This chocolate orange Swiss roll recipe takes all the stress out of the seasonal treat (2024)

Swiss rolls can be made with pumpkin, red velvet, vanilla or any flavored cake, but a chocolate Swiss roll, filled with whipped cream, has the added benefit of looking a little like a supersize Drake’s Yodel (my favorite packaged snack cake as a child). If you draw a blank when envisioning a Yodel, think Hostess HoHo or Little Debbie’s Swiss Roll. Thus, the Swiss roll gives some of us all the nostalgic feels, despite being such an elegant and decidedly grown-up dessert.

To my mind, the Swiss roll has Christmas and New Year’s Eve written all over it, particularly when decorated like the branch of a snow-dusted tree (a.k.a. a buche de noel). But this particular chocolate Swiss roll, with its orange Grand Marnier whipped cream and ganache, befits any occasion warranting something delicious and eye-popping and — wait for it — easy.

If the notion of rolling up a cream-filled cake (with a reputation for cracking) seems daunting, take heart: It is simple when the recipe has been streamlined and made user-friendly (you’re welcome); and a couple of tips are followed and tricks implemented. I get it if you’re still skeptical — I mean how can something so visually alluring be easy to pull off?

What follows is a list of some of the tweaks I’ve made to both the ingredients and the assembly of the classic Swiss roll, that make it less fussy, more accessible.

Despite being a professional baker and knowing my way around a host of complicated desserts, I’ve only got eyes for the easy ones. I am the self-proclaimed queen of easy-peasy baking, so here are my Swiss Roll Assembly 101 tips:

Use whole eggs when assembling your cake batter and beat them until ribbony. Typically, when Swiss roll-making, eggs are separated, and the yolks and whites are beaten and whipped individually to provide structure and lift. But here, to avoid such fussiness (and the extra bowl), a little baking powder is called for, as well as whole eggs. The eggs are beaten with sugar for about 5 minutes on high, until the airy batter luxuriously falls from the whisk, leaving a ribbon-y shape on the surface, before disappearing a few seconds later.

Bake your Swiss roll in a standard half sheet pan (a.k.a. your rimmed cookie sheet). Swiss rolls are traditionally made in jelly roll pans: smallish baking pans, about 10-by-15-inches, that most folks don’t keep on hand. But a half sheet pan, 13-by-18-inches, is likely hanging out in your kitchen right now, and using it to bake your Swiss roll means no borrowing or buying single-use equipment. Moreover, a Swiss roll assembled in a half sheet pan is slightly larger than one assembled in a jelly roll pan, and in my book, a “slightly larger” treat is always a slightly better treat.

Do not overbake your Swiss roll. Swiss rolls are made from a very thin cake that bakes quickly, in 11 to 13 minutes. An overbaked cake is more likely to crack when rolled, so be sure to pull it from the oven when it is dry to the touch, is coming away from the edges of the pan and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Gently show the Swiss roll who’s boss. The trickiest part of assembling a Swiss roll is remembering that a gentle, but confident touch goes a long way.

First, removing the baked cake from the pan can be a little daunting. But, if you keep the bottom edge of the pan close to your work surface (so the cake does not have very far to go when it flips out) and quickly flick your wrists so that the pan is quite literally upside down over the counter, the cake simply pops out — and always in one piece. You just peel off the parchment and get ready to roll.

Second, rolling the cake up with a tea towel — yes a tea towel rolls up inside the cake — and waiting about 40 minutes for it to come to room temperature is a little peculiar. I get it. But this is how your roll develops its “muscle memory.” Once you unroll the cake, remove the towel, and spread it with whipped cream, it will easily roll back up into the shape it held with the towel. The secret is to use a firm, but gentle, hand when rolling and unrolling; you don’t want to tear the cake, but you also want a roll with a tight, round shape. And remember, the cake must be room temperature when you unroll it. If you notice it is still a bit warm when you start to do so, roll that cutie right back up and wait. A warm cake will crack or melt your whipped cream; neither of which is much fun.

Third, ganache will hide any cracks. Let’s say you get a little aggressive with your rolling and the cake cracks. You’ll be disappointed, I get it, but you’ve still got this, because once you coat the roll in ganache, no one will be the wiser. I promise. Moreover, if you’re giving the roll the “buche de noel” treatment (see the notes to the recipe for the how-to), you’ve even less to worry about, as you’ll be cutting the roll in two and dragging a fork along the ganache to create the textured look of tree bark — and a cake crack is utterly powerless against ganache posing as bark.

Whip your cream to medium peaks. Although softly whipped cream is lovely texturally, if your cream is too loose, it will squeeze out the ends of the cake as you roll it. Medium peaks, when the cream holds its peaks but they curl at the end — are ideal as the cream is stable enough to behave while being rolled, but still light and fluffy when served.

Using two flat spatulas, transfer your roll to a serving plate after it has chilled in the fridge. The roll is much easier to manipulate once it has chilled. After glazing it, place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. When ready to serve, use two flat spatulas to move it to a serving plate. If making a buche de noel, place the chilled and cut roll on the serving platter before glazing it so you don’t have to move it once decorated.

Best of all, this easy Swiss roll can be made, lightly wrapped and refrigerated for up to three days before serving, making it a fuss-free celebration bake.