A light and fluffy chocolate sponge filled with soft and creamy whipped buttercream, this Chocolate Roll Cake is always a winner. In this post you’ll find all the tips for the perfect roll cake.
Other chocolate cakes you’ll love are this Black Magic Cake and this Blackberry Chocolate Cake.
Why you’ll love this Chocolate Roll Cake
The cake has the perfect fluffy texture and chocolate flavour. It rolls easily and the filling is like sweet vanilla flavoured clouds.
This irresistible cake is also impressive. A roll cake always looks stunning and with my tips, it’s easier than you think.
This chocolate roll cake is based on my favourite supermarket brand from when I was a kid. They’re still available but over time, their filling has reduced and they just aren’t the same.
It took me a bit of testing to work out that filling but I did it when I made these Lamington Cupcakes with Whipped Buttercream Frosting. As soon as I mastered the swiss roll, this recipe came to life.
The chocolate roll cake
Swiss roll or roll cake or cake roll or sponge roll or whatever you want to call it can seem tricky but once you learn the tricks and master it, you realise it’s actually not that hard. Once I mastered the technique, this chocolate roll cake was my first and the second was actually this Peaches and Cream Swiss Roll Cake that I posted first.
Chocolate swiss roll tips
- Start with a great recipe – check. I’ve got your back on this one.
- Don’t overbake it (very important- otherwise it’ll just crack when you roll it). If it does crack, don’t worry, it’ll still taste divine.
- Roll it up straight out of the oven – use a damp tea towel, sprinkled liberally with superfine sugar. Asbestos fingers at the ready
- Be prepared to forgive and forget if it doesn’t look perfect the first time (an extra sprinkling of icing sugar or cocoa can hide many sins)
That’s it. They actually aren’t as tricky as they look. If at first you don’t succeed, hey, eat it anyway. It’ll still taste fantastic. Whoop whoop!
How to make a cake roll
Push it down a hill! haha. Ahem, moving on.
You’ll need to beat the eggs and sugar until really light and fluffy. Now pour it into a swiss roll tin or jelly roll tin and bake it until the sponge just barely bounces back when you dab it with your finger tip.
As soon as you take it out of the oven, carefully but confidently roll it up, releasing paper just at either end, but don’t peel it off. With the short end to you, tuck the end in tightly first, then roll it up, gently but tightly, straight away. Peel back the paper on that last part of the roll so it doesn’t steam while it’s cooling and just let it cool completely (sitting on the seam is best). As soon as it is cool, unroll it (but don’t flatten it out), fill it and roll it back up without the paper and it’s done.
The Whipped Buttercream frosting
Oh, this whipped buttercream frosting. This just nearly takes the medal from my favourite ermine buttercream. This frosting is fluffy and airy. Light but full of vanilla. It’s soft, creamy and luxurious and exactly how I remember that supermarket Chocolate Roll.
Now roll that roll cake
Once the cake has cooled completely, you can unroll it and you’ll notice straight away that it has some ‘muscle memory’. Just spread your whipped buttercream on the inside and roll it up firmly but carefully again. Tadaaa! You have just made a Chocolate Roll Cake.
Sprinkle with some more cocoa and how beautiful is this cake to serve your friends and family. FYI waaaaay better than the supermarket one.
MAKE AHEAD – Yes, this roll cake can be made 2 days ahead but will last well up to 4-5 days in the fridge. It freezes well too.
STORAGE – Store in an airtight container in the fridge. This cake also freezes well – once cold, wrap in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then into an airtight container and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge, then bring to room temperature before eating.
TOOLS USED IN THIS RECIPES
- A jelly roll tin or swiss roll tin are the correct size
- A large spatula makes spreading the frosting on super simple
- Extra tea towels for wrapping the cake when you roll it
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If you’ve tried this chocolate roll cake recipe, make sure to come back and leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you.
More chocolate cakes
- Black Velvet Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake
- Black Magic Cake
- Chocolate Mud Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Pear Upside Down Cake
- Chocolate Meringue Brownie Cake
- Blackberry Chocolate Cake
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Ingredients
For the roll cake
- 97 g plain (all purp) flour (¾ cup / 3.4oz)
- 25 g dutch process cocoa (¼ cup / 0.9oz)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- ¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar
- ¼ cup cold milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For the whipped vanilla buttercream
- 190 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cups icing (powdered) sugar (225g / ½ pound)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons thickened cream (notes 1)
Other
- ¼ cup caster (superfine) sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / 160c fan forced. Grease then line a sponge roll (13×9 inch) tin with baking paper. Now grease and flour the baking paper. (notes)
- Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them well to disperse evenly.
- Beat the eggs on high for about 2 minutes or until they have doubled in volume, have lightened and look frothy.
- While still beating, slowly add in the sugar.
- Add the milk and vanilla and beat well.
- Turn the beater down to low and tip in the flour, a third at a time until combined. Beat for another 30 seconds on low.
- Pour the batter into your prepared tin, tipping it from side to side to get it into all the corners and level all over.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Immediately, use the edges of the baking paper to lift it out of the tin and onto a flat surface. Have the short edge towards you and start to roll.
- First, tuck in the edge that's closest to you firmly but gently. Peel about one in of the paper away just to release it, then continue rolling the cake all the way up to meet the other end. Firm but gentle is the key.
- From the end that is hanging out, peel back the paper, then just fold it away from the cake, this just allows the cake to cool better without steaming.
- Let the cake cool completely before unrolling and adding buttercream.
For the buttercream:
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for 8 minutes (yes, that long. We’re going for whipped butter here). Scrape down the sides from time to time and during beating.
- With the mixer on low, add the sugar 1 spoon at a time until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the salt, vanilla and cream and beat for 5 minutes at medium speed until it looks light and thick and whipped.
To finish
- As soon as the cake is cool,,unroll it very gently (don't try to flatten it out, just unroll enough to add your buttercream). Spread the buttercream over and roll it back up.
- Roll the cake back up, dust all over with cocoa and serve
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (4 teaspoons worldwide)
- For best results you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scaleslike these are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- Greasing and flouring the baking paper after lining the tin will help to give a smoother finish on your roll cake, however, if this isn’t important for you, you can skip the second grease and flour
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25 Comments on “Chocolate Roll Cake”
Wait, roll back up and just serve? It doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge before serving it?
Hi Emanuel. Since we’re filling it with a buttercream it can be served immediately, as opposed to whipped cream which often needs chilling before serving. Enjoy!
I was a bit scared to try this recipe because I’ve never had success with rolling cakes but this is so easy and DELICIOUS!! This cake has graced our dining table on many occasions and it’s always a hit! Moist, flavoursome, not overly sweet and yummmmmmm.
Thanks Barbara. So happy this one’s a winner for you too 🙂
Wow I love chocolate vanilla roll cake
How much butter is 190 g
It’s 6.7oz, Sandy
Can I bake a cake with cake mix or do I need to use the recipe provided?
Hello Jamie, I’m sorry, I’ve not made this with a cake mix so I couldn’t say. It would also depend on the type of cake mix you’re using.
I used your chocolate roll recipe as I too have always wanted to make a fab Swiss roll, it was a lovely recipe, simple in some sense because you explained things so well. Your step by step directions made me look like I was an amazing baker. I found the cake a bit dry, when I read other people comments I probably think its because I used regular white sugar and regular cocoa powder, I saw your comments from the young baker( so adorable 10 yr old very brave) and i think maybe that’s why my cake was dry, however it did not crack, and it looked exactly like your picture. But I would have liked it to be just a bit moist.
Hello Ruth, I’m so glad you liked the post. Sponge cakes have the tendency to dry out quickly and with a swiss roll sponge being so thin, it’s easy to overbake. I would just suggest baking for 1-2 minutes less for your oven 🙂
Hi Marie
I plan to try your recipe as the one i made today was awful. In your buttercream you say thickened cream then see notes. I dont see notes on what you mean by thickened cream.
Thank so much
Terese
Hello Terese, the cream note just relates to it being an Aussie tablespoon. Thickened cream is the same as heavy cream - you just need a pourable cream that's around 35%-40% milk fat.Honestly, I was a bit hesitant to try this recipe. I was worried that the fluffy look of the picture was just a result of a dry cake. Well, I’m happy to say that this cake was an amazing spongecake recipe. It had tons of flavor and was super soft. Super easy to make, just follow the directions. I did use cake flour instead of all purpose though; made it super easy to roll and extra fluffy. The only note I would add is that I wouldn’t use caster sugar as the coating for my towel again. It ended up melting from the heat and became too wet. I ended up transferring the cake to a different towel dusted with cocoa powder. Other than that, great recipe. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks so much Zayna. I’ll be updating this recipe soon so I’ll test the different methods of sugar or cocoa. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
So easy and delicious!!! I’ll be making this again and again.
So great to hear. Thanks Barbara 🙂
This recipe seems amazing! But I do have some questions.
If I don’t have Dutch cocoa powder, how much normal cocoa powder do I need to use to achieve the same results?
Could I for the filling make a whipped cream frosting that I am more comfortable with? Would it still hold in the shape of the roll?
Lastly could I add chocolate ganache for a finished look?
I’m sorry to bother you with these stupid questions. I’m only 10 year old so I get very hesitant sometimes.
Hi there Seeni, first of all, there aren’t any stupid questions and I’m so glad you asked. Now swapping Dutch cocoa for standard cocoa isn’t so simple as they react differently in baking. I haven’t tried standard cocoa in this recipe but I would suggest cut out the baking powder and increase the baking soda to 1 teaspoon, then swap in the same amount of standard cocoa. The whipped cream probably would be too light in this cake and it may not hold its shape. I think a chocolate ganache would be a gorgeous way to finish it and if you make it, I’d love to see a picture ? Happy baking
unable to find castor sugar. do you have any suggestions. can reg sugar be used.
Hi there, you can use granulated I just find that caster gives a better final texture. You could also blitz it in a food processor to make your own caster sugar. Check out my post on Types of Sugar In Baking for more info if you want to try that. Happy Baking 🙂
Hi Marie,
I tried your Chocolate Roll Cake it was delicious & I Loved it. Thank you
Excellent. I’m so so happy you enjoyed it
Good recipe. Just made it. Spongy and perfect. No cracks. No need for adjustments. Just fine the way it is. Thanks (it’s hard to find a chocolate roll that doesn’t require so many eggs).
Thats great. So happy you enjoyed it 🙂