These delicious cream filled cake rolls coated in hard chocolate are one of the ultimate nostalgic treats! Sure, we know these aren’t the best for us but there is no denying they’re delicious! Valentine’s Day is coming up and my partner has been buying boxes of hohos recently as a guilty pleasure snack. After doing a classic pick-apart taste test and watching the factory video I decided these can’t be THAT hard to make, right? So this year I made my sweetie these nostalgic treats from scratch with a toasted tastebuds twist. They are actually pretty simple to make with only some light technique involved. It’s basically a thin chocolate sheet cake, vanilla buttercream, and a tempered chocolate coating. While researching, I saw some people suggest a brownie batter for the chocolate base which I might try next to compare but Rosanna Pansinos recipe worked perfectly for the cake! I did, however, replace some binding ingredients with slightly healthier alternatives. I also used my own buttercream recipe for the filling. You can use whatever chocolate coating you want, from dark to white. I prefer milk chocolate melting wafers since it keeps it closer to the OG. When it comes to the infusion, you can either use infused oil or coconut in the cake or use infused butter in the frosting. It’s easier to mask the flavor with the oil but the butter works if you use sub out up to a 1/4th of the regular butter (anymore ruins the flavor imo)
Strain Pairing:
Chocolope is a sativa-dominant (95%/5%) strain with a rich aroma of chocolate and vanilla. This strain is usually around 20% making it easy to plug into the canna-butter recipe and a steady high that is pleasant for all. Even though this strain is sativa dominant it’s not overly stimulating – but it will get you stoned. The high is happy and creative making it perfect for anxiety relief and fatigue.
Cannabis Ingredients:
- 3/4 tbsp coconut oil or infused oil
Makes about 9 hohos
Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake-
- 1/4 cup + 11/2 tbsp AP Flour
- 2 tbsp dutch-Process chocolate powder
- 1/2tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tbsp arrowroot powder
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, separated
- Vanilla extract (measure w/ the heart)
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp agave powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used whatever oil I also infused)
- 3/4 tbsp canna oil or coconut oil
Infused Vanilla Buttercream-
- 1/2 cup butter (could replace some with your desired amount of canna-butter)
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Chocolate coating-
- Chocolate melting wafers. I like milk chocolate but feel free to use your preference here. Any tempering chocolate works
Recipe:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, arrowroot powder, and espresso powder in a medium bowl
- In a separate heat-proof bowl mix together the egg yolks, agave nectar, water, and vanilla. Heat some water in a sauce pan to create a double boiler. Once the water is boiling turn off the heat and beat the egg yoke mixture with a hand-mixer or whisk until it’s thick and foamy
- On a stand mixer with a whisk attachment beat the eggs whites until foamy. Slowly add 3 tbsp of sugar into the mix and whip until soft peaks
- Add half the egg white mixture into the egg yolks and mix until mostly combined. Fold in the dry ingredients in parts
- In a microwave safe bowl, heat the regular oil for about 20 second then add in the infused oil. Add a bit of the batter into the oil and mix until well combined. Incorporate the oil mix and the rest of the egg whites into the batter, folding gently until no streaks are present.
- Pour the mixture onto the lined sheet pan and even out with a spatula, about a 1/4 inch thick
- Pat the tray down on the counter a few times to remove air bubbles before placing in the oven
- Bake for about 8-10 minutes then let it cook for about 30
Icing –
1. While the cake is baking create a basic buttercream by mixing all the ingredients together with a hand mixture or stand mixer until well incorporated and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes)
Chocolate coating-
*** I recommend doing this after icing and rolling the hohos
1. Create a double boiler on the stove by heating some water in a sauce pan and placing a metal heat proof bow on top
2. Add the chocolate to the metal bowl and consistently mix until the chocolate is fully melted
Hoho Assembly-
1. Once the cake is fully chilled (could wrap and place in fridge to speed things up) cut it into 9 even rectangular pieces. Cut off any burnt or uneven ends if necessary
2. Spread a thin and even layer of icing on each piece then roll from one end to the other. Place the rolled hohos on a cooling rack with a parchment lined plate/tray underneath
3. Lay out a piece of parchment paper on the counter to place the finished hohos
4. Create the chocolate coating. Working one by one, start the coating process by painting a chocolate steak on the parchment paper where the hoho will go (this will help coat the bottom).
5. Next pour/paint one hoho at a time on the cooling rack. Gently lift it from the bottom with an offset spatula and place it on the chocolate streak you just painted. Repeat the process with each one
6. Let the chocolate set completely before covering and placing in the fridge to cool
9. Let cool for at least an hour before serving. They’re always better chilled!