Christmas Chambord Cream Cake Rolls For The World!

For Christmas Eve pre-10 pm Mass feast, we gathered with friends who happen to live across the street from church.  (easy parking)

This was our contribution to the meal.

These are Chambord Cream Cake Rolls.  There is a small amount of Chambord in the whipped cream filling. Not shown in this photo is the vat of ruby red Chambord berry sauce that gets ladled on every piece.

They are very fabulous and delicious.  Perfect for any holiday when you can get cranberries.

My mother has been making these for Christmas for years.

Wonderful Fact Number One:  They are made ahead of time and served frozen!

Wonderful Fact Number Two:  With so many components, you can assign different children a different task.  For example, I did the cake and cake rolling.  Susan was in charge of berry sauce and garnish.  Lucy made the filling.

CAKE
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 T. vegetable oil
1 t. vanilla extract
2/3 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
powdered sugar

Coat 10x15-inch jellyroll pan with cooking spray.  Line with parchment paper;  spray parchment paper and set aside.

In large mixer bowl beat eggs and granulated sugar at high speed 5 minutes (7 minutes with hand mixer) until very thick and pale.  Stir in oil and vanilla.

In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Sprinkle over egg mixture;  fold in util well combined.

Spread evenly in prepared pan.  Bake at 350 until lightly browned and sides begin to pull away from edges, about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle powdered sugar over cake and clean cloth towel.  Place towel, sugared-side down, on top of cake.  Place large cutting board on top and invert cake onto towel.  Remove parchment.

Starting at one short side, gently roll up cake with towel.  The towel will be all wrapped up in and around the warm cake at this point.  Let cool 30 minutes.

FILLING
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. powdered sugar
2 T. berry liqueur (Chambord)

In a large chilled mixer bowl, beat cream, the 1/4 c. powdered sugar, and liqueur at low speed until stiff
peaks form.  Gently unroll cake.  Spread filling evenly over cake, leaving 1 inch  border on short ends.

Using towel as aid, gently roll cake with filling, lifting as you roll to keep filling in place.  Place cake roll, seam-side down, on sheet of plastic wrap; completely enclose cake in wrap.  Freeze at least 2 hours.

GARNISH
powdered sugar
Sugared Cranberries and Rosemary:  In a small bowl, stir together 2 T. powdered sugar and 1 T. water. Dip cranberries and rosemary sprigs in mixture.  Roll cranberries in granulated sugar until lightly coated;  sprinkle granulated sugar over rosemary.  Gently shake to remove excess sugar.  Place on waxed paper until dried.  Use as garnish.

Chambord:  black raspberry liqueur in an adorable bottle.

CHAMBORD BERRY SAUCE
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
1 12oz. bag frozen blackberries (which I could not find, so I froze fresh ones)
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2 T. berry liqueur (Chambord)

Place cranberries in microwave-safe bowl;  cover and microwave (high) 2 minutes or until berries pop.  In work bowl of food processor fitted with steel knife blade, combine cranberries, blackberries, and sugar; process until smooth.  Use back of spoon to strain mixture through fine sieve;  discard seeds.  Stir in liqueur. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Makes 2 cups.

To serve, slice cake into wheels as thick or as thin as you like.  We've served it over a puddle of berry sauce, or with the sauce ladled on top.  I need to get a squirt bottle, so we can be more artistical with the sauce, drizzles and dots and fancy things.

I made 2 of these for a party of 20.  There were about 2 servings leftover, and some people had second helping so I'm going to guess that one of these serves 10-12 people.

This recipe is adapted from my mother's grocery store magazine, Everybody Cooks, put out by Dierbergs Markets, Inc.

Linking up with Small Successes at www.CatholicMom.com .

Joyeux Noel!