Blueberry Orange Patterned Swiss Roll Tutorial
Blueberry orange patterned Swiss roll is my new jelly roll recipe, with not only homemade blueberry curd, but an impressive but simple, pattern to the cake roll too! Conquer your fear & learn how to successfully make a Swiss roll with this basic pattern.
Equipment
- Scales or measuring cups
- Pen, pencil, ruler (for making pattern)
- Small mixing bowl for pattern batter
- Piping Bag (or piping syringe/squeezy bottle)
- Round Piping Nozzle (no 2 or No 3, optional)
- Medium sized mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl)
- Hand-held or stand mixer
- Sieve
- Rubber/silicone/plastic spatula for folding
- Cooking/Baking Spray for greasing (Frylight spray, Cake Release Spray, Lining Paste, or softened butter)
- Baking/parchment paper
- Baking tray/sheet or jelly/swiss roll tray/sheet (see notes for sizing)
- Timer
- Wooden Cocktail stick/tooth pick
- Icing/Powdered sugar (for rolling)
- Clean Tea-towel (wider and longer than the baking sheet/tray dimensions)
- Baking palette knife, off-set best (optional) (optional, or butter knife)
- Second baking tray/sheet (or shallow carrying tray, for turning over the cake, same size/bigger than one for the cake)
Ingredients
For The Pattern Batter:
- 30 grams Butter (2 tbsp, 1 oz, in very small cubes & softened)
- 30 grams Caster Sugar (2 heaped tbsp, 1 oz, Extra/Super Fine Sugar*)
- 27 grams Plain Flour (1 oz, 3½ tbsp All Purpose Flour)
- 13 grams Cornflour (½ oz, 1½ tbsp Corn Starch. For Cake Flour instead of Plain/A.P., omit cornflour & increase Cake flour to 40g/ 1½ oz/5 tbsp)*
- 1 Egg White (UK Med-large egg, US large-extra large - room temperature)
- Purple Food Colouring (I used Sugarflair Violet Grape shade*)
- Milk (few drops, - optional to thin batter)
For The Cake Batter:
- 3 Eggs, medium (Or 2 Large eggs UK sized. US large to Extra large size, & at room temperature)
- 1 Egg Yolk (white used in pattern batter)
- 100 grams Caster Sugar (3½ oz, ⅓ cup plus 2 tbsp, Extra/Super Fine sugar*)
- Orange Zest (From 1 orange or even tangerine/satsuma zest - optional)
- 2½ tsp Orange Extract
- 100 grams Plain Flour (3½ oz, ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp All Purpose Flour)
- Milk (few drops - optional to thin batter)
For The Filling & Decoration:
- 12 tbsp Blueberry Orange Curd (8-10oz, 225-300 grams, approximately, homemade blueberry orange curd, or use shop bought)
- Blueberries, Orange/tangerine slices (optional for garnish & to serve)
Instructions
Prepare Pattern Template
- Use my template or free-hand draw round dots with a pen that does not wipe off from your baking/parchment paper. My dots were every 1" (2.54cm), and every second row I started half-way in, to make the pattern seen in the cake. (To get these accurate I had a square template under the paper -download a template in the notes section). See detailed recipe process photos before this Recipe Card.
Preparing The Pattern Batter
- Prepare the pattern batter, by softening the small cubes of butter with a fork and mixing with the caster (super/extra fine) sugar till combined and paste like. Add in the flour gradually (and cornflour/starch is using), mixing briefly before adding the egg white. Beat with a fork until a smooth paste is formed. Add some drops of milk if needed to make a thick but dropping consistency (see video and photos).
- Add the food colouring, (I used Sugarflair Violet Grape, a paste that is very concentrated. With a wooden cocktail stick, a little at a time, mixing in-between and waiting 30 seconds before adding more.) **Tip to go from white/cream colour to much darker - add some black colouring and then back with the purple colouring. Ensure all colouring is mixed at the bottom of the bowl too.
Piping Pattern
- Add the prepared purple batter to a piping bag/piping syringe/squeezy bottle, or clean food baggie. I used No.2 nozzle with a small (but not extra small) round hole. Have a practice of piping the batter on some paper, thinning the batter if needed.
- Grease and line the baking tray/sheet, remembering to place your pattern paper with the ink side down & not upwards. Pipe the small dots on top of the paper, one row at a time until all piped, before popping in the fridge for 10 minutes. After this, wrap a large sheet of baking/parchment paper over and under the baking sheet/tray to protect it without touching the batter, and place in the freezer for 20 - 30 minutes.
Prepare Cake Batter
- Meanwhile add the 3 whole eggs (2 if UK large sized), as well as the left-over egg yolk, and the sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl. (**always room temperature eggs). Beat on medium to high speed till creamy, thick, a paler colour, and noticeably big in volume. Do a 'Ribbon Test'/'Trail Test' to be sure whisked enough (see detailed process section before this Recipe Card, the video below or watch my Ribbon Test video).
- Heat the oven to: 200°c/180°c Fan Oven/400°f/Gas Mark 6, and now add the Vanilla Extract, before sieving over the flour. Gently fold-in the flour with a plastic, rubber or silicone spatula to stop knocking out the air incorporated.
Bake The Cake
- Remove the frozen pattern from the freezer when ready, & spoon the cake batter careful on top of the purple pattern. The batter will be thick (and you can see this in photos & the video), but if you need to you can gently fold in a little milk to thin down slightly. Bake the Swiss roll cake in the centre of the oven for 7 - 10 minutes. The cake will be just starting to turn a golden shade at the edges, coming away from the sides of the tin, & a cocktail stick will come out clean of crumbs.
First Roll Of The Cake
- While the cake is baking, prepare for turning out the cake as soon as out of the oven. This patterned cake will require an extra turn over for the pattern side to be down while rolling the cake. Dustings of icing/powdered sugar, a clean tea-towel, 2 sheets of baking/parchment paper cut to about same size as the tea-towel and a second baking/sheet same size or bigger than the one the cake is baking in will be needed.
- Immediately on taking the cake out, run the cocktail stick around the sides of the cake tin, to help releasing the cake. Dust icing/powdered sugar on top of the cake, place baking/parchment paper on top, then the tea-towel and the 2nd cookie sheet/tray turned upside down. Hold everything together, and flip over, before releasing the top layers. The cake will now be released and pattern side up. Carefully peel back the paper from the baked cake, before dusting some more icing/powdered sugar on top. Put the removed paper back on top of the cake with the tea-towel, and the baking sheet/tray now turned upside down. Hold everything together again and flip back over for the pattern of the cake to now be facing downwards. With the trays/sheets being inverted, you should now be able to remove the top layers, and slide the bottom tray out, leaving just the cake on top of paper and the tea-towel. (See photo collage 12 before this Recipe Card).
- With the short side of the cake near to you, beginning with a tight roll, roll up the cake, paper and tea-towel all together. Tightening & neatening the ends as you go. (See process photos or video for more on this). Twist the ends of the tea-towel and tie to hold together. Place on a large flat plate seam side down, or in a cardboard whisky tube/postal cylinder to hold a round shape, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Filling The Cake
- After its cool down, carefully unroll the cake & spread the blueberry orange curd on top, (leaving a little gap at the edges. Roll back up, (just the cake this time), cover with the paper & tea-towel and close the ends like before. Chilling for at least 1 hour or freezer for 30 minutes.
Serving & Storing
- When ready to serve, remove the cake and trim off a small amount of cake at both ends to reveal the swirl shape. (About 1cm, nearly 0.5″- don't forget this part). Transfer to a long platter and cut into slices every 2nd row of dots (in-between the dots), to about a thickness of about 2.5cm/1″. Gently squeeze the cake back into a round shape after cutting.
- Serve as it is, or with some blueberries and slices of orange as garnish, with a nice cup of tea or coffee. Make a bit more special & add some whipped cream to the side!
- Store in an airtight container, or under a cake dome for about 3 days. Can also be stored sliced in the fridge, under cling film/plastic wrap.
Video
Notes
Sugar - Caster Sugar is used, Extra/Super Fine Sugar is the equivalent. Make your own finer sugar by lightly processing granulated sugar.
Eggs - 3 UK medium sized eggs are used, but 2 large eggs can also be used. US equivalents are Large to Extra Large. If you want to weigh the eggs, weight averages 58g/2 oz for medium and 68g/2⅓ oz for large eggs - sizes 1 - 5*. Always use room temperature eggs in baking. Vanilla Extract - can be used in place of the orange extract. Learn how to make Homemade Vanilla Extract and save money in the long run.
Cornflour – a little cornflour (corn starch) is used in the pattern batter. If you can get cake flour with a lower protein percentage, omit the cornflour & increase the cake flour by 13g (0.5 oz, 4.25 tsp).
Purple Food Colouring – I used & recommend Sugarflair concentrated food colouring paste . I used Grape Violet & a little black to help the pale batter become a purple shade quicker. Food colouring gel can be used but I don’t recommend liquid colouring. Wear gloves when using the colouring.
Tin Size - Swiss roll tins are 33 x 23cm (13 x 9″), & I use a cookie tray/sheet that is 35 x 23 x 1.5 cm (13¾ x 9 x ⅔ inch) or the one in the photos which is a 38 x 25 x 1.5cm (15 x 9¾ x 1"). I would not recommend going any bigger or smaller than these 3 sizes listed.
Greasing - Frylight cooking spray is often used, but Homemade Lining Paste/Cake Goop, can also be good. Cake release spray or softened butter are alternatives.
Read more on the Ribbon Test/Stage, Trail Test in the detailed process before this Recipe Card, or read my Ribbon Test In Baking lesson.
Blueberry Orange Curd - here is the new blueberry orange curd recipe. To fill this Swiss roll, I used about 1 jar, from 2 made from the following:
250g/8¾oz Blueberries,
5 Red Plums (90g/3oz pitted),
2 tbsp Water, 1 Lemon (cut into quarters),
350g/12⅓oz/1¾ cup Dark Brown Sugar (or combination of white & brown),
3 Medium Eggs (combined weight 168g/6oz, US large eggs),
141g/5oz/⅔ cup Unsalted Butter &
2 tsp Orange Extract, (or more to taste).
Recipe instructions & video - Blueberry Orange Curd
More tips for confidence with Swiss roll cakes, see beginning of the recipe blog.
Check out my Flour Free, Gluten Free Chocolate Swiss Roll recipe, Chocolate Orange Yule Log, the Vertical Chocolate Swiss Roll, or Ultimate Lemon Curd Swiss Roll Guide.
Try my Easy Lemon Curd recipe, or Plum Orange Jam as an alternative filling.
Template - 1" squares template can be used under your parchment paper, to see where to draw your dots for the pattern. Click the file below twice to open the pdf for saving.
1-inch-squares-template
*Egg size data from EggInfo.co.uk @ Egg Facts & Figures
Eggs - 3 UK medium sized eggs are used, but 2 large eggs can also be used. US equivalents are Large to Extra Large. If you want to weigh the eggs, weight averages 58g/2 oz for medium and 68g/2⅓ oz for large eggs - sizes 1 - 5*. Always use room temperature eggs in baking. Vanilla Extract - can be used in place of the orange extract. Learn how to make Homemade Vanilla Extract and save money in the long run.
Cornflour – a little cornflour (corn starch) is used in the pattern batter. If you can get cake flour with a lower protein percentage, omit the cornflour & increase the cake flour by 13g (0.5 oz, 4.25 tsp).
Purple Food Colouring – I used & recommend Sugarflair concentrated food colouring paste . I used Grape Violet & a little black to help the pale batter become a purple shade quicker. Food colouring gel can be used but I don’t recommend liquid colouring. Wear gloves when using the colouring.
Tin Size - Swiss roll tins are 33 x 23cm (13 x 9″), & I use a cookie tray/sheet that is 35 x 23 x 1.5 cm (13¾ x 9 x ⅔ inch) or the one in the photos which is a 38 x 25 x 1.5cm (15 x 9¾ x 1"). I would not recommend going any bigger or smaller than these 3 sizes listed.
Greasing - Frylight cooking spray is often used, but Homemade Lining Paste/Cake Goop, can also be good. Cake release spray or softened butter are alternatives.
Read more on the Ribbon Test/Stage, Trail Test in the detailed process before this Recipe Card, or read my Ribbon Test In Baking lesson.
Blueberry Orange Curd - here is the new blueberry orange curd recipe. To fill this Swiss roll, I used about 1 jar, from 2 made from the following:
250g/8¾oz Blueberries,
5 Red Plums (90g/3oz pitted),
2 tbsp Water, 1 Lemon (cut into quarters),
350g/12⅓oz/1¾ cup Dark Brown Sugar (or combination of white & brown),
3 Medium Eggs (combined weight 168g/6oz, US large eggs),
141g/5oz/⅔ cup Unsalted Butter &
2 tsp Orange Extract, (or more to taste).
Recipe instructions & video - Blueberry Orange Curd
More tips for confidence with Swiss roll cakes, see beginning of the recipe blog.
Check out my Flour Free, Gluten Free Chocolate Swiss Roll recipe, Chocolate Orange Yule Log, the Vertical Chocolate Swiss Roll, or Ultimate Lemon Curd Swiss Roll Guide.Try my Easy Lemon Curd recipe, or Plum Orange Jam as an alternative filling.
Template - 1" squares template can be used under your parchment paper, to see where to draw your dots for the pattern. Click the file below twice to open the pdf for saving.
1-inch-squares-template
*Egg size data from EggInfo.co.uk @ Egg Facts & Figures
**I am not a qualified nutritionist, and all nutritional values approximate & based on a serving of 1 x 1 "/2.5cm thick slice of cake, based on cutting 10 portions. Note it does not take into account the ends trimmed off - therefore nutritional values will be slightly less. Includes serving with blueberries and orange slices. Bigger or smaller slices & the nutritional values will change. All values from Whisk.com.
Nutrition Facts
Blueberry Orange Patterned Swiss Roll Tutorial
Serving Size
1 slice
Amount per Serving
Calories
154
% Daily Value*
Fat
4.3
g
7
%
Sodium
52.1
mg
2
%
Carbohydrates
25.5
g
9
%
Sugar
14.1
g
16
%
Protein
3.7
g
7
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.