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Easy Jelly Roll Cake

This shortcut version is perfect for a quick and easy jelly roll cake.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes
cooling time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 22 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer or hand mixer
  • 1 jelly roll pan or quarter sheet pan

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Box Cake mix of choice I used Betty Crocker French Vanilla
  • 6 lg Eggs (room temperature)
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup confectioner's sugar, divided

Filling (and / or topping)

  • 500 gram heavy whipping cream
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla pudding mix *to stabilize the whipped cream, alternatively you can use "whip it" by Dr Oetker
  • 1 cup fruit filling of choice compote, jam or fresh fruit

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375℉
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat6 lg Eggs (room temperature) (room temperature) for 6 minutes on medium (speed 6).
  • Once they are done, add the cake mix, water and oil and beat again for 30 seconds to incorporate everything on LOW speed.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat again on medium speed for an additional minute scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  • Spray a 9x15" jelly roll pan (or quarter sheet pan) with a few shots of cooking spray, then lay parchment over and press down and into the corners and up the sides as best as you can.
  • Pour the prepared batter into the pan and spread it evenly. If you are using a jelly roll pan and not a quarter sheet pan I suggest removing 1-2 cups of the batter otherwise your cake will be quite thick and possibly crack when rolling.(bake the extra in a small pan if you like).
  • Bake for 12 minutes until the center springs back when touched. Watch carefully as ovens vary. Once it's golden test for doneness (10-14 minutes should be the ideal range)
  • While it is baking prepare your towel. Lay out a clean, lint free towel on the counter and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.
  • When the cake is done, remove from the oven and immediately (but carefully) flip it out onto the prepared towel then peel off the parchment paper (carefully)
  • quickly roll the cake up in the towel (or parchment paper if you used that instead of a towel). Once the cake is rolled into the towel, set it on a cooling rack seam side down and let it cool to room termperature for 2 hours. Do not refrigerate to cool it faster.
  • Prepare your filling(s) while the cake is cooling. You can make a buttercream filling, whipped cream filling, fruit filling or any combination of them you like.
  • If you are using whipped cream then I suggest stabilizing it with either "whip it" or by adding 1 Tbsp instant vanilla pudding mix per cup of whipping cream. This will prevent the whipped cream from weeping.

Assemble the Jelly Roll Cake

  • Once the cake has cooled completely, slowly unroll it from the towel being careful not to crack it.
  • Once it is unrolled (mostly) spread your filling(s) on the cake leaving about 1/2" on each edge, then roll the cake back up and place seam side down on your serving platter or cake plate.
  • Cover with whipped cream, buttercream or just powdered sugar as desired. Decorate with chocolate or fruit if you like.
  • Store the finished cake in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. Enjoy

Notes

I have used whipped cream for the filling and to ice the jelly roll, you can omit the whipping cream on the outside if you like.  I would then just sprinkle confectioner's sugar (icing sugar) over the rolled up cake before serving.  
Keyword boxed cake, cake mix, cakes, jelly roll