Swirls on swirls filled with a fluffy whipped cream and Grand Marnier-soaked strawberries. # 259: Strawberry Cream Swiss Roll

Who doesn’t love a swiss roll? They’re so whimsical and can take whatever flavors and colors you throw at them. I took a quick trip down memory lane to see the swiss rolls I’ve known and loved, and realized I’ve made surprisingly few of them:

• Coffee, cardamom & pistachio: This one had to be slathered in coffee whipped cream thanks to a very localized cake earthquake. I had tried the roll-it-while-it’s-still-warm method and failed spectacularly. But yay chocolate decorations!
• Patriotic plum & mascarpone: I went HAM on the piped designs on this one, and was very proud of the result! Until I tried assembling it and realized I hadn’t learned anything from the previous year. I promised myself to roll the cake cold next time.
• 4th of July cherry & cream: Apparently I associated 4th of July festivities with swiss rolls? Unclear. This time I made the cake blue and there was only one crack despite my failure once again to try rolling it after it cooled. Lesson learned: make swiss rolls more than once a year!

Welp. I maintained my streak of the cake always cracking, but you know what? It’s so yummy that I don’t care. For the record, I tried rolling it cool and it was marginally less cracked and much fluffier than my previous cakes that I rolled while warm.

Much fluff. This sponge cake recipe is a keeper! It’s from the same cookbook as the Strawberry Buckwheat Snack Cake: Farmer’s Market Desserts by Jennie Schacht. Two for two, so far!

One of the best parts is that it uses both the egg yolks and whites, so there are no naked eggs hanging out in my fridge. Not that leftovers of either are so bad! In my kitchen, extra egg yolks = pastry cream, and extra egg whites = financiers, swiss meringue buttercream, or an army of tiny crispy meringues.

Want to see a magic trick? Start with deep yellow egg yolks and sugar.

Add air and voila! Pastel yellow. It’ll continue getting paler and fluffier the more air you feed it. The recipe doesn’t call for orange zest, but I had some on hand so my batter got freckles.

Gently folding in the egg white clouds. If you see the nuns from Sound of Music, let them know you can catch a cloud and pin it down with a spatula.

The freezer is your best friend for any kind of design on a sponge cake. Pipe whatever strikes your fancy, then pop it in the freezer so it’ll hold it’s shape while you spread the rest of the batter on top.

Tattooed cake! Hardcore.

While I was focusing on cake, the strawberries had a Grand Marnier and sugar spa treatment and are feeling like a million bucks.

I chose to substitute cream cheese for sour cream because.. why not? Sour cream is not my jam, and cream cheese and strawberries pair so well together. Plus I had the correct amount of cream cheese in the fridge, so it was a sign.

This filling is making a *fool* out of me! . . . ehh, I’ll work on that. Esoteric British desserts don’t lend themselves well to puns. Apparently the name fool comes from the French word “fouler” which means to trample or mash. A tad violent for such a light summery dessert, but I suppose the fruit does get a little squished as it’s mixed in with the cream.

Luscious.

Best part: slicing the messy end off to reveal what is hopefully a pretty swirl. Cross your fingers, but don’t drop your knife!

Ta-daa!

The cracking might have been a result of how thick the filling was and how tightly I tried to roll the sponge. Or it’s just my lot in life to never have a pristine swiss roll. Either way, it tastes great!

Just like you have a best side of your face for photos, so does this cake. The swirl is ready for it’s close-up.

Hopefully my next swiss roll with happen before summer 2023 – stay tuned!

Happy munching!

Recipe mostly from: Farmers’ Market Desserts by Jennie Schacht