Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

Name: Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake
Prep time: 240 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 255 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup powdered sugar; 4 eggs (separated); 1/2 cup all purpose flour; 1/3 cup cocoa; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1/3 cup water; 6 tablespoons butter (softened); 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 7 oz. marshmallow fluff (1 container); 1 tablespoon milk (if needed); 1/4 cup butter; 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips; 2 tablespoons cocoa powder; 1/4 cup milk; 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus 1/3 cup, divided); 1 teaspoon vanilla

September 6, 2018 · 47 Comments

4.86 from 7 votes

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This Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake Recipe is a show stopping, ridiculously sweet and rich dessert that will blow your socks off!

Swiss Roll

Have you ever made a swiss roll before? They used to give me heart palpitations. Like, forreals.

But then I made one and got over that fear real quick. This dessert is seriously fancy, but no one tells you these are so so easy to make. Bakers are LIARS!

If you follow the recipe directions, things tend to work out. And even if they don’t, cover the whole thing in frosting and sprinkles. No one has to know!!

If you’ve never made a swiss roll cake before, I assure you it’s not as hard as you think. You can and will make this and proceed to eat the whole thing.

You’re welcome.

I made my roll cake based on the little Debbie swiss rolls, but used real ingredients, made the frosting extra rich with dark chocolate and topped the whole thing with sprinkles…because deep down, I’m a 6-year-old girl. #truth

How to Make Swiss Roll Cake

For the Cake

I got this chocolate swiss roll cake recipe from Hershey’s Chocolate Mousse Cake Roll but the filling and frosting are my own recipes.

Start by whipping some egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks form. Scrape those out into a bowl and set aside. Easy enough, right?

In the same *dirty* bowl, whip up some egg yolks and more sugar…

until it turns pale yellow. When you drizzle it back into the bowl, it should fall back on itself.

Ok, my peeps. Now, gather and measure out your dry ingredients.

Stir it all together to combine. I use a fork so it faux sifts it all together. I suppose you could actually sift it but what can I say….I’m lazy.

ANYWAYS, alternate adding in the dry ingredients with a little water until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Like so! Scrape the sides and mix again briefly until the batter is chocolaty and smooth.

Plop those stiff egg whites back into the batter and fold in gently.

Now, pour the batter into a jelly roll pan that is well greased. I lined my pan with parchment paper and sprayed it well with nonstick cooking spray. Anything to avoid scrubbing pans, ya know?! *Please see lazy comment above.

While that cake is baking away, take a clean kitchen towel and dust with some powdered sugar…about 1/4 cup.

Now! Your cake should be coming out of the oven right about now. Immediately out of the oven, loosen the edges and plop it out onto the prepared kitchen towel. Peel back that parchment and roll up.

Voila! Let this cool to room temp; about 30 minutes. –>it’s a pretty skinny cake so this shouldn’t take too long.

For the Filling

For the filling, we’re basically going to make buttercream laced with plenty o’ marshmallow creme. Whip some softened butter together with powdered sugar and vanilla.

Then add in an entire 7 oz. jar of marshmallow creme. Whip it together and add in 1 tablespoon of milk if you think it needs it. THEN, as my friend Claudia would say, whip it like hell for 1 minute to make it light and fluffy and pretty stiff.

Unroll the cake, spread the filling over evenly, then roll it back up again. Wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-3 hours. You want that filling to harden, yo.

For the Glaze/Frosting

Melt some dark chocolate chips together with some milk, butter and cocoa powder. Once that’s all melted together, stir in some vanilla and powdered sugar. Voila! It’s done!

Pull that cake roll out of the fridge, unwrap and place on a cooling rack under a baking sheet.

Now comes the best part! Spread your cake roll with the frosting and spread it all around to cover. The back of a spoon works wonders for this part, FYI.

Add on some sprinkles, then refrigerate to solidify the outside before slicing and serving.

If you want a show-stopping, ridiculously sweet and rich dessert, this is your ticket!! It’s a few steps, but really not too difficult at all!! And ohmahgarsh so totally worth it.

Printable recipe card below, enjoy!

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