Designed Swiss Roll
Once I started piping designs onto swiss rolls I couldn’t stop! I recommend reading through some of the helpful tips I’ve listen below before diving into this recipe so you are set up to have the most success.
Mixing The Batter
One of the most important parts of this recipe is mixing the batter correctly. Over-mixing the batter can lead to it becoming too thin. This can then lead to it being harder to pipe designs that stay in place.
To achieve the perfect batter consistency, be sure to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then, when it comes time to folding the egg whites into the bowl of batter, fold it in gently and evenly to ensure that the egg whites are being incorporated throughout the batter nicely. Mix just until the egg whites are evenly distributed. Over mixing will deflate the egg whites which will result in the batter becoming too thin.
How To Make The Design
To create the initial design on the parchment paper, use an edible marker to either trace or draw whatever design you’re going for. If you don’t have an edible marker, make the design on one side of the parchment paper then flip the parchment paper over so the design is facing down, and won’t touch batter directly.
Piping The Design
The design is piped onto the parchment paper using the cake batter. After you’ve made the batter, mix however many colors you need to achieve the design that you wish to make. Place the colored batter into piping bags.
One color at a time, pipe your designs carefully. I always cut a very small tip off my piping bag. You can always cut more off if needed but it’s best to start small especially for smaller, more intricate designs.
Rolling The Cake
If you’ve ever attempted to make a swiss roll in the past, rolling the cake may have been one of the more difficult parts. I have a few tricks that’ll help! It’s very important to roll the cake right when it’s hot out of the oven. This will lock in the moisture and keep the cake moist and flexible. You can roll the cake with a damp rag or parchment paper. Whichever method you go with, you can also sprinkle on some granulated sugar to help prevent the cake from sticking. This is optional but helpful.
Be sure to prepare the damp rag or parchment paper before the cake comes out of the oven. Because we need to roll the cake while it’s very hot, it’s best to be prepared. This part can be a bit stressful. Follow the steps, use these helpful tips, and relax 🙂 I believe in you!
Designed Swiss Roll
8-10
servings1
hour30
minutesKeep the screen of your device on.
Ingredients
6 egg yolks
4 Tbsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 Tbsp. whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp. vinegar
4 Tbsp. sugar
- Whipped Cream Filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 Tbsp. confectioners sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking sheet with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. I am using a small 9″ x 13″ cookie sheet. But this recipe makes enough for a standard 13″ x 18″ cookie sheet Swiss Roll.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth. Keep the egg whites! We will need them later.
- Add the vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla to the egg yolk mixture and continue to whisk until fully combined.
- Sift in the flour and cornstarch to the wet ingredients. Then whisk until the batter is nice and smooth.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment, whisk the 6 egg whites until frothy. Slowly add in the vinegar and sugar while whipping up the egg whites.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. This is very important! Make sure the egg whites have formed stiff peaks before adding it in to the batter in the next step.
- Fold the egg whites into the batter until everything is fully combined. Be careful not to over mix at this step. If you over mix, the egg whites will deflate and cause for runny, thin batter. Mix just until the egg whites are evenly distributed throughout.
- Remove a couple tsp. of batter into small bowls and dye every color you want for your design.
- Place each color into a piping bag.
- Pipe your designs all over the left side of your prepared cookie sheet. You only need to pipe on one side since we will be rolling it up an won’t see designs that are on the inside. Let the finished designs set in the freezer for 5-8 minutes to firm up before covering them with batter.
- Pipe the remaining, uncolored batter on top of the frozen design to cover the entire cookie sheet. Then bake for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.
- While the cake bakes, prepare a lightly damp rag to roll the cake in as soon as it comes out of the oven. You can also sprinkle the rag with granulated sugar if you wish to help prevent it from sticking. If you don’t want to use a rag, simply use parchment paper to roll it up.
- If you piped a design on the bottom of the cake then you will need to make sure to roll it with the bottom side facing outward.
- Place the cake on the damp kitchen rag and slowly peel off the parchment paper that it baked it on, off.
- Roll up the cake using the damp rag and let it sit and cool for about 1 hour. Refer to the video above for help with these steps.
- While the cake cools, you can prepare the whipped cream.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment, whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks have formed and you have reached a whipped cream consistency.
- Once the cake has cooled, unravel it and fill it with the whipped cream until it is evenly spread.
- Re roll the cake then chill for about 15-20 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @thesqueakymixer on Instagram! I love to see what you all create.
I’m going to make this for my daughter’s birthday and I’m Soo excited. Thank you for this fabulous recipe. Based on the thickness of your cake in a 9″x13″ I’m worried that mine will be too thin in my 13″x18″. Can I double the recipe? Will it be too thick?
Hi there! I’m so excited that you’re making this for your Daughters birthday – how exciting! I do worry that using a 13″ x 18″ pan will make the layers too thin resulting in the cake being too thin to stack and too delicate to pick up and transfer to a serving platter. However if this recipe is doubled you will be working with A LOT of batter. I’m not sure if I even have bowls big enough for that amount of batter. Here’s what I recommend – make the recipe as is and be generous (don’t try to skimp out on batter for the first two layers to make enough for a third). If you end up not having enough batter left for the third layer then make a half batch. If this recipe were to be doubled you risk it deflating faster or being over mixed since you’d be working with such a large quantity. If possible the easiest solution would be to go out and grab a 9″ x 13″ pan. I really hope this helps. Please reach out to me directly maddison@thesqueakymixer.com if you still have questions – I want you to have the most success!!
These instructions were fantastic!!! Thank you! However, my cake on the design side got pretty brown. Advice for preventing that? Tasted great, just didn’t look amazing like yours.
Hi there! Thank you so much! What level rack did you bake the cake at in your oven? Since the heat typically comes from the bottom of the oven – this could increase the chances of the cake browning in the 8 minutes that it bakes, OR I suggest if you have a strong oven, to decrease the bake time slightly to prevent this browning. All ovens are different and this is a tedious recipe. I hope this helps – thank you! 🙂
I just made this this weekend and it turned out great! Thank you so much for the great directions and recipe. The cake is beautiful, but even more importantly tastes delicious! I added chopped strawberries to the whipped cream and it was wonderful 🙂
Chopped strawberries sounds like the most delicious addition! 🙂 Thank you for leaving such a kind comment – this made my day! I’m so glad you enjoyed!
I’ve made this 3 times now! The first time I used store bought whipped cream but I decided to try homemade the next time I made it and I will not be going back to store bought! It’s so good! I cut up some strawberries to put in the middle and that brought it to another level. I’m making in again tomorrow to bring to my in-laws. Thank you for the amazing recipe!
This comment made my day! I am so happy that you’ve been able to enjoy it so much! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My design was stuck to the parchment paper any advice? I didn’t spray it with cooking spray or grease the parchment paper itself because the instructions didn’t say to I just sprayed the pan before lining it
I’m sorry to hear that. There is no need to grease the parchment paper, just the pan like you did. It’s important to peel off the parchment paper while the cake is hot out of the oven. Was there a time delay from when it came out of the oven to when the parchment paper was peeled off? I hope this helps!
Can you freeze your cake rolls?
Hi- Am I reading correctly that this recipe only serves 4 people?
Hi there! I apologize for the confusion – we just launched this website a couple days ago and I’m still getting in the hang of things 🙂 The serving amount has been updated. This serves 8-10 slices of cake. You can serve more guests by making the slices slightly thinner. I hope you enjoy!
Yay! Thank you!
Hi! I’m going to make this for Easter and was wondering how long it will hold up refrigerated?
Hi there! This is best served fresh but can be made the day before and refrigerated overnight and kept in the fridge covered and sealed with plastic wrap to keep it fresh 🙂 I hope you have a very happy Easter and have so much fun baking this – Squeaky 🙂