Strawberry Shortcake Roll

I was so nervous to make this cake. I once made pumpkin rolls in home economics class in high school, but my teacher did the rolling action and I remember the cake cracking on her. So, needless to say I was a little bit intimidated by the rolling of the cake…I thought surely the cake would crack and break during the rolling process, but it didn’t! The cake was very easy to work with because of its light and fluffy texture. This cake came out beautifully and it was definitely a show-stopper!

Here’s a hint: If after rolling the filled cake your ends look a little gloppy, just simply slice off the ends with a sharp knife and they’ll look more professional.

Strawberry Shortcake Roll

Ingredients:

Strawberry Filling

1 ½ pounds fresh strawberries, chilled and halved

½ C granulated sugar

1 T water

1 T lemon juice

1 ½ t unflavored gelatin

Cake

¾ C all-purpose flour 

1 t baking powder 

¼ t table salt 

5 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ C sugar 

½ t vanilla extract 

Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Cream Filling

1 C heavy cream, chilled

4 oz mascarpone cheese

½ t vanilla extract

Directions:

For the Strawberry Filling:

Cook strawberries and 6 tablespoons granulated sugar in large saucepan over medium heat, mashing occasionally with potato masher, until thick and jamlike, 10-15 minutes (mixture should measure 2 ¼ cups).

Meanwhile, combine water, 2 teaspoons lemon juice, and gelatin in small bowl and let stand until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Stir gelatin mixture into hot strawberry mixture until dissolved. Transfer to large bowl and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours.

For the Cake:

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 12 by 18-inch rimmed baking sheet with vegetable oil spray, then line with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

Whip the eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until foamy, 1 to 3 minutes. Increase the mixer speed to medium and slowly add the sugar in a steady stream. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat until the eggs are very thick and a pale yellow color, 5 to 10 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.

Sift the flour mixture over the beaten eggs and fold in using a large rubber spatula until no traces of flour remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread out to an even thickness. Bake until the cake feels firm and springs back when touched, 10 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

Before cooling, run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, then flip the cake out onto a large sheet of parchment paper (slightly longer than the cake). Gently peel off the parchment paper attached to the bottom of the cake and roll the cake and parchment up into a log and let cool for 1 hour.

The cake fresh out of the pan after the parchment has been peeled off.

The cake all rolled up and cooling for 1 hour.

To Finish:

With electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip cream, mascarpone, remaining granulated sugar, remaining lemon juice, and vanilla on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes.

Gently unroll cake and spread with strawberry mixture (you may need to stir the strawberry mixture briefly before spreading), leaving 1-inch border around edges. Top with whipped cream and reroll cake snugly, leaving parchment behind. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, and top with whipped cream and strawberries if desired. Serve.

To Make Ahead:

The rolled cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept at room temperature for up to 1 day.

Source: April/May 2011, Cook’s Country