A Swiss Roll/ Cream Roll or Jelly Roll is a type of sponge cake roll filled with whipped cream, fruits, ganache etc. It is a good snack to have with evening tea. This is one of the desserts which looks too complicated but is actually very simple. I have been avoiding this recipe for the longest time but when I finally tried it was easier than I thought.
It is a sponge cake, which is very light and fluffy yet very moist filled with light whipped cream. I used sprinkles in the filling, you could use any filling you enjoy. Whipped cream filling is too good, just saying. This recipe used just 6 ingredients including the filling and that’s lesser ingredients than used in a simple cake.
Swiss Rolls come with a major problem, that is the cake cracking while we roll it which is mostly because of excessive flour used in the cake. The sponge cake used in this recipe is very flexible, people usually roll the cake with the help of the parchment paper but I rolled it without it and it didn’t crack even a little. The proteins in the flour create gluten which gives the cake its structure but since we need to roll the cake, we need to use very little flour. However, we use 2 eggs in this recipe because these hold the mixture together and the meringue (eggs white beaten till they form stiff peaks) gives the sponge cake flexibility.
In this recipe, I whipped my cream (for the filling) till soft peaks but you can beat it till it forms stiff peaks, that would taste even better!
Ingredients:
For the sponge cake-
- Eggs- 2 (2 egg whites & 2 egg yolks)
- Powdered sugar- 4 tbsp
- All purpose flour- 2 tbsp
- Vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp
For the whipped cream filling-
- Heavy whipping cream- 1/2 cup
- Powdered sugar- 1 tbsp
- Vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp
- Rainbow sprinkles- 1.5 tbsp (optional)
For the whipped cream for icing (optional)-
- Heavy whipping cream- 1/2 cup
- Powdered sugar- 1/2 tbsp
Method to prepare the vanilla swiss roll/ sponge cake roll:
- Preheat the oven at 180C.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the egg whites and when they become frothy, start adding sugar. Add 2 tbsp of sugar gradually while beating the whites in batches of 3 or 4. Once the egg whites form firm peaks, set aside.
- Beat the egg yolks, then add in rest of the sugar (2 tbsp) and vanilla extract. Beat it. Add in flour and mix well. Fold in the egg whites in batches of 3 gently into the yolk mixture. Do not deflate the egg whites while doing so.
- Once the batter is smooth, take a 10.5″ x 6.5″ sheet pan which is lined with parchment paper and greased and pour in the cake batter. Bake it at 180C for 25 minutes. After it’s baked, let it cool until it reaches room temperature.
- Meanwhile, take 3/4 cup of whipping cream, add in 1 tbsp of sugar and 1/4 tsp of vanilla. Whisk it till it reaches soft peaks and your filling is ready. (You can whip it till stiff peaks, that would be even better). Set aside.
- Now, take the cake on a parchment paper which is dusted with powdered sugar. Spread the whipped cream filling on it and sprinkle with a tbsp of sprinkles. Then roll it gently and finally roll it tightly in the parchment paper and then in a plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. I prefer overnight.
- Take the 1/2 cup whipping cream, add in 1/2 tbsp of sugar and whip it till it forms stiff peaks. Then, transfer it to a piping bag.
- Take the roll out of the fridge. Unwrap it and start piping swirls of whipped cream on the top. Top those off with some sprinkles and you’re done!
thanks