8 eggs
3 level tbsp. confectioners sugar, sifted
1 c. super fine sugar
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) dark sweet chocolate
1/3 c. cold water
Cocoa
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
Fresh vanilla bean (2 inches scraped)

Separate eggs, add sugar to the yolks and beat them until they are very pale and fluffy. Put the chocolate, broken into small pieces in a small heavy pan. Add the cold water and stir with a wooden spoon over a very low fire, watching it carefully until the chocolate has melted. When the chocolate has cooled mix it gently but thoroughly with the beaten egg yolks, using a rubber scraper. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites very softly with a rubber scraper. You don't want to break down the air you have so carefully beaten into the eggs. Oil a (18 x 12 x 1 inch) jelly roll pan, cover it with wax paper, letting the paper extend 1/2 inch beyond the narrow ends of the pan. Do not oil the paper. Spread the batter evenly over the pan, smoothing it lightly with the rubber scraper. Put it in a preheated oven for 17 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove pan from oven and immediately cover the top of the roll with 2 layers of paper toweling rung out in cold water, and one layer of dry paper towel. Chill at room temperature for 20 minutes. When cool, peel off the paper towels carefully. Loosen the roll a bit by taking a small sharp knife and cutting along the long sides, then lift the extension of waxed paper, first at one end, then the other but only a little way. Dust all over the top with dry cocoa. (Use a strainer.) Turn out the roll onto two overlapping pieces of wax paper. Tear off two pieces of wax paper the length of your jelly roll pan. Lay them on your table top overlapping with the one nearest you on top. Hold the ends of the tin in either hand and flip the pan over quickly before you can begin to worry about it. Lift the pan and gently peel off the wax paper on which the roll baked. Whip the cream with the confectioners sugar and the vanilla bean. Put 9 gobs of whipped cream in rows of 3 across the top of the roll. Spread evenly. Roll up like a jelly roll, using the wax paper as a helper to roll, and smooth your hands over the paper-covered roll to shape it. Uncover it and let the paper lay flat. Cover the top with a generous dusting of cocoa. Serve this on a long thin jelly roll board.

Serve this on a long thin jelly roll board. Of all the cakes I have made this roll gets the most praise.