Show your loved ones how much you care about them this Valentine’s Day with this decadent yet simple to make Raspberry Chocolate Swiss Roll.
Have you ever made a swiss roll cake? Looks kinda tricky, huh? Well, it’s actually quite easy! Now, you can’t just take a regular cake recipe and roll it up. It’s gotta be a sponge cake.
How is a sponge cake different than a regular ole cake? It’s primarily made up of flour, sugar, and eggs. There’s NO butter or oil! This composition helps the cake hold together well and not crumble when rolling. And surprisingly, it’s still moist!
After you make the batter for this cake you pour it into a large jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. It only takes about 14 minutes to cook. After it’s done you immediately turn the cake out onto a towel heavily coated in powdered sugar (this is so it doesn’t stick). Then you roll the cake up in the towel, starting at the short side. Let it cool completely and then you unroll it and spread the amazing raspberry cream filling on.
I typically make my raspberry frosting with fresh berries, like in my Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes. Unfortunately you can only add a couple tablespoons fresh mashed berries before it gets too thin. To get an intense raspberry flavor and still retain that perfect smooth texture the key ingredient is freeze dried raspberries. You blend them to a powder and add it to your frosting.
Naturally flavored and colored! So so good! You can get them at Amazon or Trader Joe’s.
Once you spread the filling on, roll the cake right back up (without the towel of course). Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to firm up for 3 plus hours. Before serving, top it with the ganache, whipped cream and fresh berries. Refrigerate until ready to plate, slice, and serve.
With a moist chocolate cake, strong raspberry cream filling, chocolate ganache, whipped cream, and fresh berries this cake is sure to impress! Enjoy!
More Berry Chocolate Favorites
- Chocolate Ganache Raspberry Tarts
- Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Raspberry Stuffed Brownies
- Chocolate Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries (No Bake)
- Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Butter Cream
Raspberry Chocolate Swiss Roll
Ingredients
Batter
- 4 eggs divided
- ½ cup granulated sugar + ⅓ cup, divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup water
Filling
- ½ cup freeze dried raspberries ½ ounce
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar divided
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Ganache
- 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Topping
- 6 ounces raspberries fresh
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (325°F if using a dark pan). Line a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat egg whites until soft peaks (peaks fall when you lift the beaters). While mixing, slowly add in the ½ cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks on medium speed for 3 minutes, add the ⅓ cup sugar and vanilla and beat 2 more minutes.
- In another mixing bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Alternately add flour mix and the ⅓ cup water to the egg yolk mixture in the stand mixer. When thoroughly mixed (scrape down sides of the bowl), fold the chocolate batter into the egg whites a little at a time. Keep stirring until completely combined.
- Spread batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 12-15 minutes until toothpick comes back clean and cake springs back when lightly touched.
- Meanwhile, prepare a dish towel coated thoroughly in powdered sugar.
- When the cake is done, immediately invert it onto the towel. Remove the parchment paper and then starting at the narrow end, roll it up. Let it cool completely.
Filling
- Place freeze dried raspberries in a blender and pulse into a fine powder (yields about 2 tablespoons).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat heavy whipping cream and ¼ cup powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Remove whipped cream into a separate bowl.
- In the stand mixer bowl (no need to clean) fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add in ¾ cup powdered sugar, raspberry powder, vanilla, and salt.
- Fold in 1 ½ cups of the whipped cream until combined and place the remaining whipped cream the fridge to use as a garnish on top (you may need to whip with a whisk if it loses stiffness).
- Carefully unroll the cake. Spread the raspberry filling evenly over the entire surface and then roll the cake back up the same way it was rolled before.
- Place cake roll on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
Ganache
- Heat the 6 tablespoons whipping cream in the microwave for 45 seconds or until hot and then add the chocolate chips. Cover and let it sit for two minutes and then stir until smooth. Let the ganache come to room temperature (about 5-10 minutes) before pouring and spreading over the cake.
- Let the ganache cool on the cake for about 5 minutes and then top with the whipped cream (the leftover from the filling) and fresh raspberries. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Slice and serve. Store leftover cake in the fridge.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Recipe source: Garnish & Glaze original frosting; Chocolate cake from Hershey
More Valentine’s Day Desserts:
Raspberry Brownie Cheesecake Trifles
Red Wine Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Butter Cream
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I bought 4 1 oz packages of fresh raspberries and since I’m doubling the recipe, I put a cup’s worth of raspberries in a ziplock bag. Do I freeze that bag overnight before grinding the berries in my processor the next day? I don’t have a freeze dryer so I will be using my standard freezer to store the bag overnight. Will this method of freezing be okay?
Hi Hillary, freeze drying actually removes the moisture from the raspberries which you can’t achieve through standard freezing. So blending them will result in a liquid instead of a powder. The flavour will still be delicious but the filling will turn out a bit runnier than expected if using frozen strawberries and may not set up the same. I would love to hear how it turns out for you!
I made this as my first swiss roll and it was fabulous! I would love a vanilla version. I cannot find one without oil and I so like the texture of this cake. do you have a vanilla version? or can i take out the cocoa powder and replace witg 1/4 c flour? thanks!
Hi Jacqueline! I do not have a vanilla version of this recipe, sorry!
I’ve r this made this a few times now and it’s our favorite! I’m making it today for my fiancés birthday! Love love love it!! Thank you!
Do you think you could freeze this?
This should freeze just fine Sharon!
Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe. We have baking challenges at work between a few employees, the bosses are the judges. This months challenge was raspberry/chocolate . I’ve never made a Swiss roll cake before and it looked intimidating. I did a “test” run and my neighbors loved it. So for the contest I made it again. It came out BEAUTIFUL and the flavor profiles came out with a bang. Guess who won!! “ME” the only complaint is that Trader Joe’s discontinued the freeze dried raspberries so I bought them online. I did try the raspberry jello mix as one reviewer mentioned but I wanted more flavor. Both worked out great . Thanks again…
Woohoo! Congratulations on the win Stella! I am so happy to hear this recipe worked out for you.
Hello, if I want to triple the recipe , do I have to use 12 eggs?
Hi Mariam, if you are tripling the recipe I do recommend tripling all of the ingredients which would mean using 12 eggs. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
First time making a swiss roll. Great directions. Loved it. I will make it again for sure
This swiss roll is the best raspberry dessert i’ve ever had. made it for my daughter’s 3rd birthday because she loves chocolate and raspberries and guests were blown away. the kids loved it too.
the flavors are so well balanced and the cake is fluffy. followed the recipe exactly.
I am so happy to hear this recipe was a hit!
First time making one last year. I’m not a baker and it turned out awesome! I was asked to make it again this year. This recipe is now listed under my favorites.
Cake was delicious and moist. Filling heavenly. Really wowed my guests.
I don’t know what I did wrong. I followed the recipe exactly, cooking it until done. When I unrolled the towel, the cake stuck to the towel as it was very damp. I had to toss it!
Oh no, I am so sorry that happened Lori! Did you thoroughly coat the towel in powdered sugar? That step helps prevent it from sticking to the towel. Also if it was very damp, it is possible it wasn’t fully cooked when rolled – you will want to bake it for bake for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes back clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched.
Do you think you could substitute non-dairy whipped topping for the whipped cream?
If not, will the assembled cake keep overnight in the fridge.
Hi Barb, we have never tried this recipe with non-dairy whipped topping but would love to hear how it turns out for you! The cake should be fine assembled in the fridge overnight, though.
Do you use natural, or dutch process cocoa?
We used natural cocoa powder for this recipe.
I made this for my daughters birthday this past year, which is on Christmas Eve. It was amazing!! Cake rolled up easily with no cracking. The only change I made, was because the pandemic + Christmas shopping meant everything was out of stock everywhere. I didn’t trust using any kind of fruit purée, because I was sure it would make things watery, and I couldn’t find freeze dried raspberries or raspberry extract anywhere. As a spur of a moment decision, I grabbed a box of raspberry jello mix and crossed my fingers. I only used a few teaspoons of it, and it was PERFECT. Strong raspberry flavor , that didn’t come across as artificial or overpowering at all. Nice and bright, and it was a beautiful color. I’m about to make it again for Easter, again using the jello, and decided to stop and leave a review. It’s great!
What a great idea Lindsey, thank you so much for sharing that tip!
I made this the other day and it was fairly easy and sooo delicious! The whole family loved it – thank you for the recipe. I need to try again to work on the roll, as mine stuck/cracked some. My question is – did you use “dark” cocoa powder? In your pic, the chocoloate color is so much darker. Mine was more like a medium/light brown.
Hi Amy, I like using a regular cocoa powder for that rich chocolate flavor but you could use a dark cocoa powder for a deeper color, just remember it won’t be as chocolatey or sweet.
I have a (maybe silly) question… when rolling the cake in the towel- is the towel rolling along inside the cake (so it’s within the roll? Or do you just roll the cake and then wrap the towel around the outside of the cake roll? Thank you!
That’s a great question Amy! You roll it with the towel so that it will be inside of the roll. Enjoy!
I have never made a roll cake before and I did a trial run on this before I prepared it for a gourmet club. I do not think the directions were very clear. I wish you had included that you needed to roll the towel with the cake. Also, I interpreted the recipe to mean to turn the cake out on the towel immediately after taking it out of the oven. After reading other roll cake recipes, I see that the cake should have cooled a little. My cake is a mess!!! Also, my ganache is very runny. It is currently in the refrigerator trying to get the ganache to harden but I am doubtful I will use this recipe again. Unless it is different after being in the refrigerator, the raspberry filling does not have a lot of flavor. In all fairness, Trader Joe’s no longer sells freeze-dried raspberries, so I used mixed freeze-dried fruit (raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries). So far I am disappointed in how this turned out. Hopefully, when I take it out of the refrigerator it will be better.
Beautiful and so delicious!!! This is now one of my very favorite deserts to wow a party. Thank you and please keep making more resizes like this!!!