The iconic jelly roll. A cake that your mother or grandmother might have made back in the day. I confess that I never made one myself up until now. I’m not sure why. It ended up being incredibly easy and I was pleased how pretty it looked. The perfect little cake to whip up for an afternoon gathering or a simple dessert for a Saturday night supper.

Maybe I was intimidated about rolling a cake and then having it all fall apart on me. But I made this Raspberry Swiss Roll three times and all went well. Alright, there were a few minor cracks on the finished cake roll, but I am told that is to be expected and a little confectioners’ sugar covers up any imperfections.

When you read though the list of ingredients, you will notice there is no butter or oil in the cake. It is a type of sponge cake designed to soak up the flavor of whatever you’re adding to it. The sponge has only 3 ingredients and comes together quickly. It is then baked in a shallow jelly roll pan which is great because it means that it bakes up in less than 10 minutes. This Raspberry Swiss Roll may be the ultimate fast and easy cake to have in your repertoire.

Of course, I need to mention that jelly roll cakes are quite delicious. The cake itself is rather plain but when paired with the jam, it just all seems to work together beautifully. Here I use the classic raspberry jam but you can really use any kind of jam you like. You could get creative with pastry cream or lemon curd and fresh fruit. I am excited to explore the truly endless possibilities.

I discovered this recipe in Mary Berry’s cookbook “Baking with Mary Berry”. She is dubbed the “Queen of Cakes” over in the U.K. I fell in love with her and her baking watching The Great British Baking Show.

Raspberry Swiss Roll

Author Cakewalk Kitchen

Ingredients

4 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar plus extra
1 cup self-rising flour 142g
1/2 cup raspberry jam
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425° F.

Lightly butter a 15″ x 10″ jelly roll pan (see notes) and then line with a piece of parchment paper.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk on high speed the eggs and the sugar together for 3 or 4 minutes or until the mixture is pale and thickened. It should leave a trail when you lift up the whisk.
Sift the flour into the bowl and gently fold in until you do not see any more clumps.
Pour or spoon the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan. You may need to tilt the pan back and forth to get the batter evenly into the corners.
Bake for about 8 minutes or until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Do not over-bake. While the cake is baking, lay down on the counter-top, a large tea towel ( big enough to hold the cake). Sprinkle some granulated sugar over the towel.
Invert the baked cake on to the tea towel and peel off the parchment paper. You may have to run a knife around the edges to get it to release from the pan.
Using a sharp knife, neatly trim all 4 edges of the cake. Starting from the narrowest edge of the cake, gently roll up the cake together with the tea towel. Let the cake cool this way for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, whisk the jam in a small bowl until it is smooth. Unroll the cake and spread the jam over the entire top of the cake. Gently re-roll the cake. Dust with confectioners’ sugar when the cake is completely cool.
Recipe adapted from “Baking with Mary Berry”.

Recipe Notes

The original recipe calls for a small 9″ x 13″ jelly roll pan. I used a slightly larger 10″ x 15″ pan which worked out beautifully. A large half sheet pan will be too large. Just find a pan that is somewhat close in measurements and you will be fine.
The recipe calls for self rising flour. You may not ordinarily have this in your pantry but go ahead and get yourself a bag, because you will be making this cake often.
I doubled the amount of jam from the original recipe. Just use enough to cover.
If you wrap the cake in plastic wrap, it should keep for a few days.

*Here is a 10″ x 15″ (approximately) Jelly Roll Pan I found on Amazon.