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.
Mia H. says
Hi Mimi! Looking forward to making this! I just have one question, my oven does not go to 325 degrees, the lowest it goes is 350 degrees. Would it be 10 – 11 minutes instead? How long do you recommend baking this cake at 350 degrees?
Mimi says
Hi Mia,
Watch the cake, when it starts looking golden, take a skewer and poke a hole to see if the insides are done too. If there’s no batter on your skewer, then it’s done. I can’t give you an exact time as all ovens are different. It’s best to gauge the doneness by the physical attributes even when sticking to the original times given 🙂 Hope it works for you!
XOXO,
Mimi
natalie says
can i use agar agar instead of gelatin? its hard to find gelatin in my country
Mimi says
Hi Natalie,
I haven’t tried for myself so I can’t give you any real life experience behind that. There’s a good article on Food52 on how to sub agar agar in recipes. Some experimentation will be required on your part 🙂 Good luck
XOXO,
Mimi
Chris says
Hi, thank you for this recipe….ummm yummmm.. I crumple up my parchment paper and then it lays nicely in the pan, without having to add batter, less mess. Also, if you’re not into gelatin, I use whip it, to stabilize my whip cream, other than that, this recipe needs no adjustments..perfection….
Thank again.
Mimi says
Hi Chris,
That’s such a great idea with the paper and yes! I also used Whip It in the past. It’s quite a convenient product and is available in most grocery stores. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Others will definitely find it useful as well.
XOXO,
Mimi
Julia Martin says
How long will this cake keep in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, or course? Thanks.
Mimi says
Hi Julia,
Definitely! Just make sure no parts are exposed. It is best consumed from day 1-3.
XOXO,
Mimi
Vanessa says
Boyfriend made this, it was DELICIOUS! Super light and pairs so well with fruit. What an amazing recipe, thank you Mimi!
Mimi says
Hi Vanessa,
I’m so happy to hear that! Especially nice to hear from someone on the receiving end of this cake! He is so sweet! Happy holidays!
XOXO,
Mimi
Kathy says
This is a great recipe! I doubled the cake ingredients and baked it in my largest sheet cake pan (not sure on the dimensions sorry; think it might be 17×12) for 14 minutes. It came out super soft and fluffy, like a cloud! I did not experience any cracks either after unrolling and I think having that meringue in the cake helps.
For the filling, I didn’t have any fresh strawberries so I did 1 cup whipping cream with about 17g strawberry powder (made from grinding freeze dried strawberries) and ¼ cup powdered sugar. This dessert is very light and fluffy. I’d totally make it again
Mimi says
Hi Kathy,
I’m so happy to hear that and thank you for sharing your personal experience with this. It will help readers modify it for their own tastes too. Happy new year!
XOXO,
Mimi
Carrie says
I made this and my family loved it! Thank you for the great recipe 😊 mine did end up sagging a little bit and being a lot less round, more smooshed. My cream might not have been stiff enough. I’m new to this blog so I can’t wait to see more!
Mimi says
Hi Carrie,
I’m happy to hear you had success with it and your family loved it. I’m sure they will be your guinea pigs again if you want to practice making the cream a few more times 🙂 Cold ingredients and a still runny but cool gelatin are two important factors to achieving a stiff stabilized cream. Happy baking!
XOXO,
Mimi
JoseeM says
Hi Mimi, I’ve read one of your comments that you are baking the cake in a dark pan, so is it why you baked the cake at 325°F? As my cake pans aren’t dark coated, a baker friend of mine told me years ago to increase the oven temp by 25°F; would you recommend baking the cake at 350°F to those who still bake in light & non-coated cake pans? Thank you in advance! 🙂
Mimi says
Hi Josee!
I believe that almost of all my readers have not had any problems baking this cake with a lighter coloured pan. I haven’t had any experience with using a light pan for this particular cake so I can’t say from experience but I think you should have no problems using the 325F temp as it is a very thin cake.
XOXO,
Mimi