While checking out www.theworldwidegourmet.com I found this gem with all sorts of Chef notes and wine pairings...what do you all think???
Chocolate and Banana Sponge Roll
Chef's Note
This classic of Spanish pastry, called brazo de gitano, consists of a rolled thin biscuit, a kind of sponge cake, filled with cream. In this variation, chocolate biscuit is used, an ingredient which pairs perfectly with the filling of Canary Island banana: a delicious medium-sized fruit with yellow skin flecked with dark spots. Picked when ripe - that is, whole and yellow - it is unrivalled by its larger cousins from other regions.
Ingredients for 6-8 servings
Sponge
- 4 Eggs
- 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
- 100 g (3 1/2 oz., about 1 cup) flour
- 50 g (2 oz.) bitter Cocoa powder
- Lemon zest
Filling
- 4 Bananas
- 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream, whipped
- Lemon juice
- Fondant Chocolate, chopped
Garnish
- Icing sugar
- Grated fondant chocolate
Method
Making the sponge
1. Using an electric mixer, beat the whole eggs with the sugar and lemon zest until thick and foamy. Remove the beaters and, by hand, fold in the flour sifted together with the cocoa.
2. Spread the batter on a baking sheet covered with greased and floured paper, and bake in a 175° C (350° F) oven for 7-8 minutes.
3. Carefully turn the hot cake over onto a damp kitchen towel, sprinkle with sugar and then roll it up to give it its shape.
4. When cooled, unroll, fill with the cream filling (below), and roll up again.
5. Cut the ends on the diagonal, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with grated chocolate.
Making the filling
1. Crush the bananas with the lemon juice and fold into the whipped cream along with the small pieces of chocolate.
Sommelier
Chocolate - difficult to pair with wine - and the perfumed ripe banana demand a wine with character such as a red D.O. Jumilla made from the Monastrell grape, with notes of raisins, jam and dried fruit, which contrast with the dry tannins to avoid a sickly sensation.
Chocolate and Banana Sponge Roll
Chef's Note
This classic of Spanish pastry, called brazo de gitano, consists of a rolled thin biscuit, a kind of sponge cake, filled with cream. In this variation, chocolate biscuit is used, an ingredient which pairs perfectly with the filling of Canary Island banana: a delicious medium-sized fruit with yellow skin flecked with dark spots. Picked when ripe - that is, whole and yellow - it is unrivalled by its larger cousins from other regions.
Ingredients for 6-8 servings
Sponge
- 4 Eggs
- 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
- 100 g (3 1/2 oz., about 1 cup) flour
- 50 g (2 oz.) bitter Cocoa powder
- Lemon zest
Filling
- 4 Bananas
- 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream, whipped
- Lemon juice
- Fondant Chocolate, chopped
Garnish
- Icing sugar
- Grated fondant chocolate
Method
Making the sponge
1. Using an electric mixer, beat the whole eggs with the sugar and lemon zest until thick and foamy. Remove the beaters and, by hand, fold in the flour sifted together with the cocoa.
2. Spread the batter on a baking sheet covered with greased and floured paper, and bake in a 175° C (350° F) oven for 7-8 minutes.
3. Carefully turn the hot cake over onto a damp kitchen towel, sprinkle with sugar and then roll it up to give it its shape.
4. When cooled, unroll, fill with the cream filling (below), and roll up again.
5. Cut the ends on the diagonal, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with grated chocolate.
Making the filling
1. Crush the bananas with the lemon juice and fold into the whipped cream along with the small pieces of chocolate.
Sommelier
Chocolate - difficult to pair with wine - and the perfumed ripe banana demand a wine with character such as a red D.O. Jumilla made from the Monastrell grape, with notes of raisins, jam and dried fruit, which contrast with the dry tannins to avoid a sickly sensation.
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)