Ingredients
Ganache:
Caramelised hazelnuts:
Method
Preheat the oven to 180c fan
Grease and line a 30 x 40cm swiss roll baking tin with non-stick greaseproof paper.
Place the egg yolks and 100g sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk until pale and fluffy. You want to get this to the ribbon stage, which will take around 3-4 minutes.
Next place the flour, cocoa and salt into a sieve and sieve into a bowl. Add ½ of the dry ingredients to the egg yolks and fold in very gently. Add the remaining dry ingredients and fold again until it’s all incorporated. Next pour in the cooled butter and fold in gently.
Using a clean bowl, whisk the whites until frothy then add the remaining 50g sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Add 1/3rd of the eggs whites into the chocolate mix and mix in well. Next add the remaining egg whites to the bowl and fold this in very gently until all incorporated. Then working quickly, pour the cake mixture into the lined baking tray and spread out evenly.
Place into the oven for 12-15 minutes. While the sponge is cooking, lay out a clean tea towel and dust it liberally and evenly with caster sugar. Remove the sponge from the oven and flip it out onto the tea towel. Gently peel the baking paper off the cake and discard. Sprinkle this side of the cake with a little extra caster sugar, then carefully roll the sponge lengthways using the tea towel to help keep its shape. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tea towel.
For The Ganache:
Pour the cream into the saucepan and place over a medium heat and bring the cream to the simmer. Place the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and immediately pour the hot cream over the chocolate, mix until smooth then leave to cool.
When the ganache has cooled, using electric beaters whisk the mixture until it turns light and fluffy. Unroll the sponge and spoon the gananche over evenly. Once the ganache has been spread out, roll the sponge up again and refrigerate to set – if you have the time.
For the Caramelised Hazelnuts:
Place the sugar into a small saucepan and place over a high heat, in order to melt the sugar to make a dry caramel. When the caramel reaches a deep golden brown, remove it from the heat. You can also dip the bottom of the pan in cold water to stop the caramel from cooking.
Dip the nuts individually into the caramel and wait for the caramel to drip down to create a long line of caramel. Hang these by sticking each cocktail stick into a piece of suspended polystyrene.
Place the swiss roll onto a serving board or platter.
Dust the log with cocoa powder, icing sugar and scatter the caramel nuts to resemble twigs on top.
