Raspberries, pistachios, and white chocolate cream are delightful in this easy raspberry pistachio roulade.
After trying this delicious recipe, you will never want a store-bought cake roll again. A cake made in an hour is what you will love during the busy holiday season.

While I love traditional cakes, making rolled cakes is my favorite.
This raspberry pistachio roulade (aka Pistachio Swiss roll) is a classic example of how to upgrade a regular cake roll to a decadent dessert that becomes a winner of the table.
Enhance a cheese cream frosting with white chocolate. Spread fresh red berries on top of the creamed biscuit.
Cover the cake with the delicious frosting and top the roll with chopped nuts and red fruit. Easy peasy? Yes.
This bright-colored pistachio rolled cake served with a cup of tea or coffee will surely bring the holiday spirit to everyone who eats it.
Raspberry pistachio roulade is a beautiful and tasteful combination of tangy raspberries with nutty, green pistachios.
By the way, the strawberry and pistachio combo in Pistachio Dacquoise is another delight.
Reading The Flavor Bible and learning how to pair your favorite fruit will allow you to create your own mouthwatering and unexpectedly delicious flavor combos.
Why you should try this recipe
This pistachio Swiss roll requires minimal work and yields ten substantial servings. It is made in one hour.
Ground pistachios add additional flavor, texture, and a beautiful soft green color to the cake.
Raspberries are nicely married to pistachios, creating one of the best flavorful combinations in the French pastry world.
Easy cake decoration does not require pastry tips and piping decoration skills.
Ingredients
Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for exact amounts and instructions. I recommend making the recipe as written for the best results.
Pistachios are the stars of this decadent dessert. Use raw pistachios to grind them in a food processor.
Eggs: the recipe calls for large eggs at room temperature. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks with an egg separator while the eggs are chilled. Then bring them to room temperature.
Sugar: use granulated sugar or caster sugar.
Flour: use a store-bought self-rising flour or make it by adding two teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt for each 1 cup (150 g) of plain flour. Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl before using it.
You can replace self-rising flour with all-purpose flour if desired.
Salt enhances the flavors of this roll cake.
The almond extract does boost an additional nutty flavor, but you can omit this ingredient if unavailable.
Icing sugar: make it yourself with a coffee grinder or use store-bought.
Raspberries: use fresh raspberries to make the roulade recipe, but you can replace them with sliced fresh strawberries if desired. Please, avoid frozen red fruit.
White chocolate: use Lindt white chocolate or Callebaut white chocolate callets.
Butter: the recipe calls for unsalted softened butter. Make sure to bring it to room temperature 1-2 hours before you start.
Cream cheese is used to make white chocolate cream. It is essential to bring cream cheese to room temperature.
Whipping cream: use your favorite brand of whipping cream (30% fat content) or heavy whipping cream with higher fat content.
How to make raspberry pistachio roulade
Preheat oven to 390 F/200 C. To make the roulade, grind pistachios in a food processor until fine and set aside.
Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 4 minutes until the mixture becomes whitish (photo 1).
Pour the hot water along the sides of the bowl, add ground pistachios and gently mix with a rubber spatula (photo 2).
In a separate bowl, sift flour with salt and add to the egg yolks/sugar/pistachio preparation.
Combine with the spatula (photo 3). In a clean bowl, place the egg whites and beat till soft peaks.
Add the beaten egg whites into the pistachio mix in three times. Then, add almond extract and mix again (photo 4).
Pour the dough into a non-spill baking sheet (photo 5) and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove the biscuit from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes (photo 6).
To roll the biscuit, sprinkle the top of the biscuit with 2 teaspoon (10 g) powdered (icing) sugar and cover with a kitchen towel.
Flip the biscuit over so that the towel is now down on a table. Next, peel away the non-spill silicone baking sheet and dust the surface of the biscuit with the rest of the powdered (icing) sugar.
Take the short end of the biscuit and roll it up with the kitchen towel inside. Cool the biscuit down for 10 minutes, being rolled up.
Unroll the sponge and let it rest at room temperature. The sponge might have curly ends or surface cracks: it is acceptable.
To make the chocolate cream, melt white chocolate cut into pieces in a bain-marie or double boiler and set aside to let it cool down.
Meanwhile, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds, add cream cheese at room temperature and whisk until smooth (photo 7).
Add melted white chocolate and continue to whisk until creamy. Finally, add the cold whipping cream and almond extract, and whisk on medium-high speed till the cream forms soft waves (photo 8).
To assemble the cake, spread two-thirds of the white chocolate cream on the surface of the biscuit and even with the bent spatula.
It is practical not to spread the cream on one of the short ends of the sponge at the width of 2 cm.
Arrange fresh raspberries (leave 15 raspberries for the decoration) over the cream (photo 9) and roll the biscuit from bottom to top, starting from the short end of the cake covered with the cream (photo 10).
Cover the cake and spoon it out with the back of a tablespoon or the end of the bent spatula (photo 11).
Sprinkle the top of the cake with chopped pistachios and arrange 15 fresh raspberries in a line (photo 12). Transfer the rolled cake to a serving platter.
Recipe variations
This simple pistachio roll cake recipe is a great starting point for customization by adding other fresh fruit or different types of nuts.
Replace raspberries with fresh strawberries cut in quarters and leave the rest of the recipe unchanged.
Or pair raspberries with milk or dark chocolate, switching white chocolate in the cream recipe for the chocolate of your choice.
If you are not a fan of pistachios, replace them with almonds. Then, decorate the cake with roasted flaked almonds and fresh berries.
Finally, raspberry and hazelnut are other possible combinations.
Equipment
What baking equipment do you need to make this pistachio roulade?
First, you will need a food processor to grind the pistachios. Then prepare an electric mixer, a mixing bowl, a rubber spatula, and a flour sifter.
To bake the pistachio sponge, you will need a non-spill baking sheet or a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Also, make sure to have a double boiler and a bent spatula (aka offset spatula) to finish the cake.
Storage instructions
Store the assembled roll cake in the refrigerator for up to one day. Then, take the cake out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving for the cream to soften.
It is not recommended to freeze the cake.
Expert tips
- Make the white chocolate cream one day in advance and keep it covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. Take it out 30 minutes before use.
- Take the cake out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving for the cream to soften.
Love roll cakes? Try these next!
- Nutella Cake Roll (aka Nutella Swiss Roll)
- Rosewater Meringue Roulade
- Chocolate Raspberry Swiss Roll
- Browse all the Cake Recipes
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Also, shop for my favorite baking tools. Thank you so much for your support!
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Recipe card
Raspberry Pistachio Roulade
Raspberries, pistachios, and white chocolate cream are delightful in this easy Pistachio Roulade. You will never want a store-bought rolled cake again after trying this delicious recipe. A cake made in an hour is what you will love during the busy holiday season.
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
For the roulade:
- 2.5 oz. (70 g) raw pistachios
- 4 eggs whites, room temperature
- 4 egg yolks, room temperature
- ½ cup (130 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon hot water
- 10 tablespoons (80 g) self-raising flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1 pinch of salt
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 2 ½ tablespoon (20 g) powdered (icing) sugar
- 10.5 oz. (300 g) fresh raspberries
For the white chocolate cream:
- 7 oz. (200 g) white chocolate
- 2.6 oz. (75 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 9.8 oz. (280 g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 9.1 fl. oz. (270 ml) whipping cream
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
For the decoration:
- 15 fresh raspberries
- 0.5 oz. (15 g) pistachios
*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!
** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 390 F/200 C. To make the roulade, grind pistachios in a food processor until fine and set aside. Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 4 minutes until the mixture becomes whitish. Pour the hot water along the sides of the bowl, add ground pistachios and gently mix with a rubber spatula.
-
In a separate bowl, sift flour with salt and add into the egg yolks/sugar/pistachio preparation. Combine with the spatula. In a clean bowl, place the egg whites and beat till soft peaks. Add the beaten egg whites into the pistachio mix in three times. Add the almond extract and mix again. Pour the dough on a non-spill baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove the biscuit from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- To roll the biscuit, sprinkle top of the biscuit with 2 teaspoon (10 g) powdered (icing) sugar and cover with a kitchen towel. Flip the biscuit over, so that the towel is now down on a table. Peel away the non-spill silicone baking sheet and dust the surface of the biscuit with the rest of powdered (icing) sugar. Take the short end of the biscuit and roll it up with the kitchen towel inside. Cool the biscuit down for 10 minutes, being rolled up. Unroll the sponge and let it rest at room temperature. The sponge might have curly ends or surface cracks: it is acceptable.
-
To make the chocolate cream, melt white chocolate cut into pieces in a bain-marie or double boiler and set aside to let it cool down. Meanwhile, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds, add cream cheese at room temperature and whisk until smooth. Add the melted white chocolate and continue to whisk until creamy. Finally, add the cold whipping cream, almond extract and whisk on medium-high speed till the cream forms soft waves.
-
To assemble the roulade, spread two-thirds of the white chocolate cream on the surface of the biscuit and even with the bent spatula. It is practical not to spread the cream on one of the short ends of the sponge at the width of 2 cm. Arrange fresh raspberries (leave 15 raspberries for the decoration) over the cream and roll the biscuit from bottom to top, starting from the short end of the cake covered with the cream. Cover the cake all over and spoon it out with the back of a tablespoon or the end of the bent spatula. Sprinkle top of the cake with chopped pistachios and arrange 15 fresh raspberries in a line. Transfer the rolled cake on a serving platter.
Notes
- Make the white chocolate cream one day in advance and keep it covered with plastic wrap in the fridge. Take it out 30 minutes before use.
- Serve the roulade on the day of baking, although you might store the cake in the fridge for up to one day. Make sure to take the cake out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
- Use a store-bought self-rising flour or make it by adding 2 teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt for each 1 cup (150 g) plain flour. Sift dry ingredients together into a bowl before using. You can simply use all-purpose flour as well.
Nutrition
- Calories: 511
- Sugar: 28.9 g
- Sodium: 224 mg
- Fat: 36.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 20.2
- Carbohydrates: 40.5 g
- Fiber: 3.1 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 147 mg
Keywords: pistachio roulade, pistachio rolled cake, pistachio roll cake, pistachio Swiss roll
The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.
The recipe was adapted from https://www.nigella.com. It was originally published in December 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.
Soraya says
Hello, great recipe. I want to try this so much! Can I leave the whipping cream out of the recipe and just use light cream cheese with the white chocolate? X
Irina says
Hello Soraya, thank you for your interest in the recipe. I would not recommend omitting whipping cream in the recipe since it is one of the main cream ingredients (it takes almost 1/3 of cream ingredients). I always suggest trying to make the recipe as it is and then experimenting.
Becca says
Did anyone else have an issue with the cream breaking up? Does this happen if it is mixed too long? What did I do wrong?
Irina says
Hello Becca, I am sorry to hear that your cream did not turn right. In this particular recipe, it is important to respect the temperature of the ingredients. First, please, check the recipe for chocolate mousse on how to melt chocolate. Then the chocolate has to cool down. The butter has to be softened and cream cheese - at room temperature. You should also use cold whipping cream. And yes, you should whisk until soft peaks. You might be over whisked the cream as well. Please, check if you made any mistakes and let me know. I will try to help you more if necessary.
Marie says
While you posted a source link, you don't seem to have mentioned the actual source, being Ottolenghi and Helen Goh's recipe, also found in their book "Sweet."
Irina says
Hello Marie, I will add the book title once I update the post. Thanks!!
Shannon says
What sized sheet pan do you use for this recipe? The one linked is 12x16x1, but I wanted to check since that's not a standard size. I am looking forward to baking this; thanks!
Irina says
Hello Shannon, yes, I used that particular baking sheet I bought on Amazon. But you can always recalculate the amounts of ingredients for the baking sheet you have using this cake pan calculator. Please, let me know if you have more questions. Happy baking!!