Holiday Designed Swiss Roll – Master Guide
Welcome to yet another Master Guide on these lovely and delicious Designed Swiss Rolls and Sheet Cakes. My goal is for you all to come across my baked goods on social media and visit my blog and feel that you have all the confidence you need to go on your own and create everything yourself. Of course, I am always here to help. If you ever have any questions regarding any of my recipes the best way to reach me is here in the comments of all of my recipes 🙂
By the end of this blog you will have all the knowledge and understanding you need to create these show stopping Designed Cakes. I have all the faith in you…SOOO let’s get into it!
What Size Pan Should I Use?
For my Swiss Rolls I either use a 9″ x 13″ cookie sheet or a standard 13″ x 18″ cookie sheet. If you are using the smaller cookie sheet I recommend using the half batch of batter (the one that starts with 6 egg yolks) like we use in this blog here.
In comparison to the full batch that starts with 12 egg yolks where we would use this full batch for our three stacked cakes with the designed sheet cake on top, here’s an example; My Fall Themed Swiss Roll. I used a full batch with that Fall Themed Swiss Roll then baked two more layers of cake with my remaining batter without designs on them. Then I stacked the cakes in the order of; layer of undesigned cake, whipped cream, fruit or additional filling of course, another layer of undesigned cake, more filling, then top it all of with the designed sheet cake.
Additionally, you always have the option to make circular shaped designed cakes like these here; Grinch Designed Cake. Overall my best advice would be for you to take a step back and figure out what theme/ design you want your cake to resemble. From there you can decide which pan will work best for you.
What Brand Of Food Dye Do You Use?
I use Americolor Food Gel. I have used my fair share of food dyes out there and I have never had such success than with Americolor Food Gel. A little bit goes a long way so that the deep blacks and reds don’t effect the flavors of your desserts and the colors always result in such a beautiful vivid end result. For the link to these Food Dyes on Amazon, click here!
How Do You Get White Batter?
I’ve seen this question so many times and it doesn’t surprise me. I didn’t even know that white food dye existed over a year ago. But it DOES! White food gel is the perfect way to make your designs really pop. You can find it on Amazon, here.
How Do I Avoid Cracking My Swiss Roll?
After all of your hard work and patience, the most sinking feeling in the world can be when you swiss roll cracks. There are many factors that can contribute to a cracked swiss roll and I’m going to take you through th emost common ones today so that if you’ve ever experienced a cracked swiss roll in the past, maybe this advice will help you next time.
- Over baking – This recipe advises you to only bake the cake for 8-9 minutes. I understand that compared to traditional cakes this is a significant difference. Well…this isn’t a traditional cake 🙂 Because the layer of our cake is exceptionally thin, and because the batter is so light and airy, it does not need a long time in the oven. Over baking can lead to a dry cake without enough moisture to allow you to roll the cake without it cracking.
- Rolling While Warm – Rolling your swiss roll while it is warm is imperative. As soon as that baby comes out of the oven you better be flipping it out of you pan and rolling it up as soon as possible. In doing so, we’re locking in all of that moisture and heat that comes off the cake as soon as it’s released from the pan. This heat and moisture is going to help our cake become more flexible and bend easier to complete your roll.
- Avoid Overfilling/ Over-rolling – Be sure to use a filling like whipped cream that is light and airy and won’t put too much pressure on your cake when it’s rolled back up. Also be sure not to roll your cake back up too tight. This will stretch the cake more than its able to and lead to cracks.
- Fill A Cooled Cake – This one may be obvious but it’s always important to let your swiss rolls cool completely before filling them to avoid the filling softening and melting and just creating a big mess. Unrolling and filling your roll while it’s still cooling can also – you guessed it, cause cracking.
How To Avoid Over Mixing Batter
I think this is the part that stresses people out the most. How you mix your batter will depict how your entire designed swiss roll or sheet cake will turn out. As you can see in the recipe, first we separate the egg whites and egg yolks. We make a batter with the egg yolks then later on whip up our egg whites separately. It is important to whip your egg whites until they’ve reached stiff peaks. The egg whites should not be runny. Next we fold our stiff peaked egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. This step is done with a silicone spatula and should be done carefully and thoughtfully. Slowly fold the egg whites to evenly distribute them throughout the batter. Do not mix aggressively or this will deflate our egg whites and cause our batter to loose it’s thick, airiness that will allow us to pipe designs later on. Mix just until there are no longer big streaks of either the egg yolk mixture or egg whites.
Creating Stiff Peaks With Egg Whites
This is the process of whipping egg whites on high speed while, in this cake, slowly adding in sugar and vinegar. The purpose of the vinegar is to help stabilize the egg whites – and no it does not effect the flavor. There is so little vinegar in the recipe that there’s no way it would ever come through. BUT it does help our egg whites become nice and strong.
Before you begin to whip up your egg whites check for a few things; is the bowl you’re about to use clean? I mean very clean. Even the smallest amount of grease or fat residue can make it harder for your egg whites to stiffen. Also make sure that no small amounts of egg yolk sneaked in with the egg whites as this can also effect the process. You should use an electric mixer or stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment for whipping egg whites to make everything easier. Form start to finish, it should take anywhere from 7-10 minutes to reach stiff peaks. To test if you’re done mixing, dip your whisk in the egg whites then hold it upward. THe egg whits should keep their shape and be nice and stable.
How To Trace Your Designs Onto Parchment Paper
I unfortunately do not have templates yet that you all can have but I can just tell you that I usually just look online to find the character, design, or image that I want then use an edible marker to trace it onto my parchment paper. You may not find your design right off the bat, keep searching and keep an open mind. You can either trace your design onto your parchment paper from a clean iPad or tablet, or you can print the design you want then go ahead and trace it from there. Always be careful to not use someone else’s property when choosing the design you want if you plan on selling your baked goods. Everything I bake is for leisure and for sharing with you all.
Quick Links
- Edible Markers
- Parchment Paper
- Cookie Sheets
- Food Dye
- White Food Dye
- Elextric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Silicone Spatula
Holiday Designed Swiss Roll – Master Guide
8-10
servings8
minutesKeep the screen of your device on.
Ingredients
6 6 egg yolks
4 Tbsp. 4 sugar
4 Tbsp. 4 vegetable oil
4 Tbsp. 4 whole milk
2 tsp. 2 vanilla extract
1 cup 1 all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. 2 cornstarch
6 6 egg whites
1/2 tsp. 1/2 vinegar
4 Tbsp. 4 sugar
- Whipped Cream Filling
1 cup 1 heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 Tbsp. 2 1/2 confectioners sugar
dash salt
1 tsp. 1 vanilla
1/2 cup 1/2 andes chocolate peppermints, chopped (optional)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking sheet with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. I am using a standard 13″ x 18″ cookie sheet. Use an edible marker to draw or trace little grinch faces, trees, presents etc. all over half of your parchment paper sheet.
- 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. For example, black for the outlines of my designs, dark green for the trees, light green for the grinch, red for designs etc.
- Place each color into a piping bag.
- Trace and 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.
- Pipe the remaining, uncolored batter on top of the designs 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 a rag or parchment paper 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.
- 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. This is option al but I also added some chopped andes mint chocolates in there for some extra flavor and texture.
- 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 had so much fun with this. But, there were a lot of things I did wrong. I think I overbeat my egg whites and then mixed it too much as my batter was very thin and runny. It made for a very thin cake. When you are mixing the colors (especially if you have a large area) how do you get the color incorporated without over mixing? Thanks for all the inspiration!
Hi there, thank you for the rating and I’m sorry there were a few areas where you had trouble!! Over mixing the batter will definitely lead to a thinner batter. I typically only dye a small portion of batter at a time for my designs BUT if I want the background batter to be a different color then I mix a bit of dye into the egg yolk mixture before he egg whites are folded in to reduce the amount of mixing once they’re added. This does however make our whole batter colored so it may effect the rest of your designs so it really depends what design you’re going for. I would love to help more and it’s easiest for me when I can see pictures. Please feel free to email me, maddison@thesqueakymixer.com and I’d be more than happy to help more as much as I can!!
Hi, I love this and I tried it tonight for a baby shower and my black ran through the parchment. It was also very thin. I think the pan I used was much bigger than yours so I am guessing I should have double batched it. How can I stop the black running through? Thank you!
Hi there! Did you black batter or black edible marker run through? I recommend using gel food dye. If you used liquid this could have caused the batter to become too thin causing it to become too runny. If you’re pan was larger this could have caused the batter to not be evenly distributed or distributed too thin across your pan leading to the black running too much. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have and it’s easier for me to see the situation instead of picture what might have gone wrong. I can help you problem solve if you’d like to email me pictures and ask anymore questions feel free to reach out, maddison@thesqueakymixer.com Thank you!! 😊
I want to bake these rolls, can you teach me?
I teach you all about these rolls in the Master Guide here and you can also find more tutorials on my social media channels!
Hi Maddison, Thank you for this amazing recipe and master class! I would love to try this recipe for the holidays. Im a little nervous about the rolling part though, your method says to refer to a video to help with that step however I cant seem to find the video anywhere.
Hi there!! You can find all of my videos on social media but here is the specific video to go along with this recipe 😊 https://www.tiktok.com/@thesqueakymixer/video/7302220163644935467
Please let me know if you have any questions!!
🩷 thanks so much!