The mini filled rolls are charming and easy-to-make little sweets that don’t require baking. They are ready in just a few minutes, versatile and customizable; perfect as a dessert to prepare even at the last minute. The mini rolls can be filled with orange marmalade or any other jam of your choice. We can serve them immediately or the next day when they will be even more delicious and fragrant.
Here are some links to homemade marmalade or jam recipes.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 10
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 5 slices sandwich bread
- 10 teaspoons marmalade or jam of choice
- 9 oz 50% dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon milk
- to taste orange zest
- to taste orange liqueur or Strega (optional)
Steps
To prepare the mini filled sweet rolls, we can use long slices of sandwich bread or 10 slices of white bread, even gluten-free (as I did for myself).
If using long slices for sandwiches, cut them in half to get 10 squares that we will roll out thinly with a rolling pin.
If using slices of white bread, remove the crusts before flattening them with a rolling pin.
After flattening them, cover them with a scant teaspoon of orange marmalade or another flavor of your choice, being careful not to completely cover the slice (as in photo 4).
Now roll the slice tightly with care, keeping the seam at the bottom as seen in photo 4, to ensure the small roll doesn’t open, and the marmalade will act as a glue.
We can leave them whole (as in the cover photo, in which case we will get 10 rolls about 4 inches long); or we can cut them in half diagonally (thus obtaining 20), turning them into a sort of finger food pastry, just 2 inches long like those in the photo below.
When we have finished filling and rolling all the slices, we can melt the dark chocolate in a double boiler, adding the tablespoon of milk and the finely grated zest of an orange. Stir well and wait until it’s completely melted.
In the meantime, line a tray with parchment paper.
As soon as the chocolate is melted, dip one roll at a time, dipping first the part with the seam (this way, the melted chocolate will seal the roll, preventing it from opening), then the sides, and finally the entire roll, letting the excess drip off or removing it with the edge of a knife, and place it on the tray.
When we have covered all the rolls, using the tines of a fork and possibly the remaining melted chocolate, proceed to draw vertical lines as if it were real bark.
Let the chocolate set (if the environment is too warm, I recommend placing them in a cool, well-covered area) and serve them.
Extra Tip. If the filled rolls are not intended for children, you can brush a layer of orange liqueur or Strega before spreading the marmalade on the already flattened slices, using a brush, to give an extra refined touch to this delicious dessert.
