocolate and arrange them on the iced log.

(http://cakesandcookiesrecipes.blogspot.com/)