GLWhiskeyKitchen

Dessert · · By Ashley

Fresh Strawberry and Toasted Coconut Roll

The whole recipe turns on one moment: you roll the sponge while it is still too hot to touch.

Jump to recipe
Prep
2 hr 45 min
Cook
15 min
Total
3 hr
Serves
8 to 10
Level
A project
A sponge roll under a heavy dusting of powdered sugar and toasted coconut, topped with four cream rosettes each crowned with half a strawberry

Where the time goes

3 hr, mostly waiting

  • Hands-on
  • Hands-off
  1. 01Hands-onCook the strawberry jam15 to 20 min
  2. 02Hands-onMake and bake the sponge25 min
  3. 03Hands-offRoll hot and cool in the towel1 hr
  4. 04Hands-onWhip the cream, fill and roll15 min
  5. 05Hands-offChill to set · at least1 hr
  6. 06Hands-onDecorate10 min

The story

A sponge roll is not difficult so much as it is unforgiving about timing. The entire thing hinges on one step — you roll the cake while it is still hot, still in the towel, before it has any idea what shape it is supposed to be.

Let it cool flat first and it will crack straight down the middle the moment you try to curl it. Roll it hot and it cools into the curl, so when you unroll it to fill it, it goes back willingly.

Roll it hot, cool it curled, fill it cold. Everything else is decoration.

The other adjustments are about balance. The vanilla is doubled in both the sponge and the cream, which is what gives it that bakery smell before you have even cut it. And the cinnamon — an eighth of a teaspoon, no more — sits underneath everything as a warm backdrop, bridging the bright acidity of the strawberries and the toasted coconut. You will not taste cinnamon. You will notice if it isn't there.

Prefer caramel to fruit? The same sponge and cream make my Bananas Foster and Candied Pecan Roll.

  • A cut slice of the roll on a white plate, showing the spiral of sponge, strawberry jam and whipped cream
    The spiral, which is the whole reason you rolled it hot.

Ingredients

Serves 8 to 10

Tap an ingredient to check it off.

The extra-vanilla sponge

The fresh strawberry jam

The spiced Madagascar vanilla cream

The photo finish

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done.

Cook the strawberry jam

  1. Combine the chopped strawberries, granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally and mashing the strawberries against the pan with the back of a wooden spoon as they soften.

  3. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until thick, glossy and jam-like. Take it off the heat and let it cool completely before it goes anywhere near the cake.

    Warm jam will melt the cream and soak the sponge. Cool means cool.

Bake the sponge

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Butter a 12x16 inch (30x40 cm) jelly roll pan and line it cleanly with parchment.

  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.

  3. Beat the eggs, granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla on high speed until the mixture is lemon-yellow, thick and foamy.

    This is where the lift comes from — there is no other leavening doing real work. Beat it longer than feels necessary.

  4. Pour in the canola oil and mix until fully incorporated.

  5. Fold the flour mixture in with a spatula, gradually, just until combined. Stop the moment it comes together.

  6. Pour onto the prepared pan and spread smoothly into all four corners with an offset spatula.

  7. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched.

    The finished sponge sheet, evenly golden, still in its pan on the stovetop
    Evenly golden, edge to edge. Out it comes.

The hot roll

  1. While the cake bakes, lay a clean kitchen towel flat on the counter and dust it generously with powdered sugar.

    Do this before the cake comes out. You will not have time afterward.

  2. The moment the cake leaves the oven, flip the hot pan over onto the sugared towel.

  3. Peel the hot parchment away from the bottom of the cake, then dust the exposed surface with a little more powdered sugar.

  4. Roll it hot

    While the cake is still hot and pliable, roll the cake and the towel up together, tightly, starting from one of the short ends.

    This is the whole recipe. A cooled flat sponge cracks; a sponge that cooled in a curl unrolls and rerolls without complaint.

    The hot sponge rolled up inside a sugar-dusted towel on a marble counter, cooling in its curl
    Rolled hot, towel and all, and left to cool in the curl.

  5. Set the rolled towel aside and let it cool completely to room temperature.

Whip the cream

  1. Put the chilled cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon into a chilled bowl.

  2. Beat on medium-high. The extra sugar builds a dense, ultra-stiff structure that holds its shape, and the cinnamon infuses through as it goes.

  3. Keep it in the fridge until you assemble.

Assemble and chill

  1. Gently unroll the cooled cake flat on the counter.

  2. Spread the cooled strawberry jam evenly over the surface, leaving a ½-inch border at the edges.

  3. Spread a layer of the stabilized spiced cream directly over the jam. Reserve about ½ cup in a piping bag with a star tip for the top.

    Reserve it now. It is very easy to spread the entire batch and then remember.

  4. Roll the cake back up tightly — without the towel this time. Wrap snugly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour to set.

Plate and decorate

  1. Move the chilled roll onto a wooden serving board.

  2. The base dusting

    Dust the whole top and sides with a thick, even layer of powdered sugar. Let some fall onto the board — that is the look.

  3. The coconut

    Scatter the toasted coconut generously over the top and across the board around the base.

  4. The cinnamon accent

    Sift or pinch a light dust of cinnamon over the coconut and sugar for contrast.

  5. The cream swirls

    Pipe four even rosettes of the reserved cream down the center spine of the roll.

  6. The strawberry crowns

    Press one strawberry half, cut side down, firmly into the center of each rosette so they stand up proudly.

Things worth knowing

  • Roll it hot. Everything else about this recipe is forgiving; that step is not.
  • The jam and the cream both have to be properly cold before assembly, or the filling slides.
  • Doubling the powdered sugar in the cream is what makes it pipe cleanly and hold overnight.

Swaps that work

  • Raspberries work in place of strawberries with no other changes.
  • No piping bag? Spoon the reserved cream into four neat mounds — the strawberries hide a lot.

Ingredients · 3 hr · Serves 8 to 10

The extra-vanilla sponge

  • ¾ cup (95g)all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp (4g)baking powder
  • ½ tsp (2g)salt
  • 4large eggs
  • ¾ cup (150g)granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp (10g)vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp (28g)canola oil
  • 2–3 tbsppowdered sugar

The fresh strawberry jam

  • 10 oz (300g)fresh strawberries
  • ¼ cup (50g)granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp (15ml)water

The spiced Madagascar vanilla cream

  • 1 cup (240ml)heavy whipping cream
  • 6 tbsp (60g)powdered sugar
  • 2 tspMadagascar bourbon vanilla extract
  • ⅛ tspground cinnamon

The photo finish

  • ½ cupshredded coconut
  • 2–3 tbsppowdered sugar
  • ¼ tspground cinnamon
  • 2large fresh strawberries

Filed under

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