Pina Colada Cake Roll

My contribution to Cinco de Mayo this year is this oh so yummy Pina Colada Cake Roll, although it would be perfect for any occasion! Since Cinco de Mayo is a big bright party day I decided to give my cake a little sassy color... For the flavors I started with G-Mom-B's sponge cake but subbed 2 Tblsp dark rum for some of the water (don't worry, she would approve:@) and added some coconut extract. The creamy thick filling has bits of pineapple and coconut, and the coconut milk made it white and luscious, this really did make me think of a pina colada folks. 

I made a fun discovery at work the other day, the company next door sells cake making supplies... Oh yea, I was like the proverbial kid in a candy store! I've been dying to try some AmeriColor food coloring and picked up a few bottles. This crazy cake in Cinco de Mayo colors is the first thing I've made using them. Good stuff! Very deep colors and it does not add any taste to your batter, not even the red! 

I put the batter in disposable icing bags and piped it onto the wax paper. It's a thin batter and does run and spread (just so you know). An option to dying the batter would be to dye some coconut red, green and yellow and sprinkle that on the cake roll. 

And of course not dying the cake at all would make a pretty dessert for Mother's Day or the summer holidays.

Pina Colada Cake Roll
Cake:
4 eggs
1 C sugar-I cut back a bit
2 Tblsp dark rum  
1 Tblsp cold water
1/2 tsp vanilla  
1/2 tsp coconut extract
1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
red, yellow and green food coloring-optional

Cake Directions:
1. Beat eggs well, add sugar, beat till light. Add water and vanilla.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder, add it to the wet and mix well.
3. If using food coloring divide batter into three bowls and mix in color.
4. Pour batter onto wax paper lined jelly roll pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and roll up (see tips HERE). Let cool completely.

Filling:
8oz can crushed pineapple, juice poured off and reserved
1/2 C shredded coconut
3/4 C coconut milk
1/3 C sugar
3 Tblsp cornstarch

Filling Directions:
1. Put pineapple, coconut, coconut milk and sugar into pot, bring to a boil.
2. Mix cornstarch and reserved juice, add to pot.
3. Cook until very thick, stirring constantly.
4. Let cool completely.

Assembly:
1. Unroll cake and slather with filling.
2. Re-roll cake,  and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Fiesta until you need a siesta and have a happy day:@)

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Carrot Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Spring=Bunnies, Bunnies=Carrots, Carrots=Cake... See how my mind works?:@) I've wanted to make a Carrot Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling for a while now and my attempt last year was a serious kitchen failure. So bad I would have even felt guilty tossing it out to the birds... So this year I tried a different recipe, and had much better results! This is such a pretty cake roll with the bits of orange, I think it would be perfect for Easter dessert.

The recipe as written is a heavily spiced cake (I wanted it lighter for spring and reduced the spices by half) and I added raisins because we love them. My raisins were very small, if yours are a good size you may want to cut them in half so they don't inhibit rolling the cake. I also feel there's plenty of room to cut back a bit on the filling... if you're so inclined:@) Or whip up some Pineapple Cream Cheese Filling HERE and use that for something different.

This received a big thumbs-up (because mouths were full) at dinner on Sunday!

Carrot Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling-from Crazy for Crust
3 eggs
2/3 C sugar
2 Tblsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt-I just added a sprinkle
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ginger-I used 1/2 tsp
1/4 tsp nutmeg-I just grated some into the bowl
2 tsp cinnamon-I used 1 tsp
3/4 C flour
2 C shredded carrots
handful of raisins-optional

Filling:
6 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
powdered sugar for dusting top-optional

1. Beat eggs well, mix in sugar, oil and vanilla.
2. Add dry to wet, mix until blended and stir in the carrots and raisins if using.
3. Spread batter on to a wax paper lined jelly roll pan (10x15"), or use Dorothy's or your favorite way to bake a jelly roll type cake.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for approx 10 minutes.
5. When the cake is no longer wet on top, remove from oven and roll it up. (I just roll it in the wax paper-tutorial HERE, you can click over to Crazy For Crust to see how Dorothy does it).  
6. While the cake is cooling, mix all of the filling ingredients well.
7. Once cool, unroll cake and smear with filling. Roll back up and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Have a happy day:@)

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Sponge Cake Roll with Jello Flavored Cream Cheese Filling

For some reason I always find myself drawn to Lime Jello around St. Patrick's Day and this year was no different. For this Sponge Cake Roll with Jello Flavored Cream Cheese Filling I used my G-Mom-B's standard jelly roll cake but had some fun with the filling... I started with cream cheese but instead of adding powdered sugar, I used Lime Jello. It added a subtle lime flavor and this light green tint, and since we all know St. Patrick's Day is anything but a subtle holiday, feel free to add more food coloring:@)

I cut a shamrock shape out of thin posterboard with an exacto knife to use as a stencil for the green sugar shamrocks on top. Full disclosure: I did find the filling a little grainy, but still tasty.

Sponge Cake Roll with Jello Flavored Cream Cheese Filling
Cake:
4 eggs
1 C sugar-I cut back a bit
3 Tblsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt-I don't use this
~Beat the eggs, add sugar, mix until light colored, mix in the water and vanilla.
~Sift the flour and baking powder, add it to the wet and mix well.
~Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper. Pour batter into pan.
~Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
~Remove from oven and roll up (see my jelly roll tutorial HERE). Let cool completely.

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
(1) 3oz package of Lime Jello
Optional-1/2 tsp lemon or lime extract
Optional-a little more powdered sugar to taste
Optional-additional green food coloring
(Note: I did not add any optional items)
~Beat cream cheese, Jello, and any optional items until light and fluffy.

Assembly:
~Unroll cake, trim outer edges if desired, slather with filling, re-roll cake, refrigerate... eat.

No one ever got pinched serving cake!

Have a happy day:@)

Multi-Colored Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

I happened to find the greatest video tutorial for a Rainbow Colored Cake Roll and just had to make one! My food coloring gel set came with some bright colors and some pastel, so I opted to just use the bright ones which I thought would be closest to true colors... Surprise!!! I ended up with a neon cake roll! Not what I had in mind but still cute and different... Sometimes ya just gotta roll with it:@)

I love this idea folks, there are so many possibilities: pink, white and blue for baby showers- red, white and blue- orange, white and black- red and green- and my personal favorite... Sports team colors! You can click HERE for a very clear video with instructions and recipe measurements.

 Notes:

• I knew I wanted multi-colors in each slice so I ran my stripes the opposite way than the lady did in the video. 
• The stripes of color were added using Wilton disposable icing bags.
• I did trim the edges all the way around the cake-the Baker's treat!
• While her whipped cream filling sounded great I planned to serve this the next day so I opted for a more solid Cream Cheese Filling: 4oz cream cheese, 1 Tblsp butter (add 2 Tblsp if you'd like), 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 C powdered sugar mixed well.
• This project is best made in a cooler, temperature controlled environment... Windows open on a humid July day in Philadelphia=Eggs deflating (read: melting) fairly quickly.

Bake something fun and have a happy day:@)

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Chocolate Cherry Roll

I've been dying to try something new with maraschino cherries, the color is just so pretty! So I added cocoa powder to my G-Mom-B's Jelly Roll Cake and used cherries in this Cream Cheese filling. This Chocolate Cherry Roll really turned out to be a great tasting cake!

A simple dusting of powdered sugar to make it pretty...

And my lovely assistant Earl is supposed to be saying if you really want to take it over the top 

use either a chocolate ganache glaze like Bloggy Buddy Cathy did here, 

or a thick glaze that uses the cherry juice for flavor and color...

But he seems a bit... preoccupied...

Chocolate Cherry Roll

Cake:

4 eggs

3/4 C sugar

3 Tblsp cold water

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 C A/P flour

1/3 C cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt if desired-I don't use this

1. Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper. A standard jelly roll pan is 10"x15".
2. Beat eggs well.
3. Add sugar and mix until eggs are a lighter color (just a couple minutes).
4. Add water and vanilla, mix.
5. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, add to wet and mix well.
6. Pour into the wax paper lined jelly roll pan.
7. Bake at 350 until set, when touched with your finger it will bounce back and not be sticky, about 13-20 minutes.
8. Remove from oven. let sit for 5 minutes, either turn out onto a powder sugar covered dish towel and remove wax paper or peel the wax paper off the sides of the cake and roll it up like that. (I have a full tutorial HERE).
9. After cooled, carefully unroll and trim the edges if desired.

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature 
1 C powdered sugar
1 10 oz jar maraschino cherries, well drained and chopped (minus a cherry or two:@)

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, gently fold in the cherries.
2. Spread filling over cake.
3. Carefully roll back up, add glaze if desired and chill for several hours or until firm.
4. If you didn't use a glaze you can add a light dusting of powdered sugar before serving.

Oh, and Ma, guess what we're having with coffee tomorrow:@)

Have a happy day!

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G-Mom-B's Jelly Roll

Hey everyone! G-Mom-B was a great baker, normally she'd make pie or crumb cake using fruit that had passed it's prime. But every once in a while she'd have some eggs to use up, that called for a Jelly Roll. I made sure I had this recipe when I moved out on my own. See that great sticky smear of jam from cutting it folks? Just keepin' it real:@)

Jelly Roll
4 eggs
1 C sugar
3 Tblsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla
1 C A/P flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper. A standard jelly roll pan is 10"x15".
Beat eggs well.
Add sugar and mix until eggs are a lighter color (just a couple minutes).
Add water and vanilla, mix.
Add flour, powder and salt, mix well.
Pour into the lined jelly roll pan.

Ready for the oven

Bake until set, when you touch the top with your finger the cake will bounce back and not be sticky. This is about 13 minutes in my oven, the recipe said 30 minutes...

Out of the oven

Remove from baking sheet and let sit for 5 minutes, then peel the wax paper off the "edges" of the cake.

At this point you have a choice, you can turn the cake upside down onto a slightly damp clean dish towel or Handi Wipe and remove the wax paper or just roll it up in the wax paper. I've been doing it like this for over 20 years. Just make sure the wax paper is pulled straight out off the sides so the heat can escape. You'll be rolling the 10" side.

After it has cooled, carefully unroll and you can trim the edges if you'd like. They get a little darker and firmer than the rest of the cake and make a great baker's snack:@)

Earl says- um hello, baker's assistants like snacks too, just sayin'...

Use any jam, jelly or preserves you'd like (red or purple preferably), strawberry is our favorite. While I've never measured it, I'd say it takes over 1/2 cup. The offset spatula makes spreading jam a breeze.

Roll 'er back up-that's it! Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving if you'd like, we like it au naturale.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea and have a happy day:@)

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Pineapple Cream Cheese Roll

Happy Foodie Friday and I'm also joining the Mother's Day Blog Party!
How fun are these jelly roll type desserts! I married two recipes for this, we thought the original cake recipe was a little dense, so I've used my G-Mom-B's jelly roll cake and the filling from the original recipe.

Pineapple Cream Cheese Roll
Cake:
4 eggs
1 C sugar (I cut back a bit)
3 Tblsp cold water
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (I don't use this)

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1 C powdered sugar
1 C crushed pineapple, well drained

Cake:
Beat eggs well, add sugar, beat till light. Add water and vanilla.
I sift the flour and baking powder, add it to the wet and mix well.
Line a jelly roll pan with wax paper (or grease and flour it). Pour batter into pan.
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
Remove from oven and roll up (see tips below). Let cool completely.

Filling:
Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar till smooth, add pineapple, mix well.

Assembly:
Unroll cake, slather with filling, re-roll cake, refrigerate - enjoy!

Tips:

• I line the jelly roll pan with wax paper like my G-Mom-B did. She would turn the cake out onto a powdered sugar coated dish towel, remove the wax paper and then roll it up. I did away with that part years ago! I simply slide the cake out of the jelly roll pan, gently pull the wax paper off of the "sides" of the cake, let it cool for 5 minutes then roll it up in the wax paper till completely cooled. Unroll, remove wax paper, fill and re-roll. Tutorial HERE.
• How about adding some coconut to the filling, or a bit of rum instead of some of the water to mix it up a bit?
• To make a jelly roll, after the cake cools slather it with your favorite jelly/jam, roll up, and maybe sprinkle with powdered sugar.
• G-Mom-B used to cut all of the edges off before she put the jelly on it, they were our special treat - I highly recommend this!!!