This is the lightest ever Swiss Roll Cake recipe with a super soft vanilla sponge cake and dreamy creamy vanilla filling. The best part? No separating eggs required! It is such an easy recipe to put together and it never cracks. In my family, we LOVE roll cakes. I mean what's not to love about a soft, tender, light spongy cake with swirls of cream filling? Since I make them so often, I was on a mission to develop a roll cake that was EASY and fuss free. I have so many recipes for them... many of which require separating eggs and beating yolks separate from whites. This involves dirtying two bowls and.. well... more dishes!

BONUS - I swirl dark chocolate fudge through it to make it EXTRA special. For this you will need to make up a batch of my Easy One Pot Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce.

WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE

EASY to make - this Swiss Roll Cake (also called a "roulade") is very easy to make. You just beat the whole eggs instead of separating them, and then add the rest of the ingredients. I would recommend using a hand mixer or a stand mixer for this recipe.

Soft and tender vanilla cake - the vanilla sponge cake is SO super soft! It has a tender crumb texture and it stays moist with the cream filling. It doesn't dry out.

Delicate vanilla flavor - you will love the light custardy vanilla flavor. It isn't eggy at all.

Creamy vanilla filling - the filling is so simple with just 3 ingredients: sugar, vanilla and cream! It is called "Chantilly cream" and it is light and airy and fluffy.

No cracks - this roll cake recipe never cracks when I make it. Follow the instructions and you will have success too!

Chocolate fudge filling - this cake is extra special because I add swirls of my Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge Sauce.

INGREDIENTS FOR SWISS ROLL CAKE

All purpose flour - simple all-purpose flour works just fine in this recipe. If you have pastry flour, that will give an even softer texture, but I promise it is not necessary. Adding too much flour is the most common mistake for roll cakes and leads to tough and dry cake. The most accurate way to measure flour is using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, spoon it into your measuring cup and use a knife to level it off.

Granulated sugar - simple white sugar will keep this cake sweet, tender and moist.

Pure vanilla extract - vanilla is essential to this sponge cake so use a nice natural bourbon vanilla extract.

Eggs - you'll need 4 whole eggs to make the sponge cake. Good news is you don't need to separate them!

Oil - just a few tablespoons of oil will keep this cake soft and flexible. Butter tastes delicious, however it will make the texture more crumbly and difficult to roll the cake. Also, this cake is meant to be kept refrigerated due to the fresh cream filling, and oil will stay liquid when cold to keep the cake soft while butter would firm it up.

Vinegar – this may seem like a strange ingredient, but it helps balance the taste of the cake since it isn't too sweet and it helps to soften the texture.

Whipping cream - the filling is so easy to make with just cream, sugar and vanilla. Make sure you use cold heavy cream with minimum 35% milk fat content.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1). Whip the eggs. Beat eggs for 3 minutes on medium-high speed until frothy and pale in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large mixing bowl if using an electric hand mixer.

STEP 2). Beat in sugar. Gradually add sugar and beat for 4-5 minutes longer, until it nearly triples in volume and is very thick, pale and fluffy and billowy like shaving cream or marshmallow fluff. When you lift the mixture up with the beater and it slides back down into the base mixture, it should fall back onto itself in folds or ribbons rather than sink down into it. Mix in salt.

STEP 3). Add wet ingredients. Combine milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla and then mix it into the whipped eggs gently.

STEP 4). Combine dry ingredients. Sift flour and baking powder into a medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly.

STEP 5). Mix wet and dry ingredients. Sift the dry ingredients again over and into the bowl with the egg mixture and use a large rubber spatula to carefully fold the dry ingredients into the whipped egg mixture just until combined without over-mixing.

STEP 6). Bake. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan in a thin layer. Bake for 12-15 minutes until it springs back when pressed gently. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for 3 minutes so it is easier to handle.

STEP 7). Roll. Dust top of cake evenly with icing. Run a knife along the edges of the pan to release the cake, then invert it onto a clean kitchen towel or another large piece of parchment paper. Gently peel off the top layer of parchment. While the cake is still warm, gently roll it into a log starting from the short side and incorporating the kitchen towel or parchment as you are rolling. Let the cake cool completely in this rolled shape.

STEP 8). Fill the cake. Unroll the cake, spread the filling over it leaving about ½ inch border and then gently roll up the cake again. Transfer to a baking tray and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

EXPERT BAKING TIPS

Use a neutral tasting oil like pure sunflower oil for the cleanest flavour to let the chocolate taste stand out.

Do not reduce the sugar - this sponge cake is already low in sugar naturally, and the right amount of sugar will make it stay soft because it binds water so that it stays tightly in the batter and doesn't evaporate excessively during baking.

Keep an eye on the baking time. Set a timer for the first time stated in the recipe and check for doneness. The cake should spring back when pressed gently with your fingertip.

Use cold cream for the filling. Very cold cream will whip better than room temperature cream. Also, make sure you do not over-whip or it can turn grainy. Keep mixing at medium speed - it may take longer but you will get lovely fine air bubbles for a silky filling.

RECIPE FAQ

Why does heat help eggs whip better?

Heat slightly denatures the proteins in egg whites which in non-sciencey terms means that it makes them change from a tight coiled up shape (like a spring, or a slinky if you will...) to a loose shape. Basically, heat unravels them! This increases the surface area that is exposed to air so that the protein strands can bind to air more easily.

However, I wanted a recipe that didn't even require this step. I mean... I'm after SUPER SIMPLICITY.

How to make a fluffy sponge cake:

1. Room temperature eggs: For this recipe you don't need to use a water bath nor separate eggs, but you cannot use COLD eggs. Your eggs must be at room temperature.

2. Use oil instead of butter. While I use butter in most of my recipes, oil makes the softest sponge cake! That's because oil is liquid at room temperature so the sponge will stay flexible even when it cools down. Butter is firm at room temperature so when it cools it will harden and make the sponge more susceptible to cracking as you roll it. This cake rolls so easily! Just watch the video to see how simple it is with no cracks!

Do you need to sift dry ingredients?

Yes, for this recipe, DO sift the dry ingredients. Actually, sift them twice! Since this is a relatively wet batter, it is important that the dry ingredients are incorporated evenly without having to mix too much. Over-mixing will deflate all the air bubbles from the egg foam. Sifting the flour will ensure there are no lumps and the flour particles are evenly dispersed so that the they absorb into the batter quickly.

Sifting will also ensure that the flour doesn't lump into the batter. Instead it will gently fall onto the egg foam. If you were to dump all the dry ingredients over the whipped eggs, then they would just sink to the bottom immediately and most likely leave you with a lumpy batter.

I always sift half of the blended dry ingredients over the wet mixture, fold it in, then sift the remaining dry ingredients and fold them in. This creates the most homogeneous batter without having to mix excessively which would otherwise knock a lot of the air out of the batter.

How to bring cold eggs to room temperature quickly:

Most of us store eggs in the fridge (at least if you live in North America), so planning ahead is important for baking to ensure your ingredients are all at room temperature. You can pull them from the fridge and leave them at room temperature for 1 hour.

But what a pain in the butt that is! Who has time to remember? The good news is that there is a quick way to bring eggs to room temperature quickly! Take your eggs from the fridge and place them in a bowl. Submerge them in very warm (not boiling) water from the tap for 10 minutes. This will be enough to use in any recipe that calls for room temperature eggs (which is most of Scientifically Sweet recipes).

What temperature to bake sponge cake?

Some recipe instructions ask you to bake sponge cakes for roll cakes at a higher temperature, such as 375 or 400 degrees F. I find that in doing this you get over-expansion of air bubbles which collapse quickly. The reason for this is because a sponge cake batter is so delicate and there is very little flour compared to moisture to hold the air bubbles in place. When large air bubbles collapse, it can create a dense sponge. I prefer to bake in a moderate oven at 350 degrees F for more even baking so you will have an even flat height for the whole cake.

I hope you enjoy this lovely soft cream cake as much as we do! Enjoy! xo