Chocolate Almond Roll

Despite its name, the Swiss Roll (also known as jelly roll, jam roll, roll cake, cream roll or Swiss log) did not originate from Switzerland but likely from Austria. From classic fruit jam, whipped cream, chocolate and cheese fillings, to more exotic fillings made with ube and durian, different countries have their favourite interpretations of this sponge cake roll.

This light and luscious Chocolate Almond Roll combines a simple 3-ingredient Swiss Roll sponge recipe with a delicious chocolate almond butter.

What you’ll need

For the Swiss Roll Sponge:

• 3 Eggs
• 60g Castor sugar
• 50g All Purpose Flour, sifted twice

For the Chocolate Almond Butter Filling:

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 pinch sea salt

For the Topping:

• 50g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
• 1 tbsp ground raw almonds

How to make it

Swiss Roll Sponge:

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C/400 deg F. Line a 28cm x 28cm flat square cake pan with parchment or baking paper.
2. Using a clean bowl, beat eggs with a whisk, then add sugar. Place bowl over a double boiler and mix well.
3. While egg mixture is warm, beat the mixture in a mixer on high speed with whisk attachment, until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and continue beating for a minute. This will stabilise the volume of the egg mixture and ensure less volume is lost when you fold in the flour later.
4. Gently fold in sifted flour with a spatula, turning the bowl continuously and scooping the mixture up from the centre and bottom of the bowl. Fold until the mixture becomes glossy. Take care not to overmix the batter.
5. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly with a scraper. Place cake pan on a tray and bake for 10-12 minutes. Baking the sponge on an additional tray will prevent the bottom of the sponge from browning too quickly.
6. When Swiss Roll sponge is done, remove from oven, leave to cool slightly in pan, then and place in a plastic bag while it’s still warm to retain moisture. Alternatively, place a kitchen towel over it, and roll it up and set aside.

Chocolate Almond Butter Filling:

1. Toast almonds, then add to a food processor and process for 10-15 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. At this point the almonds should start to clump together. Continue to process until you reach a buttery consistency consistency. I always process until my almond butter is liquid like.
2. Melt chocolate chips in the double boiler.
3. Add chocolate, cocoa powder, honey, and sea salt to almond butter and process again until smooth.

Assembling the Cake:

1. Turn cool sponge onto a clean work surface. Peel off the parchment paper from the bottom of the sponge.
2. Spread the chocolate almond butter in an even layer over the sponge, leaving 1-1.5cm all around the border.
3. Gently roll up the sponge to make Swiss roll.
4. Melt the dark chocolate in the double boiler.
5. Drizzle melted chocolate over the Swiss roll, top with ground almonds.
6. Chill in the fridge for a few hours to allow the Swiss roll to set. Slice into pieces and tuck in!