Chocolate Swiss Roll with Marshmallow Frosting

My mom gets it in her head that she loves certain desserts, but then sometimes when I get around to making them, she doesn't love them as much as she thought.  For example, she insisted that one of her favorite desserts of all time is a mocha roll , which I made her last year and distinctly remember throwing out a large amount of it.  To be fair, none of us really have a sweet tooth, and Mom can't be expected to eat an entire mocha roll, but still.... when she started begging me for a new cake roll, this time with marshmallow frosting, I balked for weeks.

I finally couldn't ignore her begging any longer, and on Saturday I made it.  My aunt Tracy, cousin Kelsey and her roommate were coming for dinner, and so I decided it was as good a time as any to give it a shot. Here's the problem (well, one of them): the recipe is from a food blog much like mine: a blogspot.com blog to be exact, an amateur chef and blogger like myself.  This was no Annie's Eats or SkinnyTaste.  This was Alissa Mays.  No offense to her, but she left out some rather important information, such as the size of the jelly roll pan that she used to bake her cake.  I just grabbed a pan and used it, and I realized (far too late) that my pan was too big, and the cake was going to be very thin and not fill up the entire pan (and thus not be a perfect roll-able rectangle).  My advice would be to use the smallest jelly roll pan you have, or maybe to double the cake recipe and use a big one.  My cake itself ended up being fairly thin and small since I tried to spread it as evenly as I could in the pan.

The good news is that the filling was great.  In fact, I think I should use this frosting on basically everything.  It is soft and billowing and sweet and tastes not just like butter but marshmallow and wonderfullness.  As a sweet hater, even I will confess to licking my knife when I was done smoothing it on the cooled cake roll.  However, as great as the frosting is, you have to really like it to love this cake, because as you can see in the picture, since the cake is so thin, you get a lot of filling in one slice.

I had so many doubts about this cake that I ended up making a second (amazing) dessert just in case (be ready for my next blog post!  It was a hit!).  But luckily my doubts were unfounded.  People liked this one too!  In fact, Tracy said she wasn't sure she was going to like it because she isn't a big fan of Fluff, but she said it was delicious.  And luckily my mom loved it, especially after begging for it for weeks.  The recipe said to chill it before serving, but Mom said it's way better at room temp.  I have to admit that even though it had its issues, it still looks really pretty.  With some tweaking, this could be a really amazing dessert.

Recipe:

chocolate Swiss roll with marshmallow frosting
from Alissa May's, originally from Martha Stewart

Ingredients for Cake: 
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1/4 cup sifted unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, plus more for pan
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour (not self-rising), plus more for pan
Pinch of salt
3 large whole eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled completely

Instructions:

1) Heat your oven to 450 degrees.  Prepare your jelly roll pan by spraying it with non-stick spray, then line it with parchment paper and spray again. 
  
2) In a small bowl, sift together the cocoa, cake flour and salt. Set aside. 
  
3) In another heat proof bowl add the egg's, egg yolks and sugar. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture becomes warm to the touch.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes on medium high speed. Now turn the mixture on high and beat for about 4 more minutes until the mixture is light and pale.  Add the melted butter by pouring it down the side of the mixing bowl and then incorporate by hand with a spatula.  Add the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and fold in by hand using a spatula until combined. 
  
4) Spread the batter into the prepared pan and using an off set spatula spread it out so the entire surface is covered. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched. 
  
5) Remove from the oven and prepare a clean kitchen towel by laying it out and sprinkling cocoa powder on it.  Next, invert the cake onto the towel and roll it (with the towel) starting at one of the short ends.  Let the cake cool.  
  
6) When cool, unroll the cake and spread the top with frosting up until about 1/4 inch from all sides.  Next, roll the cake up again (not with the towel) and place it seam side down onto a dish.  Cover and refrigerate until cool.  
  
Marshmallow Frosting:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

One jar Marshmallow Creme (I used Jet-Puffed 13oz) - I only used about 2/3's of the tub.  Keep tasting it until you find the desired flavor you like best.

Mix the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy and add the confectioners' sugar 1/4 cup at a time until mixed thoroughly. Add the vanilla extract and marshmallow cream in a bowl until well combined.