Preparation
Cake Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 200˚C.
Lightly grease a Swiss roll tin (33x23cm) and line with baking paper.
Whisk the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl for a few minutes until pale & fluffy.
Stir in the flour and cocoa powder lightly until just combined.
Transfer to the tin, smoothing with a spatula.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges shrink away from the sides of the tin.
Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust with icing sugar.
Carefully invert the sponge onto it while still warm & remove the bottom parchment lining from the cake.
Use a knife to score a border about 3cm in from one of the longer ends of the sponge.
Start rolling this side up tightly using the parchment paper and place the cake, seam-side down, on a wire rack to cool.
Cake Decoration:
Heat half of the cream in a saucepan over a medium-low heat.
When bubbles begin to form at the sides of the pan, remove from the heat & add the chocolate.
Stir gently until smooth, then refrigerate until needed.
Whip the remaining cream until thickened.
When the sponge has cooled completely, unwrap the paper & spread the cream over the top.
Wrap the cake up gently again and trim off one quarter of the cake from the end at a diagonal.
Transfer the large piece of cake to a serving plate and angle the cut piece off from the side to make a branch.
Spread the icing over the top of the cakes, then run a fork down the length of the cake to make a rough bark texture.
Dust with icing sugar and add holly sprigs to serve.
Tip:
This would be a fun baking project for working on with older children. The cream can be flavoured with orange zest or coco
