Name: Strawberry Roll Cake
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 3 egg yolks; 25g caster sugar; 85g cake or top flour; 5g cornstarch; Meringue: 3 egg whites, 60g caster sugar; Icing sugar, for dusting; 15g caster sugar; 30g boiled hot water; 185g dairy cream; 12g icing sugar; 1/4 tsp vanilla extract; 8 pcs strawberries*; Whipped cream from filling (optional); Strawberries, blueberries, gold leaf (optional)

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A light and fluffy strawberry roll cake, filled with light whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Enjoy this refreshing dessert with tea on a hot afternoon!

Have you tried making roll cakes? Or do you think that roll cakes are difficult to make?

If so, you’d be excited to know that this strawberry roll cake is quite fool-proof. And it doesn’t matter if it cracks slightly while rolling. Let’s find out how to make this roll cake, even if you are a beginner in roll cakes!

What Ingredients Do I Need?

You will need just these few ingredients for the biscuit sponge:

Eggs: Use 55g – 60g eggs (medium to large size).
Caster Sugar: Use caster sugar so that it dissolves better in the batter.
Cake / Top Flour: Use a low protein flour in this recipe, so it will be okay if you use either cake or top flour. I am using Prima’s unbleached top flour.
Cornstarch: In addition to the cake or top flour, cornstarch helps make the biscuit sponge light and fluffy.
Icing Sugar: The icing sugar will be used to dust on the sponge batter just before baking.

For the syrup and filling:

Caster Sugar
Water
Dairy Cream (At least 35% fats): I am using Elle & Vire whipping cream. I find this brand of dairy cream whips up better for me.
Icing Sugar
Strawberries: I have used about 8 pcs of Korean strawberries inside, and 3 pcs of strawberries (halved) to be placed on the roll cake for deco. The amount to be used will also depend on the size of your strawberries, so prepare 1 punnet of strawberries to be safe.

How Does This Strawberry Roll Cake Taste Like?

The biscuit sponge is very similar to the ladyfingers that we frequently use for charlotte cakes or tiramisu – but a softer and moister version. It may also feel like a less moist version of genoise sponge cake, so be sure to brush generously with the syrup before spreading whipped cream onto the sponge.

I’ll recommend you to make this roll cake 1 day before serving, as it develops better flavor overnight. The syrup and whipped cream also infuse better into the sponge overnight, making it more moist and delicious.

To keep this roll cake in the fridge overnight without drying, I will keep the roll cake rolled up with parchment paper and twist the sides to seal well. Store the remaining whipped cream (for topping) covered in a container in the refrigerator for piping the next day.

Making the Sponge Batter

Similar to chiffon cakes, the biscuit sponge needs an egg separation method:

Egg Yolk Batter – Using an electric hand mixer, whip up the egg yolks and sugar till it turns pale yellow, and the volume double up after whipping.
Meringue – Whip the egg whites and sugar to stiff peaks. If you are using the same hand mixer, wash and wipe dry the beaters thoroughly before whipping the egg whites. Otherwise, the fats from the egg yolks will not allow the egg whites to be whipped up properly.

Once the egg whites reach stiff peaks, fold 1/3 of the meringue twice, into the whipped egg yolks. Pour the batter back into the remaining 1/3 amount of the meringue and fold well. Lastly, sift in the flour and cornstarch, and fold.

It is important to be careful at this last step to not overmix. Simply fold till no traces of white flour can be seen – check the bottom of the bowl to make sure batter is incorporated well. You may see that the batter is lumpy or “curdling”. That will be fine, as long as there is no more white flour in the batter.

We will then pour the batter into piping bag to pipe out the batter onto a 30cm x 30cm baking tray.

Piping the Batter

I have used Wilton #10 for piping the batter. We will just need to pipe diagonal lines in the lined baking tray.

Leave some distance above the baking tray when you are doing the piping – slightly higher than piping macarons. Be sure to not leave gaps in between the batter.

Once we are done with the piping, dust icing sugar twice on the sponge batter and it is ready to be baked.

Decorating the Roll Cake

Once the sponge is baked, let it cool briefly. In the meantime, whip up the cream. Spread the whipped cream onto the sponge, place the strawberries, and roll it up. You can then chill the extra whipped cream in the fridge for decorating later on.

Wrap the cake in baking paper and chill in the fridge for at least 30 mins to firm up. If you have extra time, let the cake mature overnight in the fridge. I find the flavor develops and gets better after chilling in the fridge overnight.

Whipping Dairy Cream

If you are beginner to whipping dairy cream, take note of the following:

Use a metal mixing bowl to whip the cream, not plastic ones.
Place mixing bowl and beaters or whisk in the freezer for about 10 mins.
Prepare a larger bowl with ice water.
Weigh out the cream in the metal mixing bowl. Whip using medium speed, placed over the larger bowl that has ice water in it.
Once the cream has thickened, you can change to high speed to continue whipping till firm or stiff peaks form.

Alternatively, if you are really not confident of whipping dairy cream, you can use non-dairy cream, such as Millac Gold or Redman Whip Topping instead.

Can I Reduce the Sugar?

I wouldn’t recommend you to reduce the sugar for the sponge. Meringue (egg whites) will need a certain amount of sugar to make it stable.

The sugar for the syrup is in lesser ratio than the usual 1:1 syrup ratio; the whipped cream also uses lesser sugar than usual. So on the whole, the roll cake itself wouldn’t taste super sweet. Just note that since it is a dessert, there will still be sweetness to it.