The Swiss roll, a favourite baked treat in the 1950s and 60s and still a perfect partner to a cup of hot tea. Consisting of a sponge cake wrapped around a filling (commonly jam, whipped cream or icing) to reveal a distinctive swirl pattern as you cut through the cake.
Also known as a jelly roll, cream roll or roll cake, it actually goes back much further than the 50s, originating in the nineteenth century. Despite its name, this cake is not from Switzerland, but from Austria.
For this classic recipe we've turned to our favourite baking guru, Mary Berry:
Ingredients: Mary Berry Swiss roll
– 100g self-raising flour
– 4 eggs
– 100g caster sugar
– Icing sugar for sprinkling
Filling: whatever you fancy! Jam is the classic, to achieve the perfect coloured swirl.
Method: Mary Berry Swiss roll
- Pre-heat the oven to 220C/Fan 200/Gas 7 and grease a swiss roll tin (13x 9 in) and line with baking paper.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together until light and frothy and then add the sifted flour, carefully folding it into the mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for around 10 minutes, until it’s lightly browned and coming away from the tin at the edges.
- Place some baking paper on a work surface and sprinkle with caster sugar, before upending the sponge from the tin and peeling off the baking paper. Neaten the edges and leave to cool.
- Spread with jam and add any other fillings and score the sponge lightly 2.5cm from one end. Roll carefully. Neaten up the ends with a knife.
Recipe from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible__.
What's the difference between a roulade and Swiss roll?
A Swiss roll is always made up of cake being rolled with a filing, whereas a roulade can be rolled using other pastries or can even be savoury with a meat filling.
How to roll a Swiss roll
If you're struggling to get your Swiss roll to behave when rolling it up, try the below technique demonstrated by Baking Mad:
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