Okay, everyone, here's the recipes for all three components of this cake. They are: chocolate cloud roll (the cake); whipped ganache filling; and whipped cream frosting.

CHOCOLATE CLOUD ROLL (from "The Cake Bible", by Rose Levy Beranbaum--a wonderful book)

1/4 C. sugar
2 T. sugar
6 eggs, separated, at room temperature
4 oz. melted, best quality bittersweet chocolate (see note)
3/4 t. cream of tartar
1 T. unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 F; position oven rack in lower third of oven. Grease a 17 x 12" jelly roll pan; line with parchment paper, and allow it to extend over the sides a bit. Grease the parchment paper, and if desired, dust with flour.

Beat 1/4 C. sugar and egg yolks until fluffy (this may take up to 5 minutes). Add chocolate and beat until incorporated. Set aside.

Beat egg whites until foamy; add cream of tartar and beat to soft peaks. Slowly add 2T. sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks are achieved. Fold 1/4 of whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then fold in remaining whites.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake 16 minutes, or until cake loses its shine and springs back when lightly pressed.

Remove from oven and dust with cocoa. Place a barely-damp, clean tea towel over the cake and allow to cool. Remove towel from cooled cake and gently slide cake from pan, using paper overhangs to assist. Cut cake in half to form equal rectangles, and gently peel off of paper. (This cake is very delicate and may well fall apart. If that happens, simply put half the pieces back together as best you can on the serving plate.)

Spread whipped ganache filling over bottom layer, and place top cake layer on it. Cover cake with a thin layer of whipped cream, and swirl to suggest clouds. Serve cake lightly chilled.

WHIPPED GANACHE FILLING & FROSTING

8 oz. best quality bittersweet chocolate
2 C. heavy cream
1/2 t. vanilla

Process chocolate until very fine. Heat cream to boiling and pour into processor with motor running; process until smooth.

Transfer to large bowl and chill until cold, about 2 hours. Stir occasionally. Add vanilla and beat just until very soft peaks form. The filling will thicken as it stands at room temperature. If it gets too cold, it will not be beatable at all--simply start again by remelting, chilling, and rebeating. (If you overbeat it, you can start again, too.)

WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING

1 C. chilled heavy cream
1-2 T. sugar (or to taste)
1 t. vanilla
1 t. nonfat dried milk (optional)

Beat cream with chilled beaters until it begins to thicken. Add other ingredients and beat until soft peaks form. Spread over cake in attractive pattern. If desired, wrap cake loosely. Chill cake.

The nonfat dried milk helps keep the whipped cream from separating, and also helps it hold its shape. It adds no perceptible flavor, and is a great stabilizer for whipped cream.

NOTE on CHOCOLATE: As the primary flavor in this cake is chocolate, the quality of the chocolate will show through in the final product. Rose Levy Beranbaum recommends using "eating chocolate"--bars of chocolate you buy in the candy aisle, rather than the bags of chips in the cooking aisle. She specifically recommends Lindt Courant as a good choice for this cake. I've used the Ghirardelli double chocolate chips with vanilla in the cake with great success.