Mother’s Day Jelly Roll Cake – Simply Styled Inspo

My favourite flavour for anything at all is lemon, so I decided to make a classic lemon jelly roll cake for Mother’s Day this year. This cake is so fun to do and the possibilities are endless with all the variations. You could try white chocolate strawberry, raspberry, chocolate Swiss, mocha, peanut butter and the list goes on and on. There are two main parts, first is the actual sponge cake and second is the filling. You could leave the top of the cake dusted in icing sugar but I decided for Mother’s Day, I’d go all out and pipe some butter cream roses which really makes this cake so fitting for the occasion. It’s also a nice contrast between the sweetness of the buttercream and the tartness of the lemon curd.

You can use both the buttercream and the lemon curd for other recipes. Lemon curd can be used as a topping, filling or spread and would be great for crepes, scones, pound cake, muffins, etc.

Jelly roll cake ingredients:

3 egg whites
6 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp icing sugar (for rolling)

Lemon curd filling ingredients:

4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup unsalted butter cubed, cold
3/4 tbsp lemon rind
1/8 tsp salt

Buttercream ingredients (optional):

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Jelly roll cake directions:

Line the bottom of a 15×10 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 375°F.
In bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks. Beat in 1/4 cup of the sugar.
In large bowl, beat egg yolks with the remaining sugar until mixture has thickened, approx. 3-4 minutes.
Beat in vanilla.
In separate bowl, mix flour with salt.
Alternate folding in the egg whites and the dry ingredients into the yolk mixture.
Spread onto the prepared baking sheet and smooth the top evenly.
Bake approx. 12-15 minutes (do not overtake).

Lemon curd directions:

Prepare a saucepan with simmering water.
In heatproof bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice, rind and salt.
Set over saucepan and stir for approx. 8-10 minutes or until the back of a wooden spoon is coated. Cook gently (not too hot) to prevent curdling.
Remove from heat, stir in butter.
Strain through a sieve. Cover with plastic wrap, directly onto the surface, and refrigerate until thick, approx. 2-4 hours.

Buttercream directions:

In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
Add icing sugar first on low speed and then on medium speed as it comes together.
Add in heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice and salt. Beat on high for about 2 minutes until fluffy.
Fit into a piping bag and decorate the top of the jelly roll cake with buttercream flowers.

Rolling the cake:

When it comes to making the cake roll, make sure your cake is moist and not overbaked which could cause cracking. Once the cake is out of the oven and still warm, place a clean dry tea towel on the counter and sprinkle it with 2 tsp of icing sugar which will prevent the cake from sticking to it. Carefully remove the parchment paper. Fold the towel over the end of the cake and very gently begin to roll the cake in order to give it its shape. Once you have your filling or curd ready, unroll the cake, spread the filling and reroll again.

Finish off the cake with icing sugar over the top or pipe some buttercream flowers. And if your cake does crack a bit, it’s easy enough to cover with fruit, chocolate glaze or other decoration.