Method

1. Preheat and prepare: Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan and line a 33x23cm tin, I recommend the USA Swiss roll tin.
2. Prepare the melted chocolate: In a heat-proof bowl, melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally to avoid burning. Once it is silky smooth, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. Separate your eggs: Separate your egg yolks from the whites, putting the whites into a bowl to whisk. The Ankarsrum mixer with the double whisks is great for this. Whisk the whites until white, thick and holds stiff peaks. If you were to turn the bowl upside down, the whites should be stiff enough not to fall out! Set aside while you prepare the egg yolks.
4. Mix the egg yolks: In a large bowl, add the sugar and egg yolks and whisk until a thick, creamy consistency is achieved, when done the mix should hold a pattern from the whisks.
5. Add the melted chocolate: Poor the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mix, folding it through gently to try and keep as much air in as possible. Continue to fold the mix in a figure of eight motion until the mix is all one colour.
6. Start to add the egg whites: Add a couple of scoops of the egg whites into the yolk mixture and continue the gentle figure of eight folding motion to start incorporating the whites. Try to keep as much air in this as possible. With the folding of the mixture, the aim is to spilt the whites up, but also add in additional air, hence the fold rather than a round and round mixing motion.
7. Add the remaining egg whites: Gently add the rest of the egg whites and continue to fold until there are no more white lumps amongst the lovely chocolate mixture.
8. Add coco powder: Sift the cocoa powder into the mix and gently fold in until combined.
9. Transfer and Bake: Gently pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread it to all four corners with a pallet knife. Try not to over work the mixture as this will knock the air out. Once levelled place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
10. Cool: Once baked, allow the cake to cool in the tin.
11. Chocolate ganache: While the cake is cooling make the Ganache. Heat the cream in a pan until almost simmering but not boiling. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and stir with a hand whisk until all melted and combined. It should be a silky-smooth mixture. It will be quite runny so allow to cool and set slightly while you construct the log shape.
12. Whip the cream: Whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks and holds patterns from the whisk, this is achieved really well in the Ankarsrum mixer on a medium speed with the double whisks. Stop whisking the cream when it starts to hold, as it will continue to stiffen before making its way on to the cake.
13. Construct the roulade shape: Once the cake is cool, turn it out of the tin onto a second sheet of baking paper. Peel the baking paper off the cake, and spread with the whipped cream with a pallet knife, leaving a border of about 1cm all the way around the edges. Starting on a short edge, roll the cake up, some cream may push to the end, so you may want to scoop this out before completing the roll to ensure a flat clean base for the log. Don’t worry if the roulade cracks, that is quite normal and all part of its charm. (Plus, if you are making the ganache, it will be concealed!)
14. Decorate: Once the ganache has set a little, holding its shape, spread a thin layer over the whole cake. Depending on how you’d like the log to look, score a pattern with the end of a skewer or fine edge of a knife. I went for some swirly lines and tree knots to look like bark, with cross section rings on each end.
15. To finish: Dust with a light sprinkle of snow sugar, just enough to catch on the patterns textures.

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