Jelly roll cakes are thin sponge cakes that are filled and then rolled. They give a pastry chef a wonderful range of creativity. All jelly roll cake starts with the sponge cake and you should master this skill. The basic sponge cake for this recipe uses four whole eggs, it is important the eggs are at room temparature so they whip to a fuller volume. Also, save the yolks in a separate bowl because you will also whip them. Add a pinch of salt to the whites and beat them until light adding regular granulated sugar in between.
Set the whites aside after beating them. To the yolks, sift in a quarter cup of icing sugar then whip them until they are thick and creamy and doubled in volume. Add in a teaspoon of vanilla and whisk it in. Sift in cake and pastry flour and using a whisk, quickly fold in the flour. Add in half of the whipped egg whites and fold them in until almost combined. Sift in the remaining flour and continue folding it in the batter.
Add the other half of the egg whites and use a spatula to fold everything together. Make sure the whites are fully incorporated into the yolk base. It takes a special pan to make a jelly roll. Line the pan with parchment then pour the batter and spread in the pan. Bake it at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, and taste the doneness of the sponge cake by giving it a little press, when it springs back, you know they are baked all the way through.
The real secret behind a jelly roll cake is creating jelly roll memory by working with it while it’s warm, rolling it up then letting it cool up. That way it won’t crack and it’s easy to unroll and re-roll again. Give the top of the cake a good dusting with icing sugar then take a clean tea towel and put it over the top of the cake.
Take another pan out of on top of the cake and flip it upside down, remove the parchment paper and give the other side a dusting of icing sugar. Take the tea towel, tuck it in and start rolling. After teh cake cools completely in the tea towel, unroll it and spread it evenly with raspberry jam then roll it again. Slice it to reveal that beautiful interior.
Ingredients;
- 4 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
- ¼ cup icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅒ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- ¾ cup cake and pastry flour
- ⅔ cup raspberry jam
Instructions;
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of a 15-x-10-inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
- Place the egg yolks and icing sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment and whip until the yolks have doubled in volume and hold a ribbon when the whip is lifted for about 4 minutes. Whip in the vanilla.
- In a separate, or cleaned bowl, whip the egg whites with the salt first on low speed until foamy
- Increase the speed to high and pour in the granulated sugar, whipping until the whites hold a medium peak.
- Sift half of the flour into the yolk mixture and fold in using a whisk, then fold in half of the whipped egg whites.
- Repeat with the remaining flour, and then change to a spatula to fold in the last of the whites until evenly incorporated.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, taking the time to ensure the batter is level.
- Bake the cake for about 12 minutes, until the cake springs back when gently pressed in the centre.
- Let the cake cool for about 2 minutes on a cooling rack, then loosen the sides with a spatula.
- Sift a layer of icing sugar over the surface of the cake and cover with a clean tea towel.
- Place a second cake pan over the towel and quickly invert the cake, removing the pan it was baked in.
- Peel off the parchment paper and dust this surface with icing sugar.
- Roll the cake up from the 10-inch side with the towel and let it cool completely.
- Stir the raspberry jam to soften. Unroll the cake and spread an even layer of jam over the cake.
- Roll the cake back up again, and dust the top with icing sugar. Cover and store at room temperature until ready to serve.
- The cake can be prepared up to a day in advance and stored, wrapped and unrefrigerated.
