Jelly Roll Recipe (Cake Roll) with Raspberry Cream

This jelly roll recipe is so much fun to make with kids because what’s more fun than rolling a cake?! It’s a like magic cake roll! We’ll cover how to roll a cake without breaking!

Jelly roll cakes can be really fun to make with kids because there are so many variations.

You can fill the cake with different things and make a chocolate jelly roll cake, vanilla jelly roll cake, a swiss roll cake, and even a cranberry jelly roll cake (or, anything else your imagination can come up with!).

Also, you can top the outside of the jelly roll with fun things like icing and then coconut, sprinkles, candies, and more.

Even just a little powdered sugar sprinkled on the outside makes a beautiful and yummy recipe for a jelly roll cake.

First…

What Is a Jelly Roll?

Jelly roll cakes are simply a thin layer of cake, filled with some type of filing (like a jelly), and then rolled up into a “log” form. If you haven’t made one or had one before, you’ve probably seen one in the grocery stores around Thanksgiving when pumpkin rolls start appearing. There are many different cake roll recipes with different kinds of fillings and toppings!

You can also make the cake one flavor and the cake roll filling a different flavor!

Different Flavors of Cake Rolls:

• Raspberry jelly roll
• Chocolate jelly roll cake
• German chocolate roll cake
• Christmas roll cake
• Easter jelly roll cake
• Chocolate roll cake with cocoa powder
• Chocolate swiss roll
• Lemon swiss roll
• Vanilla swiss roll
• Walnut cake roll
• Strawberry cheesecake roll

& MANY MORE!

Jelly Roll Fillings:

• Raspberry jelly
• Chocolate cream
• Almond cream
• Cream cheese
• Vanilla cream
• Bavarian cream
• Lemon custard
• Strawberry jelly
• Strawberry cream

Or anything else that sounds good for a cake filling!

 

How To Make a Jelly Roll Cake

Jelly Roll Pan: The Secret to the Recipe

The hardest thing about making a jelly roll cake, even if you’ve made them before, is rolling up the cake without it falling apart.

 

The key is using the right jelly roll pan and taking your time when you’re rolling and unrolling the cake.

 

Watch this to see how to roll a jelly roll cake!

Jelly Roll Cake Video

Here’s how to make cake rolls:

 

What size are jelly roll pans?

Traditional jelly roll pans are 12×17 with a 1-inch edge. Some jelly roll pans are 12×18. Make sure that it has a raised edge (taller than cookie sheets).

 

What is the difference between a jelly roll pan and cookie sheet?

A jelly roll pan and a cookie sheet look very similar. However, a jelly roll pan has a taller raised edge, generally 1-inch, than a cookie sheet.

 

Can I use a cookie sheet in place of a jelly roll pan?

If you don’t have a jelly roll pan and only have a cookie sheet, you can try to make a taller edge by lining your cookie sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and creating a taller edge than the cookie sheet all the way around.

It may just be better to grab a jelly roll pan (or something called a half–sheet pan).

 

Jelly Roll Cake paired with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Children’s Book

We decided to pair our cooking with books recipe up with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, a children’s book by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz.

Alexander just knew it was going to be a  terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

From the book description:

He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

 

He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair.

 

When he got out of bed, he tripped over his skateboard and by mistake dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running.

 

He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. 

 

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Nothing at all was right. Everything went wrong, right down to lima beans for supper and kissing on TV. 

 

You’ll want to read the book to find out if Alexander’s day gets any better!

Listed Book Age Range: 6-9 years

 

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The reason we decided to pair a jelly roll cake with Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day book is because in the book poor Alexander, who, in case you don’t know, is having an awful day, watches all of his friends have dessert with their lunch.

And, of course, Alexander doesn’t have any dessert packed in his lunch.

(It’s just one of the many things that go entirely wrong for Alexander that day.)

In the book, one of Alexander’s friends has a piece of jelly roll cake with coconut and sprinkles.

So, we decided to make a jelly roll cake, too!

However, my kid isn’t a huge fan of  coconut, so we left off the topping and just decided to leave our jelly roll cake plain on the outside.

But, you can easily add coconut, sprinkles, or anything else just by applying some of the cream cheese mix to the outside and then rolling the cake in the toppings or sprinkling/pressing the toppings onto the cake.

Jelly Roll Cake Recipe

If you’re looking for yummy dessert recipes with raspberry jam, definitely try this jelly roll recipe!

Our recipe for cake roll is a little more complex because we used a cake from scratch recipe. However, you can also make this jelly roll recipe using cake mix.

Just follow the cake recipe on the cake mix and then use the rest of the directions here for baking and rolling the cake.

Let us know if you have any jelly roll recipe questions!