Strawberry Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

This easy strawberry Swiss roll cake is a soft sponge roll cake filled with luscious whipped cream and fresh strawberries. It makes for a simple yet decadent dessert. Soft, sweet, creamy, and full of red fruit.

Getting a slice of a delicious dessert after a meal is one of the most satisfying experiences. And if it is a gorgeous strawberry cream roll, it is the best!

Jump to:

• Strawberry Swiss roll recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make strawberry Swiss roll
• Expert Tips
• Recipe variations
• Storing and freezing
• Recipe FAQ
• Love Swiss rolls? Try these next!
• Recipe card
• Comments

Soft and fluffy sponge cake rolled with fresh, juicy strawberries and lashings of creamy whipped cream feels like a burst of summer in the mouth.

This strawberry and cream Swiss roll is the perfect balance of sweet and refreshing, and with the ease of preparation, what can be better?

In the end, make the most of the strawberry season with delicious strawberry desserts: Japanese strawberry shortcake, German Erdbeerboden, Swedish Jordgubbstårta, or Korean fresh cream cake.

Strawberry Swiss roll recipe

• This strawberry Swiss roll recipe is easy and quick and uses fresh juicy strawberries, not strawberry jam, strawberry filling, or pureed strawberries.

• It is prepared with a light sponge cake using whole eggs, unlike Japanese Swiss cake, which uses chiffon cake and separates egg whites from yolks.

• It is a beautiful cake for birthdays or other special occasions.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Eggs: The recipe calls for large eggs at room temperature. There is no need to separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.

• Sugar: Use regular granulated and vanilla sugar to make the cake batter and icing sugar (powdered or confectioner's sugar) for making the cream frosting.

• Flour: The recipe uses cake flour. To make your own cake flour, remove 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour from 1 cup, and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Alternatively, mix 15 grams of cornstarch with 110 grams of all-purpose flour.

• Milk: Opt for whole milk to make the recipe.

• Honey: The recipe calls for liquid honey, neutral in flavor, preferably. Learn how to liquify crystalized honey if this is the case.

• Oil: Use flavorless grapeseed or vegetable oil for making Genoise cake, but you can replace it with unsalted butter.

• Heavy cream: Choose heavy or heavy whipped cream with at least 30% fat to make a sweetened whipped cream filling.

• Sweetened condensed milk: Use homemade sweetened condensed milk or purchase it in a grocery store.

• Strawberry: Choose fresh ripe strawberries of the same size. Frozen berries that are too watery are not suitable for this dessert recipe.

How to make strawberry Swiss roll

Step 1. Prepare a light-colored 15 x 10 inches (25 x 38 cm) jelly roll pan. Line it with a sheet of parchment paper by following this tutorial - how to line a Swiss roll tin.

Step 2. To make sponge cake, preheat the oven to 410°F (210°C). Pour grapeseed oil and milk into a small bowl, place it over a large container with hot water, and let wet ingredients warm up to 104°F (40°C).

Step 3. Sift flour using a flour sifter in a clean bowl and put aside.

Step 4. Place room-temperature whole eggs, honey, vanilla, and granulated sugar, in a heat-resistant bowl and whisk a few times with a hand whisk.

Step 5. Bring the bowl over a bain-marie or water bath and beat with a hand whisk until the mixture reaches about 104°F (40°C): check it with a cooking thermometer.

Step 6. Remove the bowl from the water bath and use an electric or stand mixer with a whisk attachment to beat at high speed for 6 minutes.

Step 7. When the mixture becomes thick, turns white, triples in volume, and the batter falls like a ribbon from the mixer beaters, lower the speed. Beat at low speed for 2 minutes to adjust the texture of the batter (photo 1).

Step 8. Sift the flour over the bowl once again and gently mix with a rubber spatula by lifting the batter from the bottom to the top.

Pro tip: Think of it like a rubber spatula moving from 2 to 8 on a clock, lifting and returning the dough.

Step 9. Take a scoop of the batter in a bowl with milk and oil preheated to 104°F (40°C), and mix with a spatula. Pour it back over the spatula and gently mix (photo 2).

Step 10. To fill the prepared pan, pour the batter from a height of approximately 8 inches (20 cm) above it. This helps pop large air bubbles.

Step 11. Even the surface with a bent spatula or a dough scraper: avoid excessive smoothing in one spot. Tap the pan on the table to remove large bubbles (photo 3).

Step 12. Bake in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes. Start watching out for the cake at 7 minutes: the back of the cake should be pale, and the top should be slightly browned (photo 4).

Pro tip: Check for doneness with a toothpick: it should come out dry.

Step 13. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately flip it on a clean tea towel sprinkled with icing (powdered) sugar. Peel the paper from the bottom of the cake (photo 5).

Pro tip: Using a clean tea or kitchen towel dusted with icing (powdered) sugar to roll the cake up helps prevent it from sticking.

Step 14. Place a clean parchment sheet over the back of the cake. Roll it up in a towel starting from the short end. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

Step 15. Unroll the sponge and allow it to come to room temperature. Don't worry about curly corners, as they are perfectly okay.

Step 16. To make whipped cream, pour cold heavy cream and condensed milk into a chilled bowl, and whisk until medium peaks.

Pro tip: Consult the sugar-free whipped cream recipe for step-by-step photographed explanations, helpful tips, and tricks.

Step 17. To assemble the cake, wash and pat dry strawberries. Remove the leafy top, and cut 7-10 strawberries into small pieces.

Step 18. Evenly spread the cream over the cooled cake using an offset spatula. Distribute strawberry pieces on the cream and roll the cake (photo 6).

Step 19. Start by tightly re-rolling the beginning of the roll to create the cake's core. Then with the help of the towel, continue rolling the cake as you go.

Step 20. Finish shaping the roll so that the end of the roll is at the bottom (photo 7). Use a metal ruler or baking sheet to tighten the roll slightly. Push the ruler or baking tray towards the roll, tightening it while pulling away the bottom end of the towel.

Step 21. Keep the cake rolled in the towel, and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Then gently remove the tea towel from the cake, and cut the ends with a serrated knife for a neat appearance.

Step 22. Transfer the cake to a serving tray. Sprinkle the top of the cake with icing sugar and decorate with the remaining strawberries (photo 8).

Expert Tips

1. Read more about how to make roll cake for useful tips and tricks. Rolling the cake is the most important step, and mastering it is crucial for achieving perfection in your roll cake.
2. Mix the cake batter gently without overmixing it.
3. Use high-quality parchment paper that is thick enough and wrinkle-free to ensure an evenly baked, pale bottom for the cake.
4. Roll the cake up in a tea towel while it is warm.
5. Make sure to cool the cake before applying the cream.
6. The recipe is created for a classic jelly roll pan. Use this simple cake pan calculator to adjust ingredient amounts for a different baking pan size. Just enter the length and width of your tray.

Recipe variations

• Cake batter: Replace some cake flour with unsweetened cocoa powder to make strawberry chocolate roll cake.

• Cake roll filling: Use your favorite cream filling, from Chantilly cream to cream cheese frosting.

• Fruits: Swap fresh strawberries for other fresh berries (blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries) or stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, etc.)

• Rolling method: Roll the cake at the short end or lengthwise.

• Decoration: Add powdered sugar to the top of the roll, pipe whipped cream swirls, or decorate with fresh fruit of your choice.

Storing and freezing

Store strawberry Swiss roll cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Can you freeze strawberry Swiss roll? You can't freeze this type of cake roll: whipped cream doesn't handle freezing, and fresh berries will lose their texture once thawed.

Recipe FAQ

Love Swiss rolls? Try these next!

• Vanilla Swiss roll
• Nutella Swiss roll
• Coffee Swiss roll
• Pavlova roll cake
• Pistachio roulade
• Or browse all the cake recipes

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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.