A fluffy and moist Japanese cake roll filled with fresh strawberries and a not-too-sweet whipped cream that is stabilized with gelatin. The most heavenly dessert.
Perfect Not-Too-Sweet Japanese Dessert
A light and airy Japanese cake roll filled with strawberries is one of the most requested recipes I had in the last few months. After the success many of you had with my Japanese Chocolate Cake Roll recipe, many expressed the desire to bake a similarly soft and fluffy chiffon cake but in a vanilla flavor so it can be filled with whichever fruit your heart desired. It took a little while because I've been happily writing away over at indulgewithbibi (this month's topic: baby sleep training) but I'm happy to finally share this recipe for a delicious strawberry swiss roll that is made in the not-too-sweet Japanese style.
Unlike a sponge cake which uses no or little butter, the pillowy soft chiffon cake in this roll uses oil instead. With such a light and airy cake body, coupled with a delicate whipped cream and fresh strawberries, it's so easy to indulge in more than one slice. In fact, I already made this cake roll over 10 times because my loved ones kept asking for it. They said it was better than the ones they could find at the store, my nephew even told his mom that it was, "the best dessert ever." 🙂
A Sturdy Stabilized Whipped Cream
This fresh strawberry cream cake roll is filled with a fresh whipped cream that is stabilized with gelatin. For cake rolls, I prefer taking some extra steps to stabilize the cream filling because whipped cream has a tendency to deflate after a while. It's completely possible to skip the stabilization part by whipping the cream with sugar and omitting the gelatin - which a lot of recipes do - but you might find that the cream gets a bit sloppy and the shape of the cake roll doesn't hold up as well, especially after a few hours.
For use as a cake topping, whipped cream can be conveniently stabilized with powdered sugar as seen in this recipe. However, for use as a deep filling, it's preferable to stabilize it with gelatin instead. It may sound intimidating but it's actually quite easy and the results are well worth the effort. If you need extra guidance and tips, here is a complete tutorial on How to Stabilize Whipped Cream with Gelatin. Alternatively, if you would like to try this cake but the rolling of the cake and the stabilization of the whipped cream is too daunting, try this Sloppy Peach Cake in a cup. It has the same taste but can is much easier to put together.
This strawberry cake roll is by far one of the easiest and most delicious desserts you can make in under an hour and a half from start to finish. I highly recommend you give it a try.
XOXO,
Mimi
Step-By-Step Strawberry Swiss Roll
In a large mixing bowl, sift in cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. Stir to combine. I like this type of strainer for sifting dry ingredients because it's quicker and provides better control. Create a well in the center. Inside it, add yolks, oil, vanilla extract and milk.
With a spatula, stir to combine until fully incorporated, do not over mix. Set this milk-flour mixture aside.
Next, Make the meringue in a clean and dry, non-plastic mixing bowl (ex. stainless steel mixing bowl or glass mixing bowl). This is crucial as meringues do not whip well in the presence of oil and water. Whip egg whites on slow speed until frothy, add cream of tartar. Whip until stiff peaks as shown in the photo above on the right. When the whisk is pulled out, the meringue does not droop on itself.
Gently fold the meringue into the cake flour batter until fully incorporated.
Dab a little bit of the batter onto the parchment paper and stick it to the pan to prevent the paper from tipping over into the cake batter. I used a darker colored pan here giving my cake a more golden finish. It turns out this 8 x 12 pan size in this color is a little hard to find, my pan was inherited but I was able to find this one on Amazon for you.
Pour batter into lined cake pan from one spot, spread out the batter evenly with an angled spatula. Rap the cake pan on the counter a few times to rid excess bubbles. Bake for 14-16 min. at 325 F. Let cool 5 min. in the pan before removing. Place cooling rack over cake pan.
Flip cake over onto the rack, remove pan. Gently remove paper. The side facing up will eventually become the top of the cake roll. Let it sit on cooling rack for 5 min.
Place a piece of new parchment paper on top of the cake. Flip the cake over and start rolling.
Let it cool in this wrapped condition while making the fresh cream.
Clean and pat dry strawberries, then cut into 1 cm sized pieces. Apply an even layer of cream to unrolled cake roll, spread strawberries evenly apart, then roll up. Wrap cake roll in plastic wrap and place in fridge to set before cutting. Cut off the sides before serving for a cleaner finish.
Fresh Strawberry Cream Japanese Cake Roll
A fluffy and moist Japanese cake roll filled with fresh strawberries and a not-too-sweet whipped cream that is stabilized with gelatin. The most heavenly dessert.
Ingredients
Japanese Style Chiffon Cake
- 25 grams granulated sugar
- 45 grams cake flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 50 ml whole fat milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 40 ml vegetable oil (e.g. canola)
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 egg whites
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Stabilized Fresh Cream
- 1 + 1/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin
- 5 teaspoons water
- 1 1/4 cup whipping cream (33%)
- 1 tablespoon +1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 10 small fresh organic strawberries
Instructions
Japanese Style Chiffon Cake
- Line a 8 X 12" rectangular cake pan with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 325 F.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift in cake flour, sugar, baking soda, first set of cream of tartar and salt. Stir to combine.
- Create a well in the center. Inside it, add yolks, oil, vanilla extract and milk.
- Stir to combine until fully incorporated, do not over mix. Set this milk-flour mixture aside.
- In a clean and dry, non-plastic mixing bowl, whip egg whites on slow speed until frothy, add second set of cream of tartar.
- Increase speed to medium, once the whites become opaque and bubble size have tightened up, add sugar a little bit at a time.
- Increase speed to med-high, whip until stiff peaks. You've now made a meringue. (Note 2)
- Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the milk-flour mixture to get it moving. Once incorporated, fold in the rest of the meringue. Do not stir. Use batter immediately.
- Dab a bit of the batter onto the sides of the parchment paper to keep corners together. Dab a little more onto the paper and stick it to the pan to prevent the parchment paper from tipping over into the cake batter.
- Pour batter into lined cake pan from one spot, spread out the batter evenly with an angled spatula.
- Tap the pan on the counter to release large air pockets.
- Bake for 14-16 min. at 325 F until a skewer pulls out clean and cake springs back in the center.
- Let cool 5 min. in the pan before removing.
- Place cooling rack over cake pan.
- Flip cake over onto the rack, gently remove paper.
- The side facing up will eventually become the top of the cake roll. Let it sit on cooling rack for 5 min.
- Place a new of parchment paper on top of the cake.
- Flip the cake over and start rolling, allowing the parchment paper to be in between the folds. This will prevent the cake from sticking to itself. It's important to roll the cake before it cools completely, otherwise, it will crack while rolling. Refer to video in post on how to roll.
- Let it cool in this wrapped condition while making the fresh cream.
Stabilized Fresh Cream Instructions
- Refrigerate mixing bowl and beaters in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes. This will help cream whip better.
- Clean and pat dry strawberries. Remove the husk and cut into 1 cm sized pieces.
- Place water in heatproof cup and sprinkle gelatin on top to bloom. Wait 5 minutes.
- Place cup in a small sauce pan filled with simmering water. Once gelatin becomes liquid, take it out of the water. Let cool on the counter.
- Immediately start beating the cream and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the chilled bowl. Whip on low speed and then increase to medium.
- Check on the gelatin. It should no longer be warm but still runny.
- Once the beaters leave tracks in the cream, pour the gelatin into the bowl slowly and steadily. Aim for the area in between the whisk and the bowl.
- Stop beating once the cream turns stiff. Do not over whip.
- Use cream to assemble the cooled cake immediately.
Assembly
- Gently unwrap rolled cake and spread an even layer of cream on it.
- Lay strawberries evenly apart on cream.
- Carefully roll up the cake from the short edge using the parchment paper to help push the cake onto itself.
- Wrap with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to set before cutting.
- Before serving, cut off sides for a cleaner presentation.
Notes
- Stiff peaks in characterized by the egg whites having pointed peaks that point upwards without drooping when the whisk is pulled out.
- Organic strawberries were used in this recipe. Try to buy them organic if possible as they are on the "dirty dozen" list of fruits and vegetables which is better to buy organic.
- Some ingredients are repeated, use them in the same order as outlined in instructions.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
-
Knox Original Unflavored Gelatine Dessert Mix (32 Packets) -
Wilton Industries Perfect Results Mega Cooling Rack, Black -
Rectangle Baking Pan -
Vollrath 47934 4-Quart Economy Mixing Bowl, Stainless Steel -
McCormick Gourmet All Natural Cream Of Tartar, 2.62 oz
-
PaperChef Culinary Parchment Multipurpose Non-Stick Paper, 205 sq ft -
RYBACK Stainless Steel Egg White Yolk Filter Separator Cooking Tool Dishwasher Safe Chef Kitchen Gadget
-
Kitchenaid Handheld Mixer
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 269Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 10gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 112mgSodium 151mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 0gSugar 13gProtein 5g
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although indulgewithmimi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Here is the newest flavour in this Japanese style cake roll series: Matcha Cake Roll with Adzuki Bean Cream. It is just like the ones at the cake shops, light and fluffy with that great pairing of an earthy matcha flavour and semi-sweet red bean filling.
Fiona says
Hi, I’ve made this and also your chocolate chiffon swiss roll. While the chocolate one was a great success, I have difficulties achieving the same cake texture for this vanilla cake base. It turned out wet and sticky even though I did everything the same. I wonder if the proportions of ingredients are too “wet”, because I noticed it’s essentially the same amount of ingredients as the chocolate roll except the chocolate one has extra 5 tsp of cocoa powder - don’t we need to ensure the same amount of dry ingredients in this vanilla cake? Thank you.
Mimi says
Hi Fiona,
thank you for giving both recipes a try. For recipe testing and gift giving, I have made this recipe many times over and have not experienced the wetness. It's also a favorite recipe of many of my readers. But I can totally see why this might happen. When I first started baking, I don't know why I was always having trouble with my vanilla cakes being too gummy. Without seeing your process, I can't be sure where it went wrong but I am inclined to think that perhaps the cake has not fully baked through or to a lesser extent, the cake was not sufficiently cooled. You might want to bake it longer and let it cool on the rack just a tad longer. Xoxo, Mimi
Susy Ho says
Hi Mimi,
How do I prevent the chiffon skin from falling apart while rolling it?
Mimi says
Hi Susy,
I haven't personally experienced this issue, even after baking it many many times so I can't guide from experience. I do find the skin peels off more readily if the the parchment paper is ripped off right away while the cake is still hot. If you end up resolving this issue, please let all of us know so we can do better. XOXO, Mimi
Bon says
For the fresh cream, 1 & 1/4 cup of whipping cream refers to 294ml? 325F refers to 170 degree celcius?
Mimi says
Doing a quick search on google, the cream conversion is correct, 325 F is 163 C
XOXO,
Mimi
Dee says
Hi Mimi! Thank you for your recipe! I'm so excited to make it! Do you think I could use a 10x10 pan in comparison to the 8x12 pan you have?
Mimi says
Yes you can definitely use this pan. It is slightly larger than this one but not by much, so the ingredient quantity is not an issue. The square shape might be a little bit harder to roll since you have less "folds" to work with but it's doable. Alternatively, you can try making a makeshift pan with aluminum foil. You can google how to do this 🙂
XOXO,
mimi
Windy says
Hi Mimi,
this is the best recipe i tried. i made this for the first time and it turned out perfect. thank you.
Windy
Mimi says
That's so good to hear! I'm so happy that you tried it. There's a new matcha version out now. Give it a go when you have a chance. XOXO, Mimi
Sam says
Hi!! I’ve made this so many times and my family and friends LOVE this recipe! Thank you for bringing some joy into the quarantine life 🙂
I do have a small question though! Do you ever have any problem with the chiffon cake getting kind of wet/sticky with some moisture developing on the cake after putting it in the fridge for some time? I know the cake needs to set in the fridge but it always gets a bit mushy after doing so! I appreciate your advice 🙂
Mimi says
Hi Sam,
I'm so happy that this cake has bought some joy to quarantine life. It's definitely a challenging time for all. I actually haven't. Once you let it come back to room temperature, do you still have that same problem? I would serve it after letting it come to room temp first. You can also wrap it/roll it back up with plastic wrap too 🙂
XOXO,
Mimi
Monika says
Can this be baked in a 10" x 15" pan?
Mimi says
Yes you can but you will need to increase all the ingredients in proportion. You can also create custom sized pans with tin foil to get the exact measurements 🙂
XOXO,
Mimi
Audrey says
Hi!
What can I subsitute cream of tartar and gelatin for?
Thanks!
Mimi says
Hi Audrey,
If you really cannot find cream of tartar, you can skip the first portion of cream of tartar and baking soda and use 1 tsp baking powder instead. For the second portion of tartar for the meringue, use lemon juice in double the amount. Gelatin, you can skip it if you cannot find it. It is used to stabilize the cream. The cake will just be a bit more unstructured, try to serve it on the first day before it begins to deflate.
XOXO,
Mimi
Jake says
Hello,
The recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoons of cream of tartar but it calls for it in two separate steps. How much of it do I add per step? (The steps I'm referring to are 3 and 6)
Mimi says
Hi Jake,
Use the cream of tarter in the order listed in the ingredients list There are 2 sets of cream of tarter there.
XOXO,
Mimi
Linda says
Hi Mimi,
I'm really looking forward to making this. Can you confirm how much cream of tartar I need? It's listed twice (1/2 tsp at the top and then 1/4 tsp at the bottom of the recipe list for the cake recipes.
Thanks,
Linda
Mimi says
Hi Linda,
Use the cream of tarter in the order listed in the instructions. There are 2 sets of cream of tarter there.
XOXO,
Mimi