There’s something about strawberries and white chocolate that makes anything with those two ingredients irresistible to me. Maybe it’s a childhood memory. Maybe it’s because the lightness of the strawberries just perfectly counteracts to the heavy sweetness of white chocolate. Whatever it is, it just has me wrapped around its finger. A swiss roll, or „Biskuitroulade“ we Austrians call it, is usually not the cake I make on the regular. But this strawberry white chocolate version might actually bring a change to this. It’s the perfect ratio of filling vs. cake. It’s decadent, yet light and fruity. It’s actually quite quick in the making. And it’s strawberries and white chocolate! Need I say more?
The „original“, or let’s better call it the go-to recipe most people used when I grew up, is a rather understated cake roll filled with strawberry jam or sometimes whipped cream and strawberries. I’m not a big fan of strawberry jam. And I’m not a huge fan of cakey cakes either. So, naturally swiss rolls aren’t on heavy rotation in my baking schedule. But, I have to admit, making these kind of cakes has its perks. Once you’ve accepted that you need to really take your time whipping those eggs, making the sponge batter is actually a quite quick procedure. And, apart from those gentle hands you need for folding in those egg whites, it’s also a pretty straight-forward recipe. Another perk of swiss roll cakes is that they take much less time to cool before you can proceed than regular layered cakes. Given that they are much thinner, that probably doesn’t come as a surprise.
As I already told you before, the „traditional“ version would use whipped cream. And while I absolutely love the simple combination of whipped cream and strawberries, I felt that this cake needed a long overdue upgrade to make it into my hall-of-fame of recipes. Hence I swopped out whipped cream for mascarpone cream cheese. This Italian, full-fat, heaven of cream-cheeses is my go-to ingredients when I want to create something decadent and sophisticated. There’s a certain tartness to mascarpone that I love and which works incredibly well with the white chocolate.
Alright then, before I leave you with the recipe, a quick word on the procedure. The cake and the filling need to be made separately. You can prepare one before the other. If you want to do so, I suggest making the filling before the cake. This way you can make sure the filling has set adequately before using it and the cake is still it’s best, freshest version when being served. Once assembled you will need to let it come together and set once more. Usually half an hour should suffice. But if you want to be on the save side, an hour or even two won’t hurt.
While writing up this post, I just ate the last piece of the roll and I have to say, that even on its third day, it tasted heavenly. Although I would not recommend keeping it longer than 3 days in the fridge, as cut-up strawberries then to fade away quickly.
Also, one more word on the strawberries itself. This cake is only as good as the strawberries you use. I therefor strongly recommend buying organic strawberries or at least locally grown strawberries for this one. I know it’s sometimes challenging to afford or get your hands on organic produce. But there’s a reason why strawberries are always top of the dirty dozen list. Just saying.
And now, go make that Strawberry White Chocolate Swiss Roll & enjoy!
Lots of love,
Anna
P.s.: When you make it and are able to spare a couple of minutes, please leave me a comment here or on Instagram. And/or pin it over on Pinterest.
Strawberry White Chocolate Swiss Roll
I’d like to call this a sophisticated take on the classic strawberry-whipped-cream swiss roll (or „Biskuitroulade“ as we Austrians love to call it). The sponge is light and airy, yet sturdy enough to hold the filling. And the filling is a delicious mixture of white chocolate, strawberries and mascarpone. A perfect Sunday afternoon bake or...
- Prep Time: 30m
- Cook Time: 17m
- Total Time: 1h 30m
- Serves: 8
- Yield: 1 swiss roll
- Category: all recipes, baking, recipes, Spring, sweets, Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the biscuit roll
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- optional for garnishing: more strawberries, white chocolate (eggs), slices of lemon
- 6 eggs
- 100 grams (coconut blossom) sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 150 grams flour
- zest of 1/2 organic lemon
- pinch of salt
For the filling
- 500 grams strawberries
- 1 teaspoon agar agar (about 5g)
- 1 teaspoon ground vanilla bean
- 2 tablespoons (coconut blossom) sugar
- juice of 1/2 organic lemon
- 100 grams white chocolate
- 2 tablespoons cream or milk
- 500 grams mascarpone
Instructions
For the sponge cake
- Preheat the oven to 170° Celsius and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
- Seperate the eggs into two very clean medium whipping bowls. Make sure no egg yolk accidentally drops into the egg whites.
- Start whipping the egg yolks on medium high until they start to become frothy. Once they start getting light and fluffy start adding the sugar slowly until it's fully incorporated. Add two tablespoons of water and the lemon zest and keep on whipping until the eggs are pale-yellow, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whip until stiff (Make sure to properly clean the whisks).
- Now sift 1/2 of the flour into the egg yolks and incorporate carefully with a spatula. Then add 1/2 of the egg whites and to the same. Continue with the flour and lastly add the remaining egg whites.
- Transfer the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and carefully spread it into a rectangle.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until nice golden brown. When done let cool for a couple of minutes before flipping it onto a clean kitchen towel that you covered in powdered sugar before. Let cool completely before filling and rolling up.
For the filling
- While the sponge is baking, wash and clean the strawberries. Put 1/2 aside for the filling and garnishing and blend the other half until smooth.
- Add the agar agar to a small pot and mix with 2 tablespoons of the strawberry pulp until very smooth. Add the rest of the strawberry pulp and the vanilla. Slowly heat up over medium heat, stirring continuously until the mixture starts boiling. Cook for another 2 minutes. Then set aside to cool off a little.
- Add juice of the lemon and 1-3 tablespoons sugar (depending on the sweetness of the strawberries) to the strawberry mixture. And set aside.
- Break the white chocolate into pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl together with the milk or cream. Put the bowl over a small pot filled with 2cm of water. Bring to a simmer and slowly melt the chocolate until liquified.
- Place mascarpone in a medium bowl and whip through for 30-60 seconds. Slowly add the strawberry pulp and the white chocolate and whip until combined and smooth. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before assembling the roll.
- Spread the strawberry-mascarpone cream onto the prepared sponge cake, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnishing. Cut reserved strawberries into pieces an place them onto the cream.
- Roll cake lengthwise into a long log. Place in the fridge for another 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).
- Garnish with the remaining cream, strawberries, white chocolate (eggs), slices of lemon and more powdered sugar, if you want to.
- Keep in the fridge and eat within 3 days!
- Notes: The filling can be made ahead up to 24 hours. Whip through before using.
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