Raspberry cream roulade aka raspberry Swiss roll is an airy sponge roll filled with raspberry whipped cream. Don’t let the shape daunt you: it is not difficult to shape a Swiss roll.
Roll, roulade or roly-poly?
I call it a raspberry cream roulade but other names for the dessert abound. It is also known as a Swiss roll or a cream roll, and in America – a Swiss roll cake. Over there you might also encounter names like jelly roll (jelly = jam) but that will refer to a different kind of dessert: a very traditional, very old-school English pudding, jam roly-poly.
There is a definite difference between a cream roulade (Swiss roll) and a roly-poly. The former is a light sponge sheet filled with cream or buttercream and rolled up into a log. The latter is closer to shortcrust, and it’s suet pastry spread with jam, formed into a log and baked.
Roll with it!
The scary element of the cream roulade recipe will usually be the rolling, but it really needn’t be. The trick is to pre-roll the sponge base on its own while warm, helping yourself with a clean towel and a dusting of icing sugar.
When I first read the instruction from the excellent Joy of Baking which this recipe is adapted from, I was slightly bewildered. ‘Invert the cake onto a clean dish towel. Remove the parchment paper and roll up the sponge, with the towel’.
WTF? Do you actually end up with the towel inside the sponge? But of course you don’t: you just use the towel to push the sponge into the shape so it doesn’t stick to your hands. Basically, roll it up handling it through the towel. Easy-peasy.
Not just raspberries, not just whipped cream
Baking the sponge base is the linchpin: the fillings can vary as you wish. Instead of just cream, whip it half and half with mascarpone. If you love cream cheese frosting, go for it.
Turn it into a chocolate roll by spreading it with a chocolate ganache. Alternatively, use lemon curd, Nutella or your favourite jam as a filling. Anything goes.
And of course you can fold different fruit into the filling, should you stick to cream. Blueberries, strawberries, diced peach or nectarine will be delicious, including frozen fruit. Or else you can chop up some medjool dates, jammy and gorgeous, or a mix of nuts.
How to make the sponge base?
There’s no denying: you have to separate the eggs. But it’s only two out of three, if that’s a consolation, and the result makes up for the fuss. No omelette without breaking the eggs, no sponge without separating them, you see. At least not a proper, airy sponge.
So obviously a standing mixer is a huge help, especially if you have two bowls for it. The egg yolks and the whole egg go into one bowl, the whites into the other.
You can beat the whites or mix the batter first, it makes no odds. When using a hand held mixer, it makes sense to do the whites first, so you don’t have to wash the beaters: a little white will do no harm to the yolks, unlike vice versa.
The yolks-et-egg mix should be beaten with most of the sugar until pale, fluffy and forming ribbons on its surface. Then the flours are folded in gently, the addition of cornflour making the batter lighter.
Egg whites should be beaten to stiff peaks, with the remaining sugar added by a spoonful at the later stage.
To combine the two mixes, it’s best to add a little meringue to the batter, in order to loosen it up, then very gently fold in the rest of it. You should take care not to deflate the mix, but also not to have any plain meringue clumps – a bit tricky, admittedly.
Baking the roulade base
The best tin for baking the sponge is a Swiss roll tin common in the UK, 23 x 30 cm – 9 x 12 inch. It should be lined with parchment for ease of extracting the cake when baked.
When the batter is poured in, smooth it with a spatula but don’t worry if it’s not perfect. It bakes for about six to eight minutes only, and it’s ready when it springs back spongily when pressed with a finger.
How to roll the sponge?
If you try to spread it with cream and roll it, it will all ooze out and the sponge will crack: it needs to be pre-rolled warm, just to show it how it’s done.
When it’s out of the oven, still in the parchment and the tray, dust it generously with icing sugar, then invert onto a clean towel. Peel off the parchment, dust this side with sugar and roll it up carefully along the long edge. Sit it on the seam, still on the towel, and leave to cool completely.
Whipped cream and raspberries
There’s no question this roulade will be better with fresh berries. But we don’t want to only make it in summer! Rather than buy air-flown fruit, get good quality frozen ones, defrost them in the fridge and carefully drain excess moisture.
Whip the cream as softly or firmly as you like and fold in the raspberries, trying not to crush them all.
Unfurl the sponge gently and spread the cream over, then let it roll back up. Just a dusting of icing sugar on top and it’s ready to be served.
More raspberry dessert recipes
Mini pavlovas, homemade meringue nests with whipped cream and fruit toppings: passion fruit, pomegranate and raspberry. Simple and gorgeous, individual meringues are easier to bake than a big pavlova.
No churn raspberry ripple ice cream, based on Nigella Lawson’s recipe: stupidly easy, and amazingly effective. Two ingredients plus raspberry puree equals ice cream made in ten minutes.
Raspberry sponge cake recipe, with fresh berries scattered on top of light and airy cake batter. Dust with icing sugar for a perfect summer dessert.
More sponge cake with cream recipes
Matcha (green tea) sponge cake with lemon and bay leaf scented whipped cream frosting. It’s a beautiful dessert, beautifully simple to make (but nobody will believe you how easy it is).
Blueberry and cream sponge cake is a magnificent dessert. Blueberry Victoria sponge, with layers of lightly roasted blueberries and whipped Chantilly cream is easy to make but very impressive to serve.
Classic Victoria sponge sandwich cake filled with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, also known as strawberry shortcake sandwich.