This pink velvet swiss roll is perfect for Valentine's Day, a bridal shower, or a baby shower. The pretty pink sponge is filled with tangy whipped cream cheese. The cake is rolled, dusted with powdered sugar, and decorated with more whipped cream cheese and sprinkles.
Jump straight to the recipe!
💗A perfectly pink cake
Swiss roll cakes are so pretty and this one is even more so with it's pink hue and sprinkles that are a perfect fit for Valentine's Day! This cake would be also perfect for a bridal shower or a baby shower.
This swiss roll cake has a distinctive red velvet cake taste with buttermilk and vinegar. It is missing a bit of cocoa powder, but adding it would change the pretty pink colour to a rusty brown shade. So it's best to leave it out.
This cake is actually a good base to make any colour of velvet cake you like - green velvet for St. Patrick's day???
The pink velvet swiss roll is filled with my favourite cream cheese frosting. I use it in pineapple carrot cake, pumpkin cake, and added caramel to it for my apple crisp cupcakes. The frosting has only a bit of butter, and not too much powdered sugar, so that it doesn't over power the cream cheese flavour. It's perfect!
🥘Ingredients
📝Ingredient notes
- Gel food colouring - make sure to use gel food colouring, not liquid. Liquid food colouring adds too much extra liquid to the batter and it might not turn out exactly right.
- Cream cheese - use block cream cheese only. The spreadable cream cheese is not meant to bake with.
🔪Instructions
This cake is very quick to come together, and even quicker to bake. The longest part is waiting for the cake to cool so it can be filled.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs until lightened in colour, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, milk, oil, buttermilk, vinegar and vanilla. Mix until combined and then stir in a few drops of pink gel food colouring.
Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into a half sheet pan that is lined with parchment paper. Spread the batter evenly and then bake for 12-15 minutes.
Immediately turn cake onto a tea towel covered with powdered sugar. Roll the cake in the tea towel from the short end. Place the cake in the tea towel on a wire rack to cool completely.
Unroll the cake carefully to avoid cracking. Beat cream cheese and butter together until softened. Add powdered sugar and salt, and mix until combined. Spread over the cake.
Roll the cake back up, trim the edges, and decorate with remaining frosting and sprinkles.
✔️Expert Tips
- Swiss roll cakes are very thin, so make sure not to over bake. If the cake is dry, you risk cracking it while rolling.
- The cake is sticky so don't skip dusting the tea towel with powdered sugar.
- Roll your cake as soon as it comes out of oven the oven. The cake will firm as it cools and you won't be able to roll it without cracking.
- Don't worry about making the ends look nice. We will trim them after to show the beautiful swirl.
💭FAQs
It will crack if it is overbaked, and it could crack if it cools down too much after it comes out of the oven. It needs to be immediately turned onto a tea towel with powdered sugar on it, and rolled.
Decorate with lots of frosting over the crack. No one will see it, and the cake will still taste great!
You can prepare the cake through step 6 and keep the cake in the refrigerator for 1 day before serving it. Continue with frosting it.
The finished cake, without decorations on top, can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap with plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, and then decorate.
📖Related recipes
📋 Recipe
Pink Velvet Swiss Roll
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 tablespoons buttermilk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 drops pink gel food coloring
Frosting
- 8 ounce package of cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12x17 inch half sheet pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk eggs for 5 minutes until they lighten in colour.
- Whisk in sugar and oil. Then add in buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food colouring. Stir in half the dry ingredients, and then add the remaining half. Stir until just combined.
- Pour evenly into prepared baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.
- While cake is baking, sprinkle icing sugar onto a tea towel. When cake is baked, immediately turn out onto tea towel, remove the parchment paper and roll cake into the towel beginning at the shorter end. Place cake in tea towel onto a wire rack, seam side down, and cool completely.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Add icing sugar, salt and vanilla, and mix until combined.
To Assemble
- Carefully unroll the cake. Reserve ½ cup frosting for decorating. Frost the inside with the rest of the frosting, and roll cake back up. Cut both ends of the cake to make it look clean.
- Decorate the cake with left over frosting and sprinkles. This cake will last three days, covered, in the refrigerator.
Notes
- This cake is very thin, so make sure not to over bake. If the cake is dry, you risk cracking it while rolling.
- The cake is sticky so don't skip dusting the tea towel with powdered sugar.
- Roll your cake as soon as it comes out of oven the oven. The cake will firm as it cools and you won't be able to roll it without cracking.
- Don't worry about making the ends look nice. We will trim them after to show the beautiful swirl.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️