Spice Cake Swiss Roll with Cranberry Whipped Cream Filling
We have a cake recipe to celebrate the Man Card sixteen book series.
This is not just any cake though. It’s a delicate, beautiful, and oh-so-delicious spice cake.
SOME BOOK INSPIRATION:
“It’s time.” Noel from Mr. Spice Cake (Man Card Book 16) stepped into the living room holding up what looked like a container of ginger and cinnamon.
“Time for what?” I had to squint to be sure that was a container of ginger and cinnamon in his hands. “Wait, really? Already?”
He dropped his hands to his sides and joined me on the couch. “What do you mean, already?” Then he flung the ginger and cinnamon containers onto my lap. “It’s the end of October.”
“Right? So, it’s time for Halloween.” I tossed the containers back to him. “We could make something with pumpkin.”
“It’s like I don’t even know you anymore.” Noel stood and made his way back into the kitchen. “The Christmas movies started playing last week, so technically I’m a week behind.”
“Every year, you tell me it’s time, and every year I try to reason with you that it’s way too early for spice cake.” Holly pulled the barstool out and sat down across from Noel at the kitchen island.
“And every year, you lose that battle and make the spice cake with me.” He placed his elbows on the counter and rested his head into his hands. “Please.” He had officially turned the table on me and was now giving me puppy dog eyes.
“Fine.” I slapped my hand on the counter and hopped up. “Are you sure we have enough eggs?”
“Picked some up on the way home.”
“You thought of everything.” I pulled on his arm to lift him back up to the standing position. Then I wrapped my arms around his waist. “What about the cranberry?”
“Oh shit.” He leaned slightly and opened the freezer.
“Have you been thinking about this cake for weeks or something?” I started to laugh when I saw the four bags of cranberries sitting perfectly in the center of the freezer.
“Maybe.” He closed the freezer door and wrapped his arms around me.
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BEHIND THE SCENES:
With this story, the pressure was on to create the perfect recipe for the book. Then Noel mentions making a Yule log for the baking competition and I knew at that moment we needed a Swiss roll recipe in our lives.
It has been years since I attempted to do a Swiss roll recipe. The last time I made a Swiss roll cake was when I was about 15 years old. I had made a pumpkin Swiss roll cake with a special cream cheese filling. The cake turned out and it was hit at the family dinner.
Now, fast-forward SEVERAL years later, I had to remember how to mix up the beautiful cake. After jogging my memory just a bit, while also having a few failed attempts, the pretty cake was finally whipped up.
This cake is honestly not hard to make. The most important thing to remember, do not over-mix the egg whites into the batter.
Have fun creating the one recipe loved by all of Noel’s friends and family. (I know it’s now a favorite in my house.)
Spice Cake Swiss Roll with Cranberry Whipped Cream Filling
Recipe by Terra Kelly
Prep: 30-45 minutes
Cook: 12-15 minutes
Serves: 10-15 slices
Ingredients
Swiss roll batter:
6 eggs
3/4 cup sugar (use half the amount in yolks and other half in egg whites, see below)
3 Tbsp half and half
3 Tbsp canola oil or olive oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup cake flour, sifted (see notes below)
Pinch of salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
For filling:
1 cup cranberry sauce (see notes below) (or you can use your favorite jar of prepared fruit.)
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups heavy whipped cream, whipped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Add Silpat or parchment paper to a large cookie sheet (the pan I used was 12 inches by 17 inches). Also, butter and flour the sides of the pan to ensure the cake doesn’t stick on the sides.
For the cake flour– If you don’t have cake flour, you can make your own. Add 2 tablespoons corn starch to measuring cup and fill the remainder of the cup with all-purpose flour–that will give you one cup of cake flour.
First separate eggs- add yolks to medium bowl (or your KitchenAid bowl) and add whites to a separate medium bowl.
In medium bowl with yolks- mix yolks and half the sugar with a metal whisk (you can use your kitchenAid mixer or hand mixer for this part). Stir well until they are a creamy consistency and sugar has almost dissolved. Next, add the half and half, oil, vanilla and incorporate the ingredients well. Sift the cake flour into batter with a pinch of salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix batter together well, but don’t over mix it. Set aside.
In medium bowl with egg whites use hand mixer or stand mixer- mix egg whites and half the sugar until medium peaks (add the sugar slowly while mixing the egg whites). The whites should be stiff enough that you can turn bowl over and the whites will stay in the bowl perfectly.
Take a third of whipped egg whites and carefully fold into the batter with a spatula. Add the remaining whipped egg whites and continue folding into the batter. Be careful with overmixing the batter and mixing to vigorously because the whites could break and the batter will fall (which affects the cake when it’s cooking). So be sure to gently fold until the whites and batter are mixed together well.
Pour batter onto the prepared sheet pan and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Bang bottom of pan on counter two to four times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 12-15 minutes, depending on oven. Cake should be golden brown on the bottom. You can check with toothpick in center to ensure it is fully cooked.
Place parchment paper or kitchen towel on the counter and lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar. Carefully place cooked cake on powdered sugar prepared parchment paper or towel. Remove the Silpat or parchment paper from the bottom of the cake and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. Carefully roll up cake while still warm and set aside to cool.
In medium bowl with hand mixer whip the heavy whipping cream until firm, slowly add the sugar while whipping the cream. Add in the strained cranberry and mix together well.
Unroll the cooled cake and spread the cranberry whipped cream filling evenly over the top. Roll cake up but ensure you are keeping cake roll formed in a tight roll and then cover with parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours before slicing.
To serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar and add extra whipped cream. Enjoy!
Note:
For cranberry this recipe used canned cranberry because it is stained and easy to mix into the prepared whipped cream. You could use a jar of your favorite jam or jelly that would be easy to mix into the whipped cream.
You can also cook on medium heat in sauce pot, one cup of frozen cranberries. Cook the cranberries until they start to pop, then mash the cranberries to break them up further. Add ½ cup of granulated sugar or more depending on how sweet you want the cranberries. Just for a little extra flavor pop, I added some orange marmalade to the cranberries (but that is optional). Make sure the cranberry sauce is cooled before adding it to your whipped cream.