OK, I know it’s January and you’ve probably given up chocolate. I tell you what, though: treat yourself at the weekend with this swiss roll sponge slathered with the best hazelnut spread, coated in chocolate and some more toasted nuts, and finished off with some fancy filo shards. People will think you’ve been making these for days, as opposed to a couple of hours.
Prep 20 min
Cook 1 hr 40 min
Makes 6
6 large eggs
175g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
175g self-raising flour
Zest of 2 oranges
50g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the filling
150g hazelnuts
100g mascarpone cheese
200g hazelnut spread
250g cream cheese
75g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml double cream
For the decoration
1-2 filo sheets
50g unsalted butter, melted
300g dark chocolate, melted
30g icing sugar, to dust
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/gas 6. Line a 27cm x 40cm swiss roll tin with baking paper. Using an electric beater, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy – it should treble in volume. Fold in the flour, a little at a time, then the orange zest, until fully incorporated and leaving no flour pockets. Finally, fold in the butter and vanilla.
Gently tip the mix into the tin, and bake for 15 minutes, until the sponge is pale, cooked and springy. Leave to cool a little on a wire rack (leave the oven on), then turn out on to a sheet of baking paper lightly dusted with sugar.
Run a rolling pin over the sponge very gently to flatten it slightly. While it is still warm, carefully roll it up along the longest edge. Take it half way, turn the sponge around and roll from the other side to meet your first roll. Leave to cool.
Toast the hazelnuts in the oven for 10 minutes. Once cooled, blitz or roughly chop, then divide the nuts into two batches.
Next, brush the filo sheets with 50g melted butter and put in the oven for five to seven minutes, until light golden brown.
In a large bowl, whisk the mascarpone, hazelnut spread, cream cheese, sifted icing sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until lighter and slightly thicker. Add the double cream, whisk until it holds its shape, then put in the fridge.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring between each one, or over a bain marie. Set aside.
Once cold, slice through the middle where the two rolls meet. Unroll, spread a thin, even layer of filling over the top of the sponges, reserving a little for decoration, then sprinkle with half the toasted hazelnuts. Reroll each sponge into two swiss rolls, trim the edges, then cut each roll into three, so that you have six mini rolls.
Taking one roll at a time, dip both ends in the melted chocolate, then the remaining hazelnuts, stand each vertically on a board . Repeat with the remaining rolls and transfer to the fridge until the chocolate sets.
Break the filo sheets into shards. Once the chocolate has set, remove the rolls from the fridge, pipe a little hazelnut cream on one end and wedge in a filo shard. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar.
