Bakery Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

This bakery swiss roll cake recipe is direct from my family’s three generations of professional bakers. Light and fluffy, this will be the best swiss roll cake you’ll ever taste! 

swiss roll cake with raspberries on white plateswiss roll cake with raspberries on white plate

This swiss roll cake is made with a light and fluffy sponge cake base, a thin layer of jam or jelly, then rolled into a gorgeous roll cake. It’s perfect for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday!

The swiss roll is made with cake flour, eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil. It’s light, airy, and surprisingly dairy free!

Swiss Roll Cake Recipe Tips:

Start with room temperature egg whites as they whip up better and create more volume.  The first thing I do before preparing any other ingredients is separate the whites and yolks and leave them at room temperature.  By the time I’m done preparing the other ingredients, the whites should be at room temperature.

When creating the meringue, whip the egg whites to a soft peak before adding any sugar.  This allows the meringue to keep its volume and not deflate when adding the sugar. I always split the sugar into three equal parts. Never add all the sugar at once when creating a meringue. 

For the egg yolk mixture, beat everything over a warm bowl of water.  This helps the sugar melt and incorporate with the other ingredients to give you a more airy, fluffy egg yolk batter. Basically, the more fluffy and light your batter, the more fluffy and light your swiss roll cake will turn out.

Your egg yolk batter should be a pale yellow that falls slowly into ribbons and holds its shape for a bit. Sift the dry ingredients into the mixture in three equal parts. Gently fold it in each time before adding more.

Cut out your parchment paper so that it neatly fits your pan.  You want to make sure your batter is an even, flat layer so that it bakes and browns evenly and your swiss roll cake is easy to roll up. I used a 9 x 13 inch pan. When pouring the batter into the pan, pour it from a height of about 8 inches above the baking pan. This helps pop any large air bubbles in your batter. Be sure to smooth the batter into the corners.

After taking out your cake from the oven, invert it onto a clean, slightly dampened kitchen towel and peel off the parchment paper. Gently roll up your cake and hold it in place so that it doesn’t unravel. A rolling pin is perfect for this. Be sure not to squeeze the cake or roll it up too tightly as this can cause cracks to form.  

Unroll the cake once it’s slightly warm and add your favorite jelly or jam.  I filled it with some leftover homemade cranberry sauce which turned out to be a great way to use leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving or Christmas.

If filling with cream or custard, wait for the cake to completely cool. Roll it back up, top with powdered sugar and berries, and enjoy this bakery swiss roll cake!

swiss roll cake with jamswiss roll cake with jam

Want more? Check out these recipes!

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swiss roll cake with jamswiss roll cake with jam

Bakery Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

This bakery swiss roll cake recipe is direct from my family’s three generations of professional bakers. Light and fluffy, this will be the best swiss roll cake you’ll ever taste! 

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Prep Time

25

mins

Cook Time

20

mins

Total Time

45

mins

Course

Dessert

Cuisine

American, Asian, Korean

Servings

8

Equipment

  • Rectangular Cake Pan
  • Jelly Roll Pan

☑ Ingredients

 

Dry Ingredients:

  • 1

    cup

    cake flour

    – (125 grams)

  • ¼

    teaspoon

    salt

    – (1 gram)

  • ½

    teaspoon

    baking powder

  • ½

    cup

    white sugar

    for egg yolk mixture, (87 grams)

  • cup

    white sugar

    for egg white meringue, (75 grams)

Wet Ingredients:

  • 2

    teaspoons

    corn syrup

    – (12 grams)

  • 6

    eggs

    whites and yolks separated

  • ½

    teaspoon

    vanilla bean paste

    or vanilla extract

  • 2

    Tablespoons

    water

    – (25 grams)

  • cup

    avocado oil

    – (62 grams)

Filling:

  • ¾

    cup

    homemade cranberry sauce

    or other filling of your choice

Cook Mode

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Instructions

 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Egg Yolk Mixture:

  • In a medium bowl, add together egg yolks, ½ cup of sugar, salt, corn syrup, vanilla, and water. Set this bowl inside a larger bowl filled with warm water and beat on high until pale yellow with ribbons form. Remove from the warm water bath and set aside.

Egg White Meringue:

  • In a large bowl, add the egg whites and beat on high until soft peaks form. Start adding the ⅓ cup of sugar in three equal parts, beating each time to incorporate. Beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.

Roll Cake Batter:

  • Add ½ of the egg white meringue to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold it in until it’s mostly mixed in. The batter should be light and airy. Next, sift the flour and baking powder together and add this into the batter in three equal parts, gently folding after each time.

  • In a small bowl, microwave the oil until it’s warm to the touch. Take out ¼ cup of the combined batter from the previous step and completely mix this into the warm oil. Fold this back into the combined batter. Next, add the entire batter to the remaining egg white meringue and fold it in gently.

Baking & Filling the Roll Cake:

  • Pour the batter into a parchment lined pan. Bang the pan twice to remove large air bubbles and bake for 15 – 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when it’s done. It took me 18 minutes but timing will vary according to your oven.

  • Take out the cake, invert the pan onto a clean, slightly damp kitchen cloth, and remove the parchment paper from the bottom. Roll up the cake and hold it in place.

  • Once the cake is slightly warm to the touch, unroll the cake and spread with your jam or jelly filling. If filling with custard or cream, wait until the cake is completely cooled so the filling doesn’t melt. Top with powdered sugar and berries.

✎ Recipe Notes

  • Cake pan: I used a 9 x 13 inch rectangular cake pan but you can also use a jelly roll pan. Linked above are two cake pans that I use and recommend for this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories:

287.19

kcal

|

Carbohydrates:

37.46

g

|

Protein:

6.48

g

|

Fat:

12.55

g

|

Saturated Fat:

2.13

g

|

Cholesterol:

122.76

mg

|

Sodium:

122.09

mg

|

Potassium:

90.32

mg

|

Fiber:

0.47

g

|

Sugar:

23.08

g

|

Vitamin A:

178.2

IU

|

Calcium:

32.24

mg

|

Iron:

0.75

mg

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*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.