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Could there be a prettier dessert? It’s a Strawberry Shortcake Cake Roll filled with fresh strawberries and an easy cream cheese whipped cream!
This Strawberry Shortcake Cake Roll was inspired by a birthday party I went to. My friend loves fruit in her dessert, so I did a whole selection of fruity things (including mini fruit crisps). Her cake was a vanilla cake (made with my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe) and I filled with with fresh berries and did a whipped cream frosting. Everyone kept saying how good it was and I was all, whatever, and then I had a slice and I was all, yeah it is.
That cake reminded me of those grocery store cakes my mom used to buy for birthdays when I was a kid. As a general rule, my family hates fruit in dessert but we always made an exception for those strawberry shortcake sheet cakes full of fresh berries, white cake, and fresh whipped cream.
I immediately knew I was going to recreate that cake, but I didn’t want to do a traditional layer cake. Instead, I went the route I always go: a cake roll.
How to make a Strawberry Swiss Roll
- This Strawberry Shortcake Swiss Roll recipe is one of my favorite cake rolls to date! It starts with a fluffy vanilla cake made in a jelly roll pan. It’s an easy recipe you can make with a hand or a stand mixer.
- Like all my cake roll recipes, I roll it while it’s hot. (Sing to yourself: roll it while it’s hot, yeah, roll it while it’s hot…)
- You fill it with fresh chopped strawberries and the BEST WHIPPED CREAM I’ve ever eaten.
- You guys, if you remember ONE thing about this recipe, it’s the WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING. This recipe will be good on ANY cake or cupcake or pie. And it’s totally stable – it’ll last for days in your refrigerator in a tupperware.
- What’s the secret? Cream cheese and granulated sugar. I know, right? You make the whipped cream like you’re making a no-bake cheesecake, and you mix in the heaving whipping cream in liquid form, and let it beat up to whipped cream after you’ve already mixed in the cream cheese.
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions. See below the recipe card for even more information: process shots, variations, FAQ and more.
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Cake Roll Tips from the Expert
- If you’ve never made a cake roll before, don’t fret. It’s EASY! Check out this post for a video tutorial, this post for a photo tutorial, and this post for my general cake roll rules.
- In the cake recipe, you’ll notice I mention times for mixing the eggs and sugar. Don’t skip those steps – the eggs need to be mixed for 5 minutes and the eggs and sugar for another 2. This ensures a light and fluffy cake.
- Roll it while it’s hot.
Strawberry Shortcake Cake Roll Recipe
Video
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (93g) all purpose flour
- Powdered sugar, to aid in rolling
For the Filling and Topping:
- 8 ounces (226g) cream cheese, (softened)
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups (474ml) cold heavy whipping cream
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, (plus more for topping, if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 10×15” or 10.5×15” cake/jelly roll pan with foil and spray with floured nonstick cooking spray.
- Place eggs in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed with mixer for 5 minutes until foamy and yellow. Add sugar and mix for 2 more minutes, until the mixture is thickened slightly. Mix in oil, baking powder, salt, and vanilla, then add flour and mix slowly until just combined. Pour into prepared pan, spreading as needed with a spatula. Tap the pan twice on the counter to release air bubbles, then bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is browned and the cake springs back when touched lightly. (Mine took 12 minutes, but all ovens differ.)
- While the cake is baking, lay out a clean kitchen towel onto the counter. Spread with about 1/4 cup powdered sugar.
- Remove the hot cake from the oven and carefully, using oven mitts so you don’t burn yourself, flip the cake onto the towel. This might make a mess, but that’s okay. Carefully remove the pan and foil (they’re hot!) and then, using the towel, roll up the cake from the short side. The towel will be rolled into the cake. Let this cool completely before continuing.
- Note: you can wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight before finishing.
- Make the filling: place cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Use mixer to beat the cream cheese and sugar until it’s smooth and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Slowly add the heavy whipping cream, then turn the mixer up to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
- To fill cake: wash and dry the berries very well. Slice about 3/4 of the pound into small pieces, then pat the pieces dry. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread with some of the whipped cream mixture and top with the chopped strawberries. Carefully roll the cake back up as tight as possible, unsticking it from the towel as you go. Wrap the cake roll in plastic wrap and chill until ready to top and serve.
- To serve: frost with remaining whipped cream and remaining berries. I used a 1M tip to create roses all over the cake, but you can just frost it if you wish.
- This cake is best eaten the day it is made, because of the fresh berries. It will last, fully made, overnight in the refrigerator (wrap it loosely) but the berries might weep a bit.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Step-by-Step Photos
I give up! Berries are super cheap right now and of great quality (I used various fresh berries with this recipe before and with great results) plus I have my home grown and wild picked berries to use up. I want to stock up on the berries while I can and asked my husband what he wants done with them and he keeps going back to this recipe. The last time I made it, which is about the 4th time, I made double and froze half to see how well it freezes. I shouldn’t have bothered, he had the first cake done in two days and started on the frozen ones, FYI, it freezes beautifully.
The one thing I do different is that I bake the cake on parchment paper and then role it up, paper and all until it cools, then unroll it and finish. It’s the same way I make pumpkin rolls in the fall when my pumpkins are ripe.
Thanks so much for this recipe, great way to get fresh fruit in our diet.
Where is the recipe and directions I can’t find it
I really wanted to like this recipe however I did not enjoy it. I had many issues with the recipe:
1. Please post what size jelly pan you are using. I assumed you were using the standard 12″ x 17″ however there isn’t enough batter for the standard size. After searching your other blogs I found that you favor a smaller jelly pan.
2. The sponge is not good. It tastes like eggs. Nothing unique about it and overall bland.
3. Upon making the frosting, I mixed it on high for quite awhile yet, the mix still remained soft and unable to hold strawberries or hold shape when decorating. The frosting was very good, just not as firm as I would expect. Also I think it may need just a bit more sugar.
I followed all instructions to a tee and read the how to make a cake roll blog. Rolling went well. So great job on that.
Sadly, I ended up dumping the cake roll because of the taste and the overall appearance was quite poor.
I tried this cake roll and after two attempts, I will never use this recipe again. I tried rolling the cake in a towel covered with powdered sugar the first time, but it fell apart the next day when I attempted to unroll it. So I baked another cake and rolled it on parchment paper covered with powdered sugar, and the same thing happened after being in the fridge for two hours and being completely cooled. Bummed! Won’t be trying anther cake roll anytime soon.
Hi I would love to try this roll but only have frozen strawberries on hand. Can frozen strawberries be used? If they can do I thaw them first?
Thanks for the help
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