Directions

1. Chocolate Jelly Roll

   Preheat oven to 375°. Make sure rack is in the middle of the oven.

2. In a large bowl beat yolks, add sugar and vanilla to mix. Add cooled chocolate.
   

3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg and chocolate mixture and mix to incorporate. Add up to 1/2 cup boiling water to make a stiff batter.
   

4. Whip egg whites to stiff peaks. Add a large spoon of whipped whites to the batter to lighten before lightly folding in the remaining egg whites.
   

5. Spread on a greased, parchment lined sheet pan (approximately 12-inches x 17-inches x 1-inch) making sure you get it all the way into the corners.
   

6. Bake for 15 minutes.

7. Remove cake from the oven and loosen the corners immediately. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place a clean kitchen towel over the cake and carefully flip out of the pan onto the towel on a cutting board or counter. Carefully remove the parchment. Starting with a short end, roll the cake and towel together, wrap and chill.
   

8. Whipped Cream Filling

   Whip cream in a deep bowl as it starts to hold its shape in soft peaks, add the sugar 1 tsp at a time. Beat until thick, stop before it becomes butter!

9. Unroll the cake, spread the cream to the edges leaving 1-inch of space on the outer end where the cake will come together. Roll the cake back up, without the towel this time. Just cake and cream. Where the cake joins together, place this seam down on your serving platter. Chill again before frosting with the Buttercream Frosting.
   

10. Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

    Melt butter in pan. Add cocoa and salt and stir until completely smooth. Add cream, mix and add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, stirring until completely smooth each time. When the frosting gets too hard to stir, add the espresso a little at a time until you get a spreadable consistency.

11. When frosting the log, make rough edges and stripes to give the look of natural bark.
    

12. Meringue Mushrooms

    Preheat oven to 225°.

    
    

13. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar, salt and vanilla. Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar 1 tbsp at a time until peaks are stiff and shiny.

    
    

14. Pipe onto parchment lined pan with 1/2-inch plain point. For the tops of the mushrooms pipe in circle ending by pulling away at the side. For the stems pipe pulling straight up, allowing points to be created. For realistic looking mushrooms make them different sizes.
    

15. Sprinkle with cocoa powder before baking for 1 hour. Fresh grated nutmeg works well too. Cool completely.
    

16. Use extra meringue or frosting to cement mushrooms together. Use a sharp little knife to make a small hole in the bottom of a top and then cement the top to the bottom, slipping the point of the bottom into the hole in the top. Let them rest before attaching to log with the soft Buttercream Frosting.