This bakery swiss roll cake recipe is direct from my family’s three generations of professional bakers. Light and fluffy, this will be the best swiss roll cake you’ll ever taste!
Remember that scene in Despicable Me where Agnes grabs the stuffed animal and screams “IT’S SO FLUFFY”?! Get ready to channel your inner Agnes after you try this bakery swiss roll cake recipe.
This swiss roll cake also happens to be one of my favorite cakes my mom makes for me. This has been my birthday cake for the past 5 years. 😀
Check out the filling recipe I used: Homemade Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Try out this homemade cranberry sauce!
Swiss Roll Cake Recipe Tips:
Start with room temperature egg whites as they whip up better and create more volume. The first thing I do before preparing any other ingredients is separate the whites and yolks and leave them at room temperature. By the time I'm done preparing the other ingredients, the whites should be at room temperature.
When creating the meringue, whip the egg whites to a soft peak before adding any sugar. This allows the meringue to keep its volume and not deflate when adding the sugar. I always split the sugar into three equal parts. Never add all the sugar at once when creating a meringue.
For the egg yolk mixture, beat everything over a warm bowl of water. This helps the sugar melt and incorporate with the other ingredients to give you a more airy, fluffy egg yolk batter. Basically, the more fluffy and light your batter, the more fluffy and light your swiss roll cake will turn out.
Your egg yolk batter should be a pale yellow that falls slowly into ribbons and holds its shape for a bit. Below is a picture of the finished stage for the egg yolk batter.
Sift the dry ingredients into the mixture in three equal parts. Gently fold it in each time before adding more.
Cut out your parchment paper so that it neatly fits your pan. You want to make sure your batter is an even, flat layer so that it bakes and browns evenly and your swiss roll cake is easy to roll up. I used a 9 x 13 inch pan. When pouring the batter into the pan, pour it from a height of about 8 inches above the baking pan. This helps pop any large air bubbles in your batter. Be sure to smooth the batter into the corners.
After taking out your cake from the oven, invert it onto a clean, slightly dampened kitchen towel and peel off the parchment paper. Gently roll up your cake and hold it in place so that it doesn't unravel. A rolling pin is perfect for this. Be sure not to squeeze the cake or roll it up too tightly as this can cause cracks to form.
Unroll the cake once it's slightly warm and add your favorite jelly or jam. I filled it with some leftover homemade cranberry sauce which turned out to be AH-MAZING. If filling with cream or custard, wait for the cake to completely cool. Roll it back up, top with powdered sugar and berries, and enjoy this bakery swiss roll cake!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! Please share, rate, and comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
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Bakery Swiss Roll Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup cake flour - (125 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon salt - (1 gram)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup white sugar for egg yolk mixture, (87 grams)
- ⅓ cup white sugar for egg white meringue, (75 grams)
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup - (12 grams)
- 6 eggs whites and yolks separated
- ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons water - (25 grams)
- ⅓ cup avocado oil - (62 grams)
Filling:
- ¾ cup homemade cranberry sauce or other filling of your choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Egg Yolk Mixture:
- In a medium bowl, add together egg yolks, ½ cup of sugar, salt, corn syrup, vanilla, and water. Set this bowl inside a larger bowl filled with warm water and beat on high until pale yellow with ribbons form. Remove from the warm water bath and set aside.
Egg White Meringue:
- In a large bowl, add the egg whites and beat on high until soft peaks form. Start adding the ⅓ cup of sugar in three equal parts, beating each time to incorporate. Beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.
Roll Cake Batter:
- Add ½ of the egg white meringue to the egg yolk mixture and gently fold it in until it's mostly mixed in. The batter should be light and airy. Next, sift the flour and baking powder together and add this into the batter in three equal parts, gently folding after each time.
- In a small bowl, microwave the oil until it's warm to the touch. Take out ¼ cup of the combined batter from the previous step and completely mix this into the warm oil. Fold this back into the combined batter. Next, add the entire batter to the remaining egg white meringue and fold it in gently.
Baking & Filling the Roll Cake:
- Pour the batter into a parchment lined pan. Bang the pan twice to remove large air bubbles and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when it's done.
- Take out the cake, invert the pan onto a clean, slightly damp kitchen cloth, and remove the parchment paper from the bottom. Roll up the cake and hold it in place.
- Once the cake is slightly warm to the touch, unroll the cake and spread with your jam or jelly filling. If filling with custard or cream, wait until the cake is completely cooled so the filling doesn't melt. Top with powdered sugar and berries.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Elizabeth
Hi Jamie, thanks for sharing this recipe which I just came across. Please what other substitute can I use in place of avocado oil?
Thank you
Betty
Jamie
Hi Elizabeth! You can substitute with any neutral vegetable oil. Hope you enjoy!
Dillan
Thank you for this recipe! I can't wait to try it. Can I ask...what is the purpose of the corn syrup? And can I leave it out? I don't have any in my pantry.
Jamie
Hi Dillan! The corn syrup adds a bit of sweetness while adding some moisture to the batter. You can substitute with honey or agave syrup. Hope you enjoy!
Odette Giordmaina
I did this recipe for Christmas desert.....amazing reviews. O would suggest to post in brackets the measurements in grams as where i live we use the metric system. And i had to convert all the items one by one to metric. Just a suggestion!
Jamie
Thanks Odette! Sure, I'll be updating the recipe soon with measurements in grams. So glad you enjoyed this for the holidays. It makes a great Christmas cake! 🙂
Sonia
Wow! I made this yesterday to rave reviews from the family. I used strawberry jam and cream in the roll. I've made swiss rolls quite regularly for decades. This is hands-down the best. Now it will be my go to recipe. Yes, it's a bit fiddlier than other recipes, but so worth the effort. Thank you.
Jamie
Thank you Sonia! That's wonderful to hear you and your family loved it! It's my go to recipe as well and we're actually making this again for Christmas! 🙂
cushla
Very easy and wonderful sponge cake to bake. I made apricot jellyjam for a change.... yummy!
Thanks for sharing
Jamie
Yay! So glad to hear that. Thanks for trying it out! 🙂
Sierra
Hi,
Can I use a 10*15 inch pan for this?
Jamie
Hi Sierra! Sure you can use a 10x15 inch pan. The cake will come out thinner than mine but it would still work since I used a 9x13 inch pan. Hope you enjoy it!
Farzana
Hi Jamie
I love this recipe! The texture is incredible. I’m not a fan of Swiss rolls that get flattened like pancakes. But I’m having trouble rolling it up. It’s really thick and soft so I find it just breaks 😭 do you roll up the towel inside the Swiss roll? Just trying to figure out where I’m going wrong. I didn’t roll it too tightly the second time and it still cracked.
Jamie
Hi Farzana! I'm so glad you love this roll cake! It's definitely super soft and fluffy.:)
I don't roll it up with the towel inside. It's a bit tricky rolling up roll cakes but what I find helps is to make sure it's not over baked which can dry it out and cause cracks when rolling it up. I usually bake this for 18 minutes with my oven and take it out when there's still a bit of 'spring' or 'bounce' to the cake. Meaning, when I press down with my fingers, it should spring back. This elasticity is what helps the cake roll up nicely without cracking. Another tip is to not roll it up too tightly. I'm working on making a video for this recipe so hopefully that will help more. 🙂
Candice
Hi Jamie!
I wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe and let you know that we now have something in common... this is going to be my birthday cake from now on too! So light and fluffy and utterly delicious.
Thanks again!
Candice
Jamie
Thanks Candice! That's great this is going to be your birthday cake! I'm a fan of light, fluffy cakes too! 🙂
Amy
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I have tried many recipes for Swiss rolls and so far this is the best: soft and light. I made a huge roll, 11.5”x17.5” using 7 eggs, 1.5 cup of flour and half of the sugar but triple the amount of honey. I also replaced vanilla with lemon zest or espresso powder for different flavors. The cake was super moist and fluffy. I made a roll a day for 3 days in a row and my picky eaters loved them all!
Jamie
Thanks so much Amy! Those are great additions to the swiss roll! I like the sound of espresso powder! 🙂
Nurul
Hi Jamie,
What Can I substitute corn syrup With?.. thanks.. 🙂
Jamie
Hi Nurul! You can use a bit of honey instead. Hope you enjoy!
Jackie Kabat
Hi,
I do not have avocado oil. Can I use canola oil?
Thanks,
Jackie
Jamie
Hi Jackie! Yes you can use canola oil if you don't have avocado oil. Hope you enjoy!
Jackie Kabat
Thank you!!
Raeesah
Made the cake all the way in south africa, lovely recipe thank you for sharing
Jamie
Thank you Raeesah! I'm so happy you liked it! 🙂
Yeshi
If I use 3 eggs and halve the ingredients, will be measurements be right?
Jamie
Hi Yeshi! Yes you can half the ingredients and use just three eggs. Hope you like it!
Daphne
Hi Jamie! May I ask, what are the sizes of the eggs you use in this recipe? Thanks in advance!!
Jamie
Hi Daphne! I used large, grade AA eggs for this cake. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Daphne
Thanks, Jamie! I was not be able to roll it as well as the cake seems like it's too thick? I think it was around 2.5-3 inches thick? Is this the correct thickness? In the end, I cut the cake into half with a serrated knife and had 2 swiss rolls instead! But my rolls were not so pretty! But still taste good! And the cake was so fluffy! I will try again next time and hope it improves!
Jamie
Hi Daphne, what size pan did you use? I use a 9 x 13 inch pan for this recipe and roll it up starting at the short end. I'll try to make a video for this recipe in case it helps. Thanks for trying it out! 🙂
Chua
Wow! This was delicious and fluffy. I really loved it! However i was not able to roll the cake so i stacked it up to 3 layers instead haha. My whole family loved it. I highly recommend this recipe!!!!!
Jamie
Thank you Chua! I'm so glad you loved this swiss roll cake! Stacking the layers is a great idea! 🙂