Strawberry Shortcake Cake Roll
From the moment I decided to start this food blog I always had one recipe in mind to write about and that is the strawberry jelly roll. I remember that it was one of my favorite desserts as a kid and I always ate it with a Premio, which is a Colombian strawberry flavored soda. And of course, as a good Colombian family, eating out was not something we did every day but something that was done on special occasions, so knowing that I was going to eat a strawberry jelly roll was the definition of complete happiness.
In Colombia this jelly roll is available everywhere and when I was kid it was only made with strawberry filling or infused with strawberry flavor. Nowadays it’s available in all kinds of flavors and colors, with arequipe (dulce de leche), with all kinds of tropical fruits, with jam or jelly, and even with homemade whipped cream, which in Colombian would be called a Swiss roll. Which brings me to the name Colombians give to this dessert, “brazo de reina”, which translates to “queen’s arm”. A queen’s arm? Who ever thought of giving it such a name? Which if you think about it is quite grotesque because eating the arm of a queen is not that appetizing, at least not for me. But anyway, that’s the name given to this wonderful dessert in several Latin American countries such as Chile and Colombia. In Spain they call it “brazo gitano” (gypsy’s arm), so again, we keep the theme of naming it after a human part. In England they call it swiss roll which is not really Swiss since it wasn’t invented there. In the US we call it jelly roll which almost makes sense except when it’s not filled with jelly. But in Japan they call it cake roll, which is the perfect name. If you think about it it’s just that, a cake filled with something sweet, then rolled and cut up in pieces. Genius.
I’m going to be honest and tell you that it took a while for me to get this recipe right because making a sponge cake was not the easiest thing for me to make. Pay close attention to the directions, the key is to beat the eggs well and then roll the cake while it’s still warm.
And as always… ¡Buen provecho! Oh, and don’t worry, no member of any royal family was harmed during the making of this dessert. =)
Strawberry Jelly Roll
Ingredients
- 1 cup 140 g all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 large egg yolks (at room temperature)
- 2 large eggs (at room temperature)
- ½ cup 112.5 g white granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk
- 2 egg whites (at room temperature)
- ¼ cup 56.25 g white granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup 31.25 g powdered sugar (For dusting)
- 1½ cup 12 oz. whipped cream
- 1 cup 200 g fresh strawberries, chopped
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
- Grease a jelly roll pan or large baking sheet measuring 12½ x 17½ x 1 inches (32 x 44 x 2.5 cm) with baking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and then spray the top of the parchment paper with the baking spray. You can also use butter and flour.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Beat the egg yolks and the eggs with ½ cup of sugar at high speed for about 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and the milk and mix until well blended.
- Sift half of the flour mixture into the batter and fold it in to incorporate it. Add the remaining flour and fold it again.
- In a separate bowl beat egg whites at high speed with the remaining sugar and salt until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Fold in the egg whites with the flour batter.
- Pour batter into the lined pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Sprinkle a clean kitchen towel with powdered sugar and then flip the cake over it. Remove the parchment paper and then roll the cake with the towel. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Unroll the cooled cake and cover with the whipped cream. Place the chopped strawberries on top. Roll the cake again and cover the top with more whipped cream if desired. Chill the cake in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.
I love love love your recipes, I want to try this one for fathers day but I dont have a pan with those measures 🙁 I have one similar to it but its the 9 inches one if im not mistaken. Can i use this one? thanks
Hi Carito, you can use almost any cookie sheet you have but it has to be a cookie sheet so that it comes out thin enough to roll. If it's a regular 9×13 pan it will come out too thick and impossible to roll. Hope that makes sense.
it does make sense 🙂 thank you so much for your help, I will let you know how it turned out. you are a great cook!
Diana I just wanted to thank you for another amazing recipe, my family loved it! cant wait to try something else from your recipes
Yeah!!! I'm so glad you decided to make it! Thank you so much for your comment and I'm really happy you guys liked it so much. Hugs!
Muchísimas felicidades por esta excelente receta!!!Soy d México y hace muchos años en un libro recetario d media crema Nestlé conseguí la receta la cual está pésima. Sólo sirvió para desperdiciar. La intenté en 3 ocasiones por mucho tiempo d diferencia entre sí y nada.Tu receta a la primera me quedó y EXQUISITA!!Mil gracias Dianita!! 😉