Strawberry Swiss Roll
Discover this delicious strawberry Swiss roll recipe, a fresh and sweet roll, enriched with the juicy aroma of strawberries. A perfect combination of textures and flavors, this strawberry roll is the ideal dessert to sweeten your day in a refined and comforting way.
A strawberry Swiss roll is a light, airy sponge cake baked in a thin sheet, rolled while still warm so it keeps its shape, then unrolled, filled with a strawberry whipped cream, and rolled back up into a soft spiral. This version gets its pretty pink color from a spoonful of beetroot powder in the batter and its real fruit flavor from freeze-dried strawberries folded into the cream, so every slice tastes like summer without a drop of artificial coloring.
Today I thought I’d share a new recipe for Swiss roll, a delicious dessert that I’ve made before in several versions such as my Easter roll, carrot cake roll, and vegan roll with vanilla and jam, and now it’s time for a seasonal flavor in the form of a fresh strawberry roulade. With strawberry season in full swing, I couldn’t resist the temptation to create a summer dessert recipe that celebrates this wonderful fruit.
The Ingredients That Make It Pink and Fruity
Nothing here is exotic, but a few ingredients do the heavy lifting, so it helps to know what each one is for:
- Eggs, separated: the yolks build a rich, tender base, while the whipped whites fold in air that gives the sponge its flexible, spongy texture. That flexibility is what lets you roll it without breaking.
- Beetroot powder: just one tablespoon tints the batter a soft natural pink. It is there for color, not taste, and you will not detect any beet flavor in the finished cake.
- Almond extract: half a teaspoon adds a gentle bakery-style aroma that pairs beautifully with strawberries. Vanilla works if that is what you have on hand.
- Cake flour, sifted: its lower protein keeps the crumb soft and light. Sifting matters here so the delicate batter stays lump-free.
- Freeze-dried strawberries: ground with sugar, they carry concentrated strawberry flavor into the cream without adding the extra moisture that fresh berries would release.
- Full-fat cream plus a little gelatin: the cream whips up into the filling, and a small amount of bloomed gelatin stabilizes it so the roll holds its shape and slices cleanly.
How to Make a Strawberry Swiss Roll, Step by Step
The method has two parts, the sponge and the filling, and the timing is what keeps it stress-free. Start by heating the oven to 180 C and lining your pan with greased baking paper. Whisk the yolks with sugar until pale, then work in the oil, milk, almond extract, salt, and beetroot powder, and finally the sifted flour. In a separate clean bowl, beat the whites to soft peaks with the remaining sugar, then fold them into the batter, a third at a time, to keep all that air intact.
Spread the batter into an even layer and bake for about 10 minutes, until the sponge is springy and the edges just start to brown. While it is still hot, turn it out onto a towel dusted with powdered sugar and roll it up in the towel, then let it cool that way for about an hour. Meanwhile, bloom and melt the gelatin, grind the freeze-dried strawberries with sugar, whip the cream to soft peaks, and fold everything together. Unroll the cooled cake, spread the filling thinly leaving a couple of centimeters at the edge, roll it back up, wrap it tightly, and chill for at least two hours before slicing.
My Tips for Rolling It Without Cracks
- Roll it while it is hot. The single most important step. A warm sponge is pliable and learns the curl; a cooled one is far more likely to snap when you shape it.
- Do not overbake. Ten minutes is usually enough. An over-baked sheet dries out at the edges and cracks the moment you bend it.
- Use the sugared towel. The powdered sugar stops the cake sticking to the cloth, and the towel gives the roll a memory of its shape while it cools.
- Keep the filling thin and away from the edge. Leave about 2 cm of bare sponge at the far end so the cream does not squeeze out as you roll.
- Chill before slicing. Two hours in the fridge firms the stabilized cream and gives you neat, clean slices instead of a squished spiral.
Make It Ahead and Keep It Fresh
This roll is a good friend to a busy day because it actually wants to be made ahead. It needs at least two hours in the fridge to set, and it is perfectly happy chilling overnight, so you can bake it the evening before and serve it fresh the next day. Keep it wrapped in plastic film or in an airtight container in the refrigerator, where it stays lovely for about three days. Because the filling is a stabilized whipped cream, it belongs in the fridge rather than at room temperature, and I would not leave it sitting out on a warm summer table for long. Slice it just before serving, and finish each plate with fresh fruit the way the recipe suggests.
More Strawberry Treats to Try
If you are looking for other recipes with strawberries, I recommend you browse my strawberry desserts collection and try a few favorites: tiramisu with strawberries and rose syrup, a strawberry tart, soft strawberry muffins, buttery strawberry crumb bars, and a creamy strawberry cheesecake. And if you love a good rolled cake, my double chocolate Swiss roll is the cocoa-rich answer to this pink one.
If you make this pink strawberry roll for a summer gathering, I would love to know how it turned out, so please come back and leave a star rating and a quick comment telling me how thin you managed to roll it. Your notes help other bakers get it right on the first try.
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Strawberry Swiss Roll
Ingredients
For the base:
- 3 eggs large, separate the whites and yolks
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 25 g whole milk
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 70 g cake flour sifted
- 1 tablespoon beetroot powder
For the filling:
- 240 g sweet full-fat cream for whipped cream
- ¼ teaspoon gelatin powdered
- 4 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberries
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180 C.
- Line a pan with baking paper and grease it with some oil or butter.
- Put the yolks in a bowl. Add ¼ cup of sugar and mix until the sugar is dissolved and the yolks are light in color. Gradually add the vegetable oil, mixing continuously, until it is incorporated.
- Add the milk, almond extract and salt. Add the beetroot powder.
- Sprinkle the sifted flour over the batter and mix until incorporated.
- In a clean bowl or in the bowl of a kitchen mixer fitted with the whisking attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat at high speed until the egg whites form soft peaks.
- Incorporate a third of the beaten egg whites into the dough, then add the rest of the egg whites and mix until incorporated.
- Pour the batter over the form, spreading it in an even layer using a large spatula.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the swiss roll base is elastic and the edges start to brown slightly.
- Remove from the oven.
- Carefully turn the hot cake over a towel well sprinkled with powdered sugar.
- Carefully roll the hot cake in the towel.
- Let the rolled cake cool for about 1 hour
- Meanwhile, to make the filling, in a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1 tablespoon of cold water and let it soften for 5 minutes. Heat the mixture in the microwave in short intervals of 5 seconds until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Let it cool a little.
- In a clean grinder, grind the freeze-dried strawberries together with the sugar.
- Put the cream in the bowl of a kitchen mixer. Whisk at medium speed until it becomes frothy, then add the powdered sugar, increase to medium-high speed and beat until the paddles start to leave marks in the cream.
- Mix a spoonful of whipped cream in the bowl with the melted gelatin until it is completely incorporated, then, with the mixer on low speed, add it back to the bowl with the rest of the cream. Add the sugar and strawberry mixture and increase the speed to medium high, beating until the cream forms soft peaks
- Carefully unfold the rolled cake and remove the towel.
- Spread the filling in a thin and even layer over the entire cake, leaving about 2 cm at the edge.
- Roll the cake, taking care not to apply too much pressure so as not to allow the filling to come out on the edges.
- Wrap tightly in plastic film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Serve with fresh fruit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cracks almost always come from rolling a cake that has cooled or one that was overbaked. Roll the sponge while it is still hot, using a towel dusted with powdered sugar, so it sets into a curl and stays pliable. Bake it only about 10 minutes, just until springy, so the edges do not dry out and snap.
The soft pink comes from one tablespoon of beetroot powder folded into the sponge batter, not from food dye. It colors the cake naturally without adding any beet taste. The strawberry flavor itself comes from freeze-dried strawberries ground into the whipped cream filling.
The filling is built around freeze-dried strawberries because they deliver concentrated flavor without extra liquid. Fresh strawberries release moisture that can loosen the whipped cream and make the roll harder to slice. If you want fresh berries, serve them on the side as the recipe suggests rather than blending them into the cream.
No, this is a vegetarian recipe. It contains eggs, whole milk, full-fat cream, and gelatin, so it is not plant-based. If you would like a dairy-free rolled cake, try the vegan vanilla Swiss roll with jam instead.
You can make it a day ahead, since it needs at least two hours in the fridge to set and is happy chilling overnight. Keep it wrapped in plastic film or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about three days. Because the filling is stabilized whipped cream, store it cold and slice just before serving.
A small amount of bloomed, melted gelatin stabilizes the whipped cream so the roll holds its spiral shape and slices cleanly instead of oozing. If you prefer a vegetarian-friendly set, you can swap in a little agar-agar prepared per its package directions, keeping the amount small so the cream stays soft.
Complicated but very well worth it! Loved it!