With Easter coming up I thought I would share a little treat to grace the Easter table.

Squidgy  Chocolate Roulade
Preheat the oven to 180°C

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
4 ozs good quality plain chocolate
4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
4 ozs caster sugar

Filling:
½ pint of double cream
4 ozs chocolate – I use dark, but you can use milk or white if you wish.
Icing sugar to garnish and fresh fruit to decorate.

Grease and line a 28cm x33cm swiss roll tin with non-stick baking paper.
Mix the coffee granules to a smooth paste with 1 tablespoon of hot water.
Break the chocolate in small pieces and melt in a heatproof bowl over hot water and melt gently.
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until the mixture is thick and pale, then fold in the cooled coffee and melted chocolate.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold 2 tablespoons into the chocolate mixture to loosen the mixture. Then fold in the remaining egg whites, keeping the mixture as light as possible.
Pour into prepared tin and smooth gently.
Bake for 15 minutes, the top will be crusty but the underneath soft.
Put the tin onto a wire rack to cool and cover with a clean damp tea towel and leave overnight. This will soften the crust.

Sprinkle a large sheet of greaseproof paper with icing sugar. Remove the tea towel from the roulade and turn it out on the sugared paper. Peel off the lining paper then trim away all four crusty edges.
Whip the cream until stiff, fold in the grated chocolate and spread over the roulade.
Roll up, using the paper to help lift it.  The roulade may crack, but this is quite usual.
Place on a serving plate and dredge with icing sugar. Decorate with fresh fruit and serve.