Week 1: Chocolate Mini Rolls

Channel 4's Great British Bake Off, which caused quite the controversy before filming had even started, is continuing to make waves. The first episode of GBBO caused a bit of a stir with shock ingredient peppermint extract. I've decided to give the peppermint a go.

My recipe (based on the recipe by BBC good food, but with several important changes) makes 8 mini chocolate rolls, and takes about 1 hour to complete.

I hope you enjoy!

The Ingredients

3 eggs

100g golden caster sugar

80g of flour

2 tbsp of cocoa powder

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

120g of butter

120g of icing sugar

1 tsp of milk

A few drops of peppermint extract

150g dark chocolate 

150g milk chocolate

150g white chocolate 

The Sponge

1) Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a Swiss roll tin (or any rectangular tin with a flat bottom and shallow sides will do just fine - mine was 24 x 37) with baking parchment and grease well.

2) Whisk 3 eggs and 100g of golden caster sugar with an electric hand whisk until it becomes quite thick and a very pale yellow. This took me 6 minutes, but you should always use timings as more of a guide. Looking at what your ingredients actually look like is a much better skill to hone.

3) Fold in 80g of flour, 2 tbsp of cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract until all the ingredients have just combined.

(TOP TIP: Seive in these ingredients to ensure that your sponge is as airy as possible!)

4) Scrape the mixture into your tin and then gently smooth it out so it fills the edges of the tin. Then bake it in the oven until the mixture has risen slightly, and springs back when you press it. My sponge was in the oven for 7 mins, but it will differ depending on the size of your tray.

(TOP TIP: after scraping your mixture into the tin, and before placing it into the oven, you can even out the mixture by holding the tin up high and letting go, dropping it back onto your work surface)

5) Take the mixture out of the tin, place a rolling pin on to the sponge, and very gently run it along the sponge a couple of times.

6) As soon as the sponge is cool enough to handle, roll it up along the shorter edge. Keep the baking paper attached. Take it halfway in and stop when you get to the middle. Turn the sponge around and start rolling from the other side. The two rolls should meet in the middle.

7) Flip the rolled-up sponge upside down and leave to cool completely in its rolled-up shape. It won't stay completely rolled-up but that's ok, rolling up the sponge when it's still warm has already served its propose of making the next step easier. 

The Buttercream

8) Beat together 120g of butter, 60g of icing sugar, 1 tsp of milk and 3 or 4 drops of peppermint extract until smooth. Then whisk in 60g more of icing sugar using an electric handheld wise until the buttercream is a pale yellow. Try a little bit of the buttercream and add more peppermint extract to taste (go drop by drop - this stuff is strong!)

9) Once the sponge is cold, slice it through the middle where the two rolls meet and uncurl them. 

Spread the buttercream evenly on top of each length of sponge and roll it back up as tightly as you can.

10) Trim off the ends and cut each roll into 4 equal-sized sections. Chill these in the fridge while you prepare the chocolate.

The Chocolate

11) Melt 150g of milk chocolate and 150g of dark chocolate over a pan of gently simmering water. 

12) Take the mini rolls out of the fridge then spoon the melted chocolate over them to cover them completely, and leave somewhere cool so the chocolate can set slightly.

13) Melt 150g white chocolate over a pan of gently simmering water. 

14) Drizzle one teaspoon of white chocolate over the mini rolls before leaving them in the fridge until the chocolate has set firmly.

15) Enjoy!

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-peppermint-mini-rolls