Yesterday, as I was planning the menu for our evening meal, a little different from the usual Friday night dinner, my husband thought of a dessert we hadn't had in a long time. In fact, if we had such a dessert it was usually at the Christmas holiday season. My version of a Yule log.

It hit all the right notes for my husband who is fond of both chocolate cake and whipped cream. And I had a new cookie sheet with raised sides that he'd bought me a few years back which I'd never used, since I already have several cookie sheets that have been well seasoned with use. I thought when he presented me with this new cookie sheet (he simply cannot resist "sales" items) that likely the first time I'd use it would be the next time I'd bake a jellyroll. And it's taken this long for me to use it.

For the batter I used a sponge cake recipe, rather than the usual jellyroll recipe; the difference being that it had five eggs, yolks and white beaten separately, rather than three eggs and baking powder. The batter was comprised of a cup of granulated sugar, five eggs, a tablespoon of water, a dash of salt that went into the egg whites when they were being beaten to a whipped froth, three-quarters of a cup of cake and pastry flour, sifted with a quarter-cup cocoa powder. The whites and yellows beaten separately, each sharing a half-cup of the sugar, then carefully mixed together, the water added and a teaspoon of vanilla, then the flour/cocoa folded it gradually; the finished batter poured over a sheet of waxed paper laid into the cookie sheet. Baked at 375-degrees for about 18 minutes, it was turned out onto another sheet of waxpaper laid over a tea towel, the waxpaper sprinkled with sugar.

The hot-from-the-oven flat cake was then rolled inside the waxpaper and towel, and left to cool. When it was ready to be finished, it was unrolled and spread with freshly whipped cream, re-rolled, and a butter-cream chocolate frosting flavoured with rum spread on top. This is not a particularly sweet confection, but it did fulfill all the taste sensations that my husband yearned for.