Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Filled Flourless Chocolate Roulade

I remember when I was a little girl my mom used to make a chocolate rolled cake.  I was enamored at the way when it was cut it had this cute little curly cue center.  It seems like she used to call it a jelly roll but maybe she called it a chocolate roulade.  My memory isn’t quite clear but what I do remember is how much I loved it.  That is what inspired me to make this cake.  Well, that and the fact that I can’t think of anything but salted caramel and what I can add it to or put it in or top it with.  I told you I have a problem.  It’s bigger than you realize I promise.

I shared my favorite salted caramel sauce recipe with you recently as a prelude to the coming salted caramel storm I have planned.  Simply because what better way to begin a salted caramel storm than with the basics?  As I said in my earlier post, I will pepper this storm with other possibly healthy-ish dishes in between so as not to alienate those of you who don’t share my love of this amazing gooeyness.  Although I can’t wrap my brain around it if you’re out there.  It’s like my brother not liking cheese.  How is that humanly possible?  When we were little and during that very short period when he was smaller than I was, I used to hold him down and force cheese in his mouth.  I just KNEW that if he really tasted it there’s no way he wouldn’t like it.  It didn’t work and probably contributed to his dislike even more.

I’m not going to hold you down and force salted caramel on you so I’ll mix things up a bit.  Does that work for you if you’re out there?

On most of the recipes I post I say something about how easy it is.  This recipe would, in my mind, be categorized as intermediate.  I wouldn’t go straight to difficult because it really isn’t but it does have a few more steps than an easy recipe would have.  Don’t let that discourage you though.  It’s totally worth it!  And it’s very pretty so you’ll totally look like a rock star to anyone you serve this to.

Let’s go over the steps really quickly.  You’ll melt the chocolate.  It’s not necessary but it helps melt quicker and smoother if it’s chopped.

Now, there are tools I really believe in and think a well stocked kitchen must have.  A mandoline is one.  You just can’t get a slice that thin and uniform by hand not to mention all the other cuts it makes.  An immersion blender is also one I think every cook should have.  You can make salad dressing and soups so quickly and easily and it cleans up super fast.  Those, along with a couple others are the only ones I think imperative.  A double-boiler on the other hand is not something I think anyone should spend money on.  Know why?  Because all you have to do is put a glass bowl over a small pot of simmering water and presto…home made double-boiler!

I say all that because you’ll need a home made double-boiler to melt your chocolate.  Set that aside and let it cool while you whip up your egg yolks, sugar and cocoa and then add it into the eggs.  Separately you’ll whip up egg whites with a little more sugar and fold them together making a really fluffy batter.

That gets baked until it springs back when pressed.  Immediately after taking it out of the oven it gets turned out onto a cocoa dusted dish towel and rolled up to let it cool.  Rolling the cake while it’s hot and letting it cool that way will prevent it from cracking after being filled.  While it’s cooling (I stick mine on a sheet pan and in the fridge while I work on the filling) go ahead and start preparing your filling.  A chocolate roulade can be filled with so many things but (I think you know what’s coming) I had this overwhelmingly strong desire to use salted caramel.  I made up a concoction of my yummy salted caramel sauce, cream cheese, confectioners sugar and then I elevated it a notch and added Frangelico and Heath bar chips. And that’s just the inside!!!

Once you unroll, fill and re-roll your cake, it’s time for the glaze.  That of course had to have salted caramel in it  just to keep up with my theme.  I used some salted caramel hot chocolate that I bought before Christmas and cooked it down with cream but you could use regular cocoa or hot chocolate if you like the flavor it gives.  You’ll also use some unflavored gelatin to give it some body and help it cling to the cake better.

Do you know what ganache really is?  It’s a thick, shiny sauce made of chocolate and cream.  This one happens to include salted caramel so…salted caramel ganache.  See all that pooling salted caramel ganache?  Make sure you put a foil lined baking sheet under your rack.  I scraped the pooling ganache and used it as my garnish.  It worked perfectly.

I served this gorgeous flourless chocolate roulade with a side of the salted caramel ganache and freshly made whipped cream.  There’s a recipe for the whipped cream here although with this recipe I would use vanilla extract.

My friend Shanna at Pineapple and Coconut mentioned this in one of her recent posts about how hard it was to name a dish with several important ingredients and she is so right!  I am struggling with what part of this stellar lineup can be omitted because it’s all so important!!  Forgive me if it’s too lengthy but I couldn’t help myself!

This recipe was adapted from Fine Cooking.

Wow!  There are a few steps like I said but none are super difficult and it really is a wonderful dessert!  Let me know how you like it?