A few weeks ago we had a lot of fun with cupcake and cake decorating—I hope you feel more confident with your piping skills now after tackling these two-toned frosting roses! With Mother’s Day approaching and spring in the air (dear allergies, thank you for the reminder spring is here) I figured we all need something fresh, light, airy, and PINK. Let me introduce you to this wonderful vanilla sponge cake filled with homemade strawberry cream cheese frosting… the strawberries ‘n’ cream cake roll!
Today I’m going to walk you through step-by-step photos and careful explanations so you feel ready to tackle this unique beauty. Intimidated by cake rolls or does sponge cake freak you out? This is your time to be fearless, empowered, and assured. I got you covered today!
What is Sponge Cake?
It’s similar to angel food cake in that it relies mostly on egg whites for volume. The texture is relative as well—light, airy, and moist. Unlike angel food cake, however, sponge cake includes egg yolks for a little richness and flavor. They’re still worlds lighter than, say, a yellow cake and pound cake because they contain no oil or butter. That’s right—there is no oil or butter in this cake recipe.
Typical sponge cakes don’t use any chemical leavener, but I prefer a little baking powder for extra lift. Additionally, a little buttermilk for moisture and cake flour to keep things extra soft. I’d steer clear of all-purpose flour which will only weigh it down. In a pinch, you can use this homemade cake flour substitute.
Accuracy is Imperative
The eggs are the most important part of the recipe. Make sure you’re using large eggs (not medium, not extra large) and that the eggs are room temperature. Compared to cold eggs, warmer eggs hold more air and create more volume when whipped. And, like the perm you rocked in the 90s, volume is EVERYTHING. 🙂
You’ll separate the egg whites and yolks. You’ll use both, but at different stages in the mixing process. See that picture above? That’s after whipping 4 egg whites with a little sugar. Stiff peaks are key. At that point, remove the egg whites from the bowl and set aside. No need to wipe the bowl clean or anything. Then it’s the yolks’ turn. Whip those with a little sugar too, a well as vanilla and buttermilk. I use both vanilla extract and vanilla bean, but you can use just all extract—or even vanilla bean paste. See the recipe note below.
Fold the egg whites back in, then add a sifted mix of cake flour + baking powder + salt. If you don’t have a sifter, now’s the time to pick one up. Sifting flour makes all the difference. If a recipe calls for sifted flour and you skip that step altogether, your baked good will inevitably be heavier and more dense than intended. It’s a must-have tool in any baker’s kitchen!
See the photo on the left below? That’s the batter. It’s creamy and light like whipped cream and that’s because we handled it with care. Do not overmix this batter!
See the photo on the right below? We’re spreading the batter into a lined 10×15-inch jelly roll pan—the ONLY size that works for this recipe. I can usually help with pan substitutions, but not today. You need a 10×15-inch pan. Good news: the really good ones are relatively inexpensive.
The cake roll only takes about 15 minutes in the oven.
Immediately after baking, invert onto a thin kitchen towel sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar. The sugar is used to help prevent the towel from sticking. Peel off the parchment, then roll up in the towel.
What the heck is the point of the towel? To prevent the cake from sticking to itself. And to make rolling the warm cake 100x easier!
But why are we rolling the cake when it’s warm? Rolling the cake up when it’s warm—before adding the strawberry cream filling—is so that it cools in the rolled up shape. That means no cracks, rips, or tears when you go to roll it up again with the filling inside. Does that make sense?
The cream filling is a strawberry cream cheese frosting. It’s sweet and tangy with strong strawberry flavor (natural flavor!) and glides on oh-so-easily. Just like my strawberry buttercream, we’ll use freeze-dried strawberries for the cream filling. We grind them up and add with the confectioners’ sugar. Freeze-dried strawberry powder offers the MOST strawberry flavor without altering the filling’s texture. It’s nearly impossible to replicate this with fresh strawberries. I chose a cream cheese based strawberry filling because it’s a little lighter than the buttercream and pairs perfectly with the sponge cake’s texture. Or if you wish to skip the strawberries, this sponge is wonderful filled with our whipped frosting instead.
Also: it’s a wonderfully thick layer of filling. If you’re a cream filling person (aren’t we all?), this recipe is for you! By the way… it would be fantastic as the filling for my chocolate cake roll, too!
Remember, have fun and don’t stress. Use my text and step-by-step photos for guidance.
See Your Strawberries ‘n’ Cream Cake Rolls!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
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Strawberries ‘n’ Cream Cake Roll
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices
- Category: Cake Roll
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You will love this light and fluffy strawberries ‘n’ cream cake roll! It’s a sponge jelly roll cake with a delicious homemade strawberry cream filling.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (118g) cake flour* (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature and divided
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar, divided
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) buttermilk*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean*
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (about 25g) freeze-dried strawberries*
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 and 1/2 cups (300g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Read the instructions through before beginning. Make sure you are prepared for step 7 immediately when that cake comes out!
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 10×15-inch baking pan with nonstick spray or grease with butter, so the parchment paper sticks. Then line it with parchment paper so the cake seamlessly releases in step 5. Spray or grease the parchment paper too. We want an extremely nonstick surface for this cake roll.
- Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar together on high speed for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Transfer to another bowl. Using the same mixing bowl you just had the egg whites in (no need to clean it), add the egg yolks, remaining sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean. Beat together on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until light in color.
- Add half of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Beat on low speed for 10 seconds. Repeat with remaining egg whites and beat on low for 10 seconds. Finally, add the flour mixture and beat on low until the batter is completely combined. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Give the pan a shake to make sure the batter is level and reaches the corners. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cake springs back when you poke it with a finger.
- As the cake bakes, lay a thin kitchen towel flat on the counter. Sprinkle with 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar. Once the cake comes out of the oven, immediately invert it onto the towel. Peel off the parchment paper then, starting with the narrow end, begin rolling the cake up with the towel. Do this slowly and gently. The cake will be warm as it just came out of the oven.
- Allow the cake to cool completely rolled up in the towel. I stick mine in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to speed it up.
- Remove the cake roll from the refrigerator and allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes to warm up as you prepare the frosting.
- Using a blender or food processor, process the freeze-dried strawberries into a powdery crumb. You should have around 1/2 cup. Set aside. In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese for 1 minute on high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Beat in the butter until combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar, strawberry powder, and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until combined and creamy. Taste, then add a pinch of salt if needed.
- Gently and slowly unroll the cake. Flatten it out and spread frosting evenly on top, leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the cake. Gently and slowly roll the cake back up, without the towel this time. Make sure you’re rolling it tightly. Some frosting may spill out the sides, that’s ok! Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Dust with more confectioners’ sugar and garnish with some sliced strawberries, if desired.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can prepare the cake through step 7 and chill the rolled up cake/towel in the refrigerator for up to 1 day before continuing with step 8. Prepared cake roll, with frosting, freezes well for up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10×15-inch Baking Pan | Sifter | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Linen Towels | Food Processor | Icing Spatula
- Cake Flour: I strongly suggest using cake flour in this recipe. It’s sold right next to the all-purpose flour in the baking aisle. And you use it a lot in my recipes! In a pinch, you can use this homemade cake flour substitute.
- Buttermilk: I strongly recommend buttermilk for flavor, but you can use whole milk in a pinch. For best taste and texture, I don’t recommend lower fat or nondairy milk.
- Vanilla Beans: If you can’t get your hands on vanilla beans and have a jar of vanilla bean paste, use 1/4 teaspoon in its place. If you have neither, just skip it. 2 teaspoons of *pure* vanilla extract is just fine.
- Freeze-Dried Strawberries: I can usually find freeze-dried strawberries at Target, Trader Joes, Walmart, and my regular grocery stores (Giant and Wegmans). If you’re still having trouble finding them, try this delicious strawberry whipped cream from my strawberry shortcake cupcakes as the filling. I suggest making a little more, so using 2 cups heavy cream + 1/4 cup granulated sugar + 2 tsp vanilla + 3/4 cup of the strawberry filling.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’ve rated this recipe before when I made a mistake (put the powdered sugar in the batter lol), and it still turned out great. This time, I followed the recipe exactly, and the cake turned out even better!!! I was in a hurry and cooled it in my freezer, which was perfect. I used different fillings, but this vanilla cake recipe is going to be (and is already) my go-to for rolled cakes. It has the perfect texture to give it structural integrity while still being nice and light. It is “spongey” so don’t expect something as soft and fluffy as Sally’s white cake (which is also a go-to). But everything about it is perfect for a rolled cake 🙂
Would it be strange to cover the whole thing in buttercream? I’m making it for my sister-in-law and I’m afraid it will dry out with out some sort of frosting to seal it.
Hi Kathryn! You certainly could, or you could use a white chocolate ganache, similar to how we cover our chocolate cake roll.
Thank you!
I made this cake. Flavor was fantastic. However the cake itself was a little tough. I think I over whipped the egg whites. Any thoughts?
Hi Sue, over whipping the egg whites could certainly be the culprit. Be careful not to over mix the batter, too, as that can cause cakes to come out dense and tough. We’re glad you enjoyed the flavors and hope these tips help for next time!
I made this cake with a different filling (whipped cream cheese frosting + Sally’s easy raspberry cake filling), and it turned out great! I did make a significant mistake though… when it said to add the “remaining sugar” in step 4, I also added the cup of powdered sugar to the batter!!! If I had read the whole recipe through (as recommended) I may not have done this; so, definitely my fault 🙂 if Sally’s team were to edit this recipe ever, I would recommend specifying to add the remaining “granulated” sugar. However, it still turned out so well!! I am pretty good at following directions, but when I slip up, I’m surprised at how resilient Sally’s recipes are.
Hello, I would like to add strawberry flavor to the cake itself. Can that be done by adding a strawberry puree reduction to this sponge cake (like the strawberry cake recipe from Sally)? Or is there another way to do it?
Hi Nina! We haven’t tested adding strawberries to the cake itself, that would take some testing. Let us know what you try!
Hello, I made the cake this weekend and to add strawberry flavor to the cake itself, I followed the recipe for strawberry puree from your strawberry cake. I reduced about half a pound of fresh strawberries into a thick, jammy, paste (~60g after reducing) and added that to the wet ingredients. Cake baked no issues with that lightly tart strawberry flavor. All other proportions of the cake were left untouched.
Nina, I made the cake and had it in the oven when I saw the cup of powder sugar. But then I realized it was for rolling the cake in. I even read the directions.
What would happen if I didn’t use vanilla bean?
Hi Felicity, see recipe Notes: If you can’t get your hands on vanilla beans and have a jar of vanilla bean paste, use 1/4 teaspoon in its place. If you have neither, just skip it. 2 teaspoons of *pure* vanilla extract is just fine.
I love this recipe, but every time I make it and try to unroll to fill and roll back up the cake sticks to the kitchen towel, I have tried adding lots of sugar it just makes a gooey mess, and les sugar still sticks to the towel
Hey, Laura, have you tried nonstick foil or parchment sprayed with bakers spray or brushed with melted butter?
I use parchment paper. Dust powder sugar and then roll it. Works great!!
Could this be made into a lemon cake by adding lemon extract?
Hi Denice, absolutely, you could swap some of the vanilla with lemon extract—say, half vanilla extract and half lemon extract. Let us know how it goes!
Can I make 1.5x the cake recipe and use a 12×17 inch pan?
Hi Esther, we haven’t tried scaling this recipe for a larger pan. This cake pan sizes and conversions guide will be helpful.
Delicious recipe. A couple of things I changed. I used the pattern roll cake technique to make a floral pattern on the roll (see Sugar Geek’s Pattern Roll) which came out well. While that recipe was dry, this roll was delicious, properly spongy without being dry even after refrigeration. Two changes that I made: I only used 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar for rolling the cake in the towel, and I only used 2/3 cup of confectioners sugar in the filling instead of the 2.5 cups, making the tartness of the cream cheese shine through. By not being quite as sweet, I feel this could be eaten for breakfast, tea or dessert. Very good.
Hi! How long does this last in the refrigerator please? Do you keep loosely covered with plastic wrap the whole time?
Hi Amanda, This cake roll should be fine if covered tightly in the refrigerator for a day or two. For longer storage, see recipe notes for freeing instructions.
I love your recipes and not sure how quickly this will be read and hopefully responded to…but I couldn’t find the freeze-dried strawberries …so I went to your suggestion of the strawberry whipped cream…. I messed up so badly and added the entire strawberry filling to the whipped cream/sugar/vanilla — instead of the 3/4 cups. Any idea how to remedy this? I have cream cheese and butter… it’s so watery 🙁
Hi Ana! You could try whipping up more cream, sugar and vanilla, and folding that into the mixture to even out the ratios. Was the strawberry mixture cooled when you added it to the whipped cream?
oh my gosh, you are a live saver for answering so quickly….not completely. I didn’t read completely cool so I didn’t do it 🙁 (more waaaaaa). Maybe I need to do it all over again — if it needed to be fully cooled 🙁 Sally is my only go-to recipe gal and everything is always PERFECT. The cake is perfect (haa). I’ll also making the pumpkin roll today 🙂
I want to make this but only have a 9×11” pan. Would that work?
Not sure what happened but the cake had no flavor and the texture wasn’t great. I thought I was careful not to over mix, but maybe?? I have great results with the chocolate roll and make it a lot!!
Hi Dana! Was the texture overly dry or dense? This post on how to prevent dry and dense cakes will be helpful to review. Be sure to properly measure ingredients as well for best results. Let us know if we can help to troubleshoot further!
Hi, could I make this into mini cakes like for the chocolate swiss roll?
Can’t see why not – let us know if you give it a try, Susan!
Hello! would you be able to use the pan for your chocolate swiss roll instead?
Hi Kaitlyn, That pan is larger and this cake would be too thin. We really do recommend sticking with a 10×15 inch pan for this recipe.
absolutely love your recipes!
interested to know if i had to add in some gel food coloring in would this recipe still work?
have a rainbow swiss roll in mind!
Hi Tammy, Yes you can add gel food coloring to this cake batter. Let us know how it turns out!
Each year I dehydrate my leftover strawberries, etc. and then make a dry powder to add to icings, cakes, cookies, etc. Would the equivalency be the same as freeze dried in this recipe?
Hi Jeri, It should be the same. What a great idea!