Snow White Roll Cake

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Let me guess…. When planning your holiday menu, you want a festive and beautiful dessert that does’t require half of your pantry and/or entire day in the kitchen?

Is it really possible to make something so elegant and delicious with just handful of ingredients? Oh yes, you can!

Sophisticated doesn’t have to be complicated!

And this gorgeous jelly roll cake is just that! Effortlessly beautiful and quick to make.

But the look isn’t the selling point here.

You’ll fall in love with its unbelievably light and tender crumbs with delicate flavor.

And did I mention you’ll only need 7 ingredients including the filling?

Key Ingredients:

The secret is in the CAKE MIX!

• Pillsbury Moist Supreme White Premium Cake Mix is the base of the cake. IMPORTANT NOTE: We only need 1/2 of the cake mix to make 1 roll cake!
• Melted butter and milk enrich the batter with flavor!
• Egg whites, whipped into a fluffy meringue, provide flexible structure and pristine white finish!
• White chocolate and whipping cream is for making the simple white chocolate mousse filling.
• If you’re filling festive, you may crush some red and green M&Ms and sprinkle them on top of the cake.

How to make this recipe:

1. Make the batter

To make the most elastic sponge cake that won’t fall apart into 5 pieces when you roll it, we need to whip the egg whites into a white meringue. Meringue adds volume and elasticity to the batter.

And meanwhile, mix together milk and melted butter in a small bowl. This will add a great flavor to our cake.

Next, sift cake mix into the whipped egg whites and gently fold the batter until most of the dry ingredients are incorporated. And then add the milk and butter mixture.

Notice the batter will deflate a bit once you mix in the dry ingredients. But it’ll turn into a nice and smooth batter once you combine butter mixture.

2. Bake the cake

Line a baking sheet (I’m using baker’s half sheet pan, which is roughly 18x13x1in) with a parchment paper, or a silicone mat.

Pour and spread the batter evenly. I like using this flexible silicone scraper.

Bake the cake for 12-15 minutes at 350°F, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. The cake will look lightly golden, but not browned.

3. Make the mousse filling

While the cake is baking, make the filling!

1. Gently melt white chocolate in a microwave in 30 second bursts at 50% power. And pour in 1/4 cup of warmed heavy cream. Gently mix until nice and smooth. Let it cool.
2. Then whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
3. Pour in cooled white chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. And gently fold with a spatula until well combined.

4. Fill and roll

Right before cake is done, lay out a large lint-free kitchen towel on a counter and generously dust it with powdered sugar.

Once the cake is cooked, carefully invert it onto the prepared kitchen towel. Peel off the parchment paper (or silicone mat). And roll it up with the towel. Place the cake on a cooling rack and cool completely.

Then carefully un-roll the cake, generously smear the mousse filling, reserving about 1/3 of the filling for frosting the outside of the cake.

Finally, carefully roll the cake up again. Trim the ends and frost the cake with the remaining filling all over.

This roll cake is so pristine white and melt-in-your-mouth light! Sprinkle of crushed M&M’s Holiday minis on top adds a perfect festive look that I absolutely adore. Oh and that little bit of added crunch is divine!

Roll Cake Tips for Success:

I’ll be honest, this recipe was one of the most challenging one to perfect. But I’m grateful for every single failed cake, because I’ve learned a few valuable lessons!

1. Weigh out 215g of cake mix, it’s exactly half of the boxed cake mix! Elastic sponge cake is all about correct ratio of dry ingredients vs eggs and liquid ingredients. A bit too much dry ingredients could cause dry cake that won’t roll up without cracking!
2. Sift the cake mix to get rid of lumps, which won’t incorporate into the batter quickly. And you’ll end up mixing the batter too much, deflating it along the way.
3. Don’t over-bake the cake. Over-baked cake will crack easily.
4. Roll up the cake in kitchen towel quickly after it comes out of the oven. If you cool too much, you won’t be able to create that “muscle memory” and risk cracking the cake.
5. And at the end of the day, it’s just baking! Take your time, follow the directions and step away, if needed.