Chocolate Custard Roll Recipe
Chocolate Custard Roll Recipe – Delicious chocolate cake combined with creamy custard buttercream then drizzled with chocolate sauce. This chocolate cake is a showstopper for sure!
All the richness and deliciousness of a Bird’s Milk Cake aka Ptiche Moloko cake in the shape of a roll. The Chocolate Angel Food Cake combined with the Egg Yolk Custard Buttercream is quite magical together, especially when you add a good downpour of Chocolate Ganache on top. This Chocolate Custard Roll is a true beauty, my friends, a true beauty!
Check the story behind the original recipe here.
Chocolate Custard Roll
Yield: 12″ Roll (10-12 slices)
Ingredients for the Custard Buttercream:
- egg yolks
- sugar
- whole milk
- unsalted butter, room temperature
- vanilla extract
Equipment to use (affiliate links):
- Electric mixer
- Jelly Roll Baking Pan
- parchment paper
- Pastry Bags
- Any kind of Closed Star Tip
- Rectangle serving plate for the Roll
How to make Custard Buttercream:
- In a saucepan combine 10 egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar and vigorously whisk until smooth. Right away, whisk in 3/4 cup whole milk. Set over medium heat and while continuously whisking cook until thickened. The custard should coat the back of the spoon nicely. Do not bring to a boil or the mixture will curdle and become unusable (you will need to start over if this does happen). Allow to completely cool to room temperature.
- In a mixer, whip 3 sticks of unsalted, room temperature butter until very pale in color and drastically increased in volume, scraping the bottom of the bowl about 2-3 times throughout, about 5-7 minutes.
- In 2 additions, whip in the cooled egg yolk custard, minimally whipping in between
- Take away about 1.5 cups of custard buttercream and set aside, this will be used to decorate the outside of the roll.
Chocolate Angel Food Cake Ingredients (Egg White only Chocolate Cake):
- egg whites
- granulated sugar
- all-purpose flour
- cocoa powder
How to make Chocolate Angel Food Cake (Egg White only Chocolate Cake):
- Prepare all ingredients by measuring them with a kitchen scale. Line a Jelly Roll Baking Pan with foil or parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350F with the baking rack in the center.
- Add 240 grams of egg whites to an absolutely grease-free, thoroughly cleaned large bowl and start whipping on high until foamy, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly pour in 300 grams of granulated sugar as you continue to whip, then whip for 7 minutes more. The egg whites will be thick, fluffy, and ball around the whip instead of outside of the whip.
- Add the vanilla extract. Then, set a fine sieve over the bowl with whipped egg whites and add 120 grams of all-purpose flour, 40 grams of cocoa powder, and sift.
- Next, carefully fold the sifted mixture, and meringue together until almost no streaks of dry mixture appear. You do not want to overfold, as that will make the cake dense.
- Transfer the batter to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (18in x 12 in) and spread into an even layer.
- Bake at 350F, for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool. Do not open the oven to check sooner than 10 minutes, or the cake will deflate.
Assemble the Chocolate Custard Roll:
- Turn over the cooled cake and peel off the parchment paper. Turn the cake back top side up. Spread the custard buttercream into an even layer all over the cake except for 2 inches on the short side of the cake (see picture).
- Tightly roll the roll towards the end with no buttercream, leaving it seam side down.
- Cover in plastic wrap tightly and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to 1 hour to help the cake set and be more stable. Remove from the fridge, set the cake over a cooling rack, and remove the plastic wrap.
- Spread about half of the reserved cream all over the roll, ~ 3/4th cup.
- With a sharp serrated knife trim off about 1/2 inch at both ends of the roll, to reveal an even edge. Use the ‘scraps’ as a sample 🙂
Make the Chocolate Ganache:
- Combine 1/4 cup of hot heavy cream and 1/3 cup of chopped chocolate or dark chocolate chips and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature or until the ganache is pourable but thick.
Decorate:
- Pour the cooled prepared ganache over the roll.
- Add the remaining buttercream to a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag) fitted with a star tip and pipe flowers/stars all over the top of the roll. Make some big flowers and small ones.
- If you wish, you can add White Chocolate Crispearls to the centers of each piped flower. Any kind of small round chocolate-covered dried blueberry will do as well.
- With large spatulas transfer the Chocolate Custard Roll to a serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.
For nice clean slices, dip a knife into hot water, wipe and proceed to cut.
For precise amounts and instructions scroll down to the recipe card below.
Here are some other DESSERT recipes:
- Chocolate Kyiv Cake Recipe – Chocolate cake with walnuts, meringue, and dulce de leche.
- Best Napolean Cake – A soft and delicious cake recipe.
- Chocolate Cake – A soft chocolate cake with an Irish cream mousse.
Chocolate Custard Roll Recipe
Moist chocolate cake rolled together with a custard buttercream. The perfect chocolate dessert recipe!
Ingredients
Custard Buttercream
- 10 egg yolks
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Angel Food Cake Ingredients (Egg White Chocolate Cake)
- 240 gr egg whites about 10
- 300 gr granulated sugar
- 120 gr all-purpose flour
- 40 gr cocoa powder
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips
Equipment to use (affiliate links)
- Electric mixer
- rimmed baking sheet (18"X12")
- parchment paper
- Pastry Bags
- Any kind of Closed Star Tip
- Rectangle serving plate for the Roll
Instructions
How to make Custard Buttercream
-
In a saucepan combine 10 egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar and vigorously whisk until smooth. Right away, whisk in 3/4 cup whole milk.
Allow to completely cool to room temperature.
-
In an electric stand mixer whip
1 1/2 cups of unsalted room temperature butter until very pale in color and drastically increased in volume, scraping the bottom of the bowl about 2-3 times throughout, about 5-7 minutes. -
In 2 additions, whip in the cooled egg yolk custard, minimally whipping in between.
-
Reserve 1.5 cups of custard buttercream and set aside, this will be used to decorate the outside of the roll later.
How to make Chocolate Angel Food Cake (Egg White only Chocolate Cake)
-
Prepare all ingredients by measuring them with a kitchen scale, this is important. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 350°F with the baking rack in the center.
-
Add 240 grams of egg whites to an absolutely grease-free, thoroughly cleaned large bowl and start whipping on high until foamy, about 30 seconds.
-
While continuing to whip slowly add 300 grams of granulated sugar, then whip for 7 minutes more. Stop whipping the meringue looks glossy, thick and balls around the whisk. Underwhipped meringue will be unstable and make the cake dense.
-
Add 1 tbsp of vanilla extract. Then, set a fine sieve over the bowl with whipped egg whites, and add 120 grams of all-purpose flour and 40 grams of cocoa powder. Sift over the meringue.
-
Transfer the batter to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet (18in x 12 in) and spread into an even layer. Bake at 350°F, for about 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not open the oven to check sooner than 10 minutes, or the cake will deflate. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool.
Assemble the Chocolate Custard Roll
-
Turn the cooled cake upside down and peel off the parchment paper. Turn the cake back top side up. Spread the custard buttercream into an even layer on all over the cake except for 2 inches on the short side of the cake (see picture).
-
Tightly roll the roll towards the end with no buttercream, leaving it seam side down.
-
Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the fridge, set over a cooling rack and remove the plastic wrap.
-
Spread about half of the reserved cream all over the roll, about 3/4th cup.
-
With a sharp serrated knife trim off about 1/2 inch at both ends of the roll, to reveal an even edge. Use the 'scraps' as a sample 🙂
Make the Chocolate Ganache:
-
Combine 1/4 cup hot heavy cream and 1/3 cup chopped chocolate or dark chocolate chips and let sit for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature or until the ganache is pourable but thick.
Decorate
-
Pour the cooled prepared ganache over the roll.
-
Add the remaining buttercream to a pastry bag (or a ziplock bag) fitted with a star tip and pipe flowers/stars all over the top of the roll. Make some big flowers and small ones.
-
If you wish, you can add White Chocolate Crispearls to the centers of each piped flower. Any kind of small round chocolate covered dry blueberry will do though.
-
With large spatulas transfer the Chocolate Custard Roll to a serving plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.
-
For nice clean slices, dip a knife into hot water, wipe and proceed to cut.
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Marina | Let the Baking Begin
I made this cake for the first time. My family LOVED it!!
However, 2 things I want to do better for next time…
1) the cake stuck to the parchment paper when I tried to peel it off. Should I spray the parchment paper with cooking spray??
2) my cake cracked at least 3 times while rolling it. I baked it for 12 minutes…was it too long? After covering with more of the buttercream and ganache, it looks good enough, but I would like to master this. Any suggestions??
That’s awesome! So glad to hear that!
If anything sticks to your parchment, it means that it’s not a very good parchment 🙁 Proper parchment paper is truly non-stick and nothing should stick to it. I’ve purchased several throughout the years where they weren’t non-stick and I just tossed the roll and found a better one. Our local Costco store sells really good, non stick parchment and I’ve been using it for years.
For the cracking of the cake, just make sure to not overtake the chocolate cake. Overbaking dries it out more than needed and it will crack more. I sometimes let the cake roll cool on the parchment paper and only unpeeled after I have spread the buttercream (I spread the buttercream, then as I am rolling the roll I unpeel the parchment paper). Hope this helps.
The cake turned out fine and my custard didn’t curdle and tasted good (although it was pretty runny), but as soon as I added it to the butter, it split! I was so disappointed because it tasted good but being split it was horrible texture and definitely not pipeable. Any tips?
Hi Mary, let’s see if we can troubleshoot it.
Was the butter and custard the same temp when you tried to combine them? Was the butter whipped enough before you tried to add the custard? Was the custard added gradually, or did you add too much at once?
May be you just needed to continue whipping and it would eventually come together?
Hi, This recipe sounds and looks simply divine and I will give it a try. Upon reading it through I noticed two things. #1 – In your step by step explanation you wrote “Set a fine sieve over the bowl with whipped egg whites, add 120 grams of all-purpose flour and 40 grams of cocoa powder, VANILLA EXTRACT AND SIFT. Now carefully fold the sifted mixture and meringue together until almost no streaks of dry mixture appear”. Mistake? I don’t think you can add the vanilla extract with the dry ingredients (unless you use vanilla powder) then sift it. #2 – I noticed in the actual recipe below that the vanilla extract was omitted all together! Other than that it appears to be a delicious beautiful looking cake and I can’t wait to try making it. Thank you for posting/sharing it.
I have read this entire recipe several times and in the mixing when do I add the vanilla to the cake? Anytime?
Thank you,
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
The vanilla extract can be folded into the dough right before the flour. For the custard cream you add the vanilla at the end.
I usually roll the cake just out of the oven and then let it cool. If you let it cool before you roll it doesn’t it crack?
I do that for basic sponge cake rolls as well, but for this cake it worked even without rolling it right out of the oven. If you do try to roll it right out of the oven, I hope you let me know how it goes 🙂
Why are measurements both metric and US? you should make it so its easy for either way to convert. This is confusing.
Hi Debbie,
This is a very temperamental recipe and it’s important to measure ingredients to the gram. Doing it by ounces would have forced me to use measurements like 3.45 oz or 6.72 oz. I don’t think that’s very convenient.
Although, if one is using a scale (which this recipe should be made with a scale), every scale has both metric and US system so it should be easy to convert it to metric and make a successful Chocolate Custard Roll. Hope this helps.
So light and delicious! I made one and cut it in half before decorating to split with my in-laws for quarantined easter dinner this weekend! I never made a custard or angel food cake before and they both came out good! I did not weigh the cake ingredients but I think it still came out well. Thank you!
So happy for you! Thank you for sharing your success!
I would have given it a higher star rating if the measurements were all US standard. But part of the recipe is us standard and part is metric. Everyone needs to use all measurements in a recipe the same either US standard or metric not both.
Thank you for your feedback.
How long does this stay fresh for in the refrigerator?
Hi Lilya,
The roll will be the best for 24-48 hours but will keep in the fridge, covered for up to a week easily.
You and your family are adorable. Love this recipe.
Thank you so much!!