Chocolate Cherry Cake Roll

A cake roll, I'm guessing this looks a little intimidating, but there is no reason to be afraid. It's not as scary as it looks and I'll tell you how I know.  My husband made this. It was my birthday cake. Okay, my husband is a pretty good cook and he's not afraid to cook things like cheesecake or cake rolls. The secret here is that you just have follow the instructions. Read them carefully once before you start cooking them and follow them closely while you make it.  This really isn't the most complicated recipe out there. Granted it's time consuming and has a lot of steps and will probably leave you with more dirty dishes than you'd like to clean. Okay, so maybe it is a little complicated, but it's worth it.

Chocolate Cherry Cake Roll

Cake

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup plus, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup water
• powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Line 15 1/2" x 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan with foil. Generously grease foil. 

In large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form; set aside.  

In a small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat egg yolks and vanilla until 3 minutes. Gradually add remaining 1/.3 cup sugar; continue beating 2 minutes longer.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With mixture at low speed, alternately add dry mixture and water to egg yolk mixture, beating until just smooth.

Gradually fold chocolate mixture into beaten egg whites until well blended, being careful not to collapse the egg whites. Pour batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched in the center. With spatula, immediately loosen cake from edges of pan; invert cake onto a clean towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel of foil. Starting from narrow end, immediately roll cake and towel together; place on wire rack and let cool completely, Prepare cherry cream filling.

Cherry Cream Filling

• 1 cup heavy cream, well chilled
• 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
• 3 drops red food coloring (optional)
• 1/3 cup maraschino cherries, chopped and well drained.

In a medium bowl, beat cream, powdered sugar and food coloring on high until stiff. Fold in cherries

Carefully unroll cooled cake, remove towel. Spread filling over cake, re-roll cake, cover and refridgerate several hours. Drizzle with melted chocolate or chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

• 1 oz (1 square) unsweeted baking chocolate
• 1 tablespoon margerine or butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tablespoon hot water

Melt chocolate and butter over low heat until melted.  Remove from heat. Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and water, adding water only 1 tsp at a time, until the glaze is desired consistency.