Strawberry Swiss Roll Cake
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Strawberry Swiss Roll Cake is a refreshing summer dessert! A tender sponge cake with cream cheese filling and a layer of sweet strawberries make this cake perfect for Easter brunch, Mother's Day, or any special occasion. If you love fruity desserts, be sure to try my Pineapple Sunshine Cake too!
I love using fresh strawberries in desserts during the strawberry season, like in this Strawberry Galette or this Starbucks Pink Drink. I always need to make a batch of my Strawberry Jam (no pectin), which you can also use in this recipe in place of sliced strawberries.
Why This Recipe Works
A Swiss roll cake is a sponge cake that is rolled around a filling of some kind. This cake is perfect for spring or summer, it's gorgeous and a great way to impress your guests. I make my Pumpkin Roll Cake every year for Thanksgiving and it's always a huge hit!
How to make Strawberry Swiss Rolls
- Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, oil, milk, lemon zest, vanilla, and 1/2 of the sugar until combined.
- Step 2: In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients and mix.
- Step 3: Add the flour mixture to the wet and mix just until combined.
- Step 4: In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Add in the rest of the sugar and beat.
- Step 5: Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter.
- Step 6: Pour the batter into a 10x15-inch jelly roll pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
- Step 7: Bake
- Step 8: Sprinkle a dusting of powdered sugar over a tea towel or kitchen towel.
- Step 9: Remove the cake from the oven and place the baked cake on top of the dusted tea towel and roll. Place on a wire rack until it cools.
- Step 10: In a medium bowl, add the cream cheese and powdered sugar, and using an electric mixer, beat until combined.
- Step 11: Add in the whipped cream.
- Step 12: Mix until fully combined.
- Step 13: Remove from the cooling rack.
- Step 14: Gently unroll the cake.
- Step 15: Spread an even layer of the cream filling over the top.
- Step 16: Add the layer of strawberries or strawberry puree, and gently roll it back up.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure you beat the eggs until soft peaks form; this is an important step to ensure a light and fluffy sponge cake.
- You want to roll it as soon as it comes out of the oven and try not to roll it too tightly, or it may crack.
- Using a tea towel or thin dish towel to roll it up helps to prevent it from sticking and also makes rolling the warm cake so much easier.
Recipe FAQ's
Yes, I usually make this strawberry roll cake the day before and wrap it with a tea towel in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until ready to add the filling. Then bring it to room temperature for about an hour, then unroll the cake and add the filling.
Rolling the strawberry roll cake while it's warm is an important step that ensures the cake doesn't crack. When it's warm, it's flexible and helps it keep that shape as it cools. But if your cake does crack or split, you can cover it with whipped cream, or even chop up the cake and make a layered trifle out of it.
Roll cakes can be a little tricky, too, sometimes. You must roll it while it's still warm, and let it cool for several hours. Once cooled, carefully unroll the cake, spread the frosting over the top, and gently roll the cake back up again.
Most rolled cakes that sag are made with a whipped cream filling, and it doesn't hold up as well and will cause the cake to sag after a couple of hours. Adding the cream cheese, it stabilizes the filling, which allows the roll cake to hold up better.
Strawberry Swiss Roll Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 eggs yolks at room temperature
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 egg whites at room temperature
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup Cool whip
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups strawberries sliced
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a with cooking spray and lay a piece of parchment paper and lightly spray the top of the parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl whisk the egg yolks, vegetable oil, milk, lemon zest, vanilla, and ½ of the granulated sugar until combined.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
- In a medium bowl using a hand mixer beat the eggs on high until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Add in the other half of the granulated sugar and continue beating for another 1-2 minutes.
- Using a wooden spoon or spatula fold egg whites into the cake batter until fully combined.
- Pour batter onto a prepared jelly roll baking pan and bake for 13-15n minutes or until slightly golden brown and spongy.
- Lay a tea towel or on a flat surface and lightly dust it with powdered sugar and set aside.
- When the cake is done immediately invert the cake onto the towel. Remove the parchment paper and then roll the cake in the towel starting at one end. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Filling
- In a medium bowl using a hand mixer beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth, using a spatula fold in the cool whip just until all combined.
- When the cake has cooled gently unroll the cake and spread the filling evenly over the cake. Add the sliced strawberries on top and carefully roll the cake back up. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to chill.
- Dust with powdered sugar, slice, and serve.
Yay Stacy so happy it was a hit!
I made this for a friends get together and they all loved it so much I was called in to make it again for a birthday. It’s so wonderful, the lemon is so perfect with the tart/sweet of the strawberries, makes it the perfect summer cake! Thanks for this… it’s awesome!!I have a feeling I’ll be making it a lot more before summers over… lol.
Yes you can, wrap the rolled cake in saran wrap followed by a layer of foil or place it in a large freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Can I freeze roll? If so what is the best way to wrap?
Yay so happy you loved it, you'll get it next time 🙂
I made this for my wife's birthday today. I definitely made some mistakes (pan was slightly too small, didn't roll the cake right) so I ended up with a split and cracked cake. But it tasted great, both the cake and the filling, and I can see how I can get it right next time. Thank you for the recipe!
It gets folded in after the cream cheese is blended together.
when do you add the cool whip? There is no where in the recipe where you add the cool whip.
You got to the comment section, and you scrolled right past the printable recipe. The "Jump to Recipe" button at the top will take you right down to it.
How much of each ingredient?