Strawberry Jelly Roll

Nov

22nd

People often ask me what I do with all of the food I cook for the blog. The truth is, I eat most of it. I try to post recipes for things I am willing to cook and eat on a regular day, and doing so ensures I have a wide variety of foods in my diet. Indeed, my toddler CJ is probably one of the most adventurous eaters around because he too has to eat whatever is going on the blog! In a recent exception to this rule, I hosted an Afternoon Tea Party for my friends and their children. I prepared 6 different desserts and everyone came over to help eat them. It was a fun, relaxing afternoon and a last chance to see my friends before heading back to Wisconsin for the holidays. One dessert I prepared was this gorgeous Strawberry Jelly Roll. To me, it seemed exactly like the sort of dessert one should eat while sipping tea on a chilly afternoon.

I don’t have a lot of experience with jelly roll cakes, but it turns out you don’t need any. The whole thing came together painlessly with beautiful results. My one piece of advice would be to grease, grease, grease your jelly roll pan. And flour it, too! Sometimes I ignore instructions that say to flour a pan, but in this case it is crucial. My cake came out easily enough, but I was pretty nervous that it might stay stuck on the pan forever. Take the extra 2 minutes and prepare your baking pan carefully so you don’t have to worry.

I thought strawberry jelly sounded the best but raspberry is a close second. You can use any jelly or preserves at all that you choose. I can’t wait to experiment with other fillings and with changing up the cake recipe. What do you think sounds like a winning combination for a roll cake?

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and lightly flour a 15” x 10” x 1” baking pan. Lay a clean kitchen towel on a flat surface and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, beat eggs at high speed for 5 minutes or until thick. Add sugar ¼ c. at a time, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in water and vanilla.

With the mixer running on low speed, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Continue to mix until dry ingredients are moistened.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes. The cake is ready when it springs back after being lightly touched.

Remove baking pan from oven and run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen. Immediately invert on to the towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove pan.

Starting with the short side, roll up cake in towel and set on a wire rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Unroll cake and remove towel. Spread cake with jelly and re-roll loosely to incorporate filling. Wrap in foil or wax paper and store in the refrigerator until serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving if desired.

Number of servings (yield): 8

About the Author, Meggan

Hi! I am a mother and the recipe developer behind Culinary Hill. I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but now I find inspiration every day in my Southern California kitchen.