26/10/2025
I decided to make (foolproof?!?) Delia’s version of a Black Forest Gateux earlier, which is based on a Swiss roll sponge. To cut a long story short, here is the abridged version of my errors:
I didn’t have a Swiss roll tin, so made one from kitchen foil.
I didn’t have enough chocolate, so topped up with broken bits of Easter egg I found in a Tupperware container (emergency chocolate)
I used ALL the chocolate for the filling - one third should have been for the topping.
I overheated the chocolate when melting it, so it seized. Cleverly, I fixed this 😇
I started folding in egg whites, then realised I’d forgotten to add caster sugar (2 steps earlier).
I also realised I’d over-whisked the egg whites, making the lumps difficult to fold in.
As a result, I have washed and dried bowls, whisks and spoons countless times tonight. The whole process took over 3 hours, but I wasn’t going to be beaten. Not without a fight, anyway. A certain sister’s chocolate cake kept popping into my mind, which didn’t end well…
Amazingly, the sponge looked ok when I took it out of the oven. Until I turned it over. I have had to scrape, grate and slice burnt bits off it.
It doesn’t look too bad, but I haven’t dared taste it yet. Safe to say I won’t be applying to Bake Off…
