Cocoa roll with milk cream

To make the cocoa roll with milk cream, start by preparing the latter. In a saucepan, heat 300 g of milk and the sugar 1. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and extract the seeds, scraping it with a knife; add the seeds to the milk 2 and thicken over very low heat, mixing well with the whisks to melt the sugar. In a separate bowl, sift the corn starch 3;

pour in the remaining milk, mixing with a hand whisk: this way, you will avoid lumps in the cream 4. Add the cold milk (in which the corn starch is dissolved) 5 and the honey 6 into the saucepan with the milk, continuing with the whisks over very low heat until the cream thickens.

When the cream is dense and homogeneous, turn off the heat and pour it into a bowl 7: cover with cling film in contact, making it adhere well to the surface so that the annoying skin does not form 8, and let it cool at room temperature and then in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, prepare the cocoa sponge cake. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, pour the whole eggs at room temperature and the honey 9.

Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and extract the seeds, scraping it with a knife 10. Add them to the eggs along with the sugar 11, then turn on the whisk until you get a light and frothy mixture 12; at this point, stop the mixer and remove the whisk.

Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl 13 along with the flour. Mix everything 14, then add the powders to the egg and sugar mixture, one tablespoon at a time 15;

mix until you get a smooth and homogeneous batter 16. Butter and line a baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper measuring 15x12 inches; pour the cocoa batter you obtained 17, spreading it out evenly and smoothing it gently with a spatula 18. Bake in a preheated static oven at 390°F for 8-10 minutes (or at 355°F for 6-8 minutes if in a convection oven): the baking of the sponge cake should be quick because it needs to remain quite soft.

After the baking time, take the sponge cake out of the oven and transfer it while still warm to the work surface: sprinkle the surface with powdered sugar 19 and cover it immediately with cling film in contact, then let it cool completely 20: this way, it will remain soft and elastic and won't crack when rolled. In the meantime, remove the now cold milk cream from the refrigerator 21: if you notice any lumps, sift it to eliminate them, then revive it by mixing with an electric beater.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream well chilled from the refrigerator 22. Add the whipped cream to the milk cream 23, mixing the two compounds very gently from bottom to top with a spatula 24. You must proceed delicately so that the cream does not deflate at this stage.

You should obtain a smooth and homogeneous cream 25. When the cocoa sponge cake has cooled, remove the cling film 26; with a spatula, spread the milk cream evenly over the entire surface, reserving a portion that you will use for the final decorations 27.

Complete the filling by distributing the dark chocolate chips over the cream 28, then roll the sponge cake from the longer side with the help of parchment paper 29 to create the roll 30.

Wrap it in parchment paper and cling film, placing the seam side down 31, tightening the two ends like a candy to compact everything; place the cocoa roll in the refrigerator to firm up for at least 2 hours. Before serving, decorate it with the milk cream you set aside using a piping bag without a nozzle, which you can cut a hole into: make thin zigzag lines over the entire surface 32, and finally serve your cocoa roll with milk cream 33 by slicing it.