Picture this: I'm 8 years old, flicking through a Betty Crocker recipe book, and my eyes land on a beautiful chocolate swiss roll cake. I can't understand how such a complicated cake can be easily made at home. I mean, how do you roll the cake, doesn't it break? Or is it baked rolled and then filled with cream? Questions, questions.
As you can see, I was obsessed with baking from when I was little. I mean what 8 year old really wonders about how swiss roll cakes are made? Me, I guess.
Fast forward like 15 years (okay, okay maybe like 20 years, lol - oh who cares about age right? Let's just assume I'm going to be young forever - and that this isn't the month I'm going to be turning...umm...ok let's just say I'm going to be going to be achieving a big milestone age wise...hehe) I finally attempt making a swiss roll cake. I'll be honest, I would have never done it if it wasn't for the Yum of the Month challenge, because even though I've gotten older and wiser, blah blah (see how wise I am?), I still found the prospect of making a swiss roll daunting. I mean seriously, what if it broke or crumbled or something?
So I did a lot of research on how to make the perfect swiss roll cake, and it turns out it's actually not as hard as it seems!
Here are a few tips I learned along the way of my Great Swiss Roll Adventure:
Disclaimer: Your entire kitchen and you yourself will be covered with icing sugar by the end of this adventure. But that's okay, because you'll have this beauty to show off, and obviously to eat. So all the snowy icing sugar in your kitchen? Just pretend it's from a winter storm or something, like you're in Frozen. Because this Lemon Swiss Roll Cake is completely worth it!
1.) You will need a 10 x 15 inch cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and you will need to cover it with foil. You will also have to grease it with cooking spray, and then lightly dust it with flour. These are all very important steps because otherwise your cake will stick to the foil. And that would be disastrous.
2.) While the cake is baking in the oven, you will need to lay out a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle it liberally with icing sugar. Your kitchen counter will look like there's been a blizzard, but that's okay. Once again this is an important step because this will ensure that when you turn over the cake from the cookie sheet/jelly roll pan, it will not stick to the kitchen towel.
3.) You will also need to turn over the cake right after you take it out of the oven. And then you will peel off the foil, praying the whole time that the cake doesn't break. But don't worry - it won't break if you greased and floured the foil well.
4.) Believe it or not, the cake will roll obediently when it's hot and it won't break. Once it's rolled into the kitchen towel, you will need to let the cake come to completely room temperature. Remember to start rolling the cake from the shorter edge. You can make the lemon cream cheese filling while that's happening.
5.) Once that's all done, the cake has cooled and the filling has been whipped, you can unroll the cake and fill it with the filling. You will roll the cake back this time, without the kitchen towel this time, and wrap it up neatly in cling film. Once that's done, you can store the cake in the refrigerator for about 1 hour or even overnight. To serve, dust with icing sugar and lemon slices.
6.) Congratulations, you've been successful in making your very first swiss roll cake! Yay! *high five*
I've also added step by step pictures below, to help you in making the swiss roll cake.
Lemon Swiss Roll Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
- For the Lemon Swiss Roll Cake
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice from about 2 medium lemons
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from about 2 medium lemons
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- Powdered sugar to help in rolling the cake
- For the Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz full-fat softened cream cheese
- 1/4 cup unsalted softened butter
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For Garnish
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Lemon slices
Instructions
- For the Lemon Swiss Roll Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (176 C) and prepare a 10 x 15 inch cookie sheet by lining it with foill. Grease the foil with oil, and flour it well. This will help to ensure that the cake does not stick to the foil.
- In a medium bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) beat the eggs on high speed for about 2-3 minutes, until pale and frothy.
- Add in the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat on high speed until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder and flour. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
- Pour the cake batter onto the prepared cookie sheet. You may have to use a spatula to spread out the batter over the cookie sheet and the batter will be spread out in a very thin layer.
- Bake for about 10-11 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, spread out a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle liberally with icing sugar (this is to ensure that when the cake is placed onto the kitchen towel, it will not stick).
- As soon as the cake is done, take it out of the oven, and carefully turn it over onto the prepared kitchen towel. Gently peel off the foil, and working quickly start rolling the kitchen towel to roll the cake from the shorter edge. Let cool completely.
- For the Lemon Cream Cheese Filling
- In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth and well combined. This will take about 1-2 minutes, and you should scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes until well combined and thick.
- Assembling the Lemon Swiss Roll
- Once the cake has completely cooled down, unroll it from the kitchen towel. Spread the cream cheese filing liberally, making sure that it covers all ends. Gently roll back the cake into shape, and cover with cling film. Cool for about 2 hours in the refrigerator or overnight.
- When ready to serve, unwrap the cling film, dust the cake with icing sugar and decorate with lemon slices.
Step by Step pictures:
Looking for more delicious desserts?
Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Strawberry Froyo Cheesecake Bites
No Mixer Double Chocolate Muffins
Classic Sour Cream Baked Donuts
I just made it. The flavor is delicious and I will try making it again but the cake was not soft enough. I think next time I will make this using a soft sponge recipe as a base and add the lemon yumminess inside that base. Usually when I make cake the cake is super fluffy. However I also understand that super fluffy cakes dont roll after being baked. Is there a way of making a fluffy cake roll? But all the flavors were spot on so will be making more lemony treats over the next few weeks. 🙂
Lemon cake could be classified as one of my love languages. Want to be my friend, just bring me a slice of lemon cake! I'm only partially joking about this, if someone brought me this cake they would definitely become a friend.
Thanks Amy! 😀