Swiss Roll with Jam and Cream

Before you start

A Swiss roll is a thin sheet of sponge baked fast, rolled up while hot and later unrolled and filled. The cake has to bend without breaking, so the batter is a fat-free whipped-egg sponge with a small amount of flour and a splash of milk for flexibility. Baking at a high temperature for under 10 minutes keeps the sheet moist.

Cracking almost always comes from overbaking or from rolling the cake after it has cooled. Pull it as soon as the top springs back, turn it straight onto a sugared towel and roll it at once. The warm sponge sets in a curved shape, which is what lets it roll again around the filling without splitting.

Ingredients

• Sponge4 large eggs — room temperature
• 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar — plus 2 tbsp for the towel
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 90 g (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) cake flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp whole milk — warm
• Filling120 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) raspberry or strawberry jam
• 240 ml (1 cup) cold heavy cream
• 25 g (3 tbsp) powdered sugar — plus more for dusting

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Grease the pan, line it with parchment and grease the parchment. Lay the towel flat on the counter and sprinkle it evenly with 2 tbsp sugar.
2. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt together.
3. Whip the eggs and 100 g sugar on high speed for 7 to 8 minutes, until pale, more than tripled in volume and thick enough to hold a ribbon for 3 seconds. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Sift the flour mixture over the foam in two additions, folding gently after each. Drizzle the warm milk around the edge of the bowl and fold just until no streaks remain.
5. Pour the batter into the pan and nudge it into the corners with an offset spatula, keeping the layer even. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until light golden and the center springs back when touched.
6. Immediately run a knife around the edges and flip the hot sponge onto the sugared towel. Peel off the parchment. Starting at a short end, roll the sponge up with the towel inside it. Let it cool seam side down for about 40 minutes.
7. Whip the cream with the powdered sugar to medium peaks. Gently unroll the cooled sponge. Spread the jam to the edges, then spread the cream over it, leaving a 2 cm (¾ in) bare strip at the far end.
8. Roll the cake up again without the towel, using it only to guide the first turn. Set it seam side down, cover and chill for 30 minutes. Trim the ends, dust with powdered sugar and slice with a serrated knife.

Tips for success

• Spread the batter evenly; thin corners overbake and crack first.
• If the edges look crisp after baking, trim a thin strip off each long side before rolling.
• A 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) quarter sheet gives a thicker, shorter roll. Bake it 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Substitutions

Cake flour

Use 75 g all-purpose flour and 15 g cornstarch, sifted together. The sponge is slightly less tender but rolls well.

Whipped cream

Use 300 g stabilized whipped cream or a mascarpone cream if the roll will sit for more than a few hours; plain cream starts to weep after a day.

Jam

Lemon curd or a thick fruit puree also works. Very loose fillings squeeze out at the seam, so keep the layer thin.

Variations

Chocolate Swiss roll

Replace 20 g of the flour with 20 g cocoa powder and fill with vanilla whipped cream.

Matcha strawberry roll

Sift 2 tsp matcha powder with the flour and fill with cream and diced strawberries.

Troubleshooting

Sponge cracked as it rolled

It was overbaked or cooled before rolling. Take it out as soon as the center springs back and roll it within a minute of leaving the oven.

Sponge stuck to the towel

The towel needed more sugar or the sponge was underbaked and tacky. Sugar the whole towel surface and bake until the top is dry to the touch.

Filling squeezed out of the ends

Too much filling or no bare margin at the far edge. Leave a clean strip and roll with gentle, even pressure.

Storage

Keep the filled roll covered in the refrigerator and eat it within 2 days. Do not leave a cream-filled roll at room temperature longer than 2 hours. An unfilled rolled sponge can be wrapped and frozen for up to 1 month.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw batter; it contains raw egg and flour. Contains wheat, egg and milk.