Easy Ho Ho Cake Recipe

If you've ever had a Ho Ho, or a Swiss Roll, or whatever you want to call a rolled up, chocolate-covered cake with cream in the middle, you may have found yourself wanting just a little bit ... more. They're nostalgic and cute but very small. The best way to max out that chocolatey goodness? Make a giant HoHo for yourself or a Hostess-loving friend.

That's right. We've engineered a Ho Ho cake that's not only delicious and elegant but also requires a few ingredients. It's made up of three breezy components: a thin sheet cake rolled into a spiral, light cream filling, and a rich chocolate glaze. This cake by recipe developer Sophie Putka will impress anyone who cuts into it with its gorgeous spiral and contrasting black and white look. What's more, this larger-than-life Ho Ho will also satisfy any chocolate-lover in your life with its rich chocolate ganache — even if that chocolate lover is you, indulging in a snack cake for grown-ups.

Start off by getting the longest step in the recipe out of the way: whipping those eggs up into a light-yellow, foamy cloud. Use room-temperature eggs for the best results. A standing mixer is easiest here, but a handheld one will do just as well. Instead of separating the eggs, all you need to do here is whip the yolks and whites together until they've grown in volume and are full of air. This will help the thin cake layer to rise and hold its light and airy texture but resist breaking when it's rolled.

After you pour the batter into your jelly-roll pan, spreading it out in an even layer is key to shaping this spiral-y cake. If it's wider on one side, you could end up with a lopsided cake. With a rubber spatula, you won't have a hard time creating an even layer — just try not to pull up the cake batter from the parchment paper as you do it.

Another trick, which doubles as a foolproof way to release any caught air bubbles, is to firmly knock the pan with the batter on the counter a few times. When you place the pan in the oven, try to ensure the parchment paper doesn't shift in the pan.

For a rolled-up cake to get that fancy spiral shape, it has to hold its shape before the filling even touches it. Doing this while it's still hot from the oven allows it to cool down in a curved spiral, so when you spread out the filling, re-rolling it is a breeze. And we're not talking a cake that's cooled down a little bit here — we're talking as close to straight-out-of-the-oven as you can get while not burning yourself (the towel will help with that — or even better, use some rubber gloves).

Invert the cake layer onto the waiting cocoa-ed towel as gently as possible. Use two oven mitts on either side of the pan. Then gather your towel, fold it over the cake, and begin to make a gentle roll without breaking the cake and only touching the towel. The trickiest part is starting off, but the cake is easily rolled from there. With the towel securing the roll, place the cake into the refrigerator to cool off in spiral form, seam-side down.

After filling the roll, make your ganache, which truly sounds more complicated than it is. Ganache is like frosting, only better: It's chocolate slightly softened with some heavy cream and used here as a glaze or coat. All you have to do here is pop two parts chocolate chips into the microwave with one part cream for about a minute to a minute and a half. To coat two Ho Ho cakes, use two cups of chocolate chips and one cup of cream. For one, use one cup of chocolate chips and half a cup of cream. Whisk the chocolate chips and cream together until you get a glossy, smooth consistency.

Then, after removing the cake from the fridge on a pan, pour the ganache as evenly as possible over the roll or rolls. You'll want to use a rubber spatula to collect drips and distribute the ganache as evenly as possible, covering every corner. On the ends, collect the ganache and swipe upward. If the ganache is too hot and pooling, pop it in the fridge for a few minutes. Chill the cake or cakes before slicing with a serrated bread knife. This Ho Ho cake is the fluffy coated cake of your school-lunch dreams.