Red Velvet Cake Roll + Video

This stunning Red Velvet Cake Roll is filled with the BEST cream cheese frosting. You’ll love this soft and fluffy cake with a hint of cocoa powder. It’s beautiful, delicious, and easy to make.

Cake rolls are a fun way to eat cake with nearly equal frosting-to-cake in each bite. Try my classic pumpkin roll, chocolate peanut butter roll and carrot cake roll too!

A Cake with Many Names

A rolled cake is also known as a jelly roll, roulade, or a Swiss roll. These names all describe a type of rolled cake filled with whipped cream, jam, or frosting. Rolled cakes can be easy to make and have that eye-catching swirl of filling and cake.

I made this red velvet cake roll many years ago, except I rolled it into a heart shape for Valentine’s Day. That might be a little more advanced than rolling it into one cohesive swirl, so I decided to re-do it for the Christmas holiday season.

A Great Holiday Dessert

We love a good cake roll for the holidays because it’s an impressive looking dessert. We’ll make a pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving and a carrot cake roll with cream cheese filling for Easter.

I’ve made a chocolate peppermint cake roll for Christmas before, but loved the idea of a bright red velvet Swiss roll.

Why make a cake roll?

There are a lot of great reasons to make a cake roll for your next holiday or family celebration.

• You can make a cake roll ahead of time and freeze it. (I prefer it frozen for cutting slices anyway.)
• Cake rolls take up minimal space in the fridge/freezer.
• You can get between 12-14 slices from one cake roll.
• Equal frosting and cake in each bite.
• Cake rolls are beautiful and delicious!

How to make Cake Roll with No Towel

Recently I’ve been making all of my cake rolls without a towel. Especially for this red velvet cake roll, I didn’t want to stain any of my nice linens with red cake.

The trick to making a cake roll with no towel is to use parchment paper. There is a trade-off though. The cake does sweat a bit, making the inside where you spread the frosting wet and sticky. I have some tricks for that though.

Cake Roll Supplies

First, you will need a 15×10-inch jelly roll pan to make this red velvet cake roll. You could probably get away with a 1/2 sheet pan (18×13-inches), but the cake will be thinner.

Parchment paper is used to line the pan and sides, with a bit overhanging for easy removal. If you don’t use parchment paper you will need to grease and flour the pan thoroughly. I like to use Baker’s Joy (a nonstick spray containing flour) for ease.

You can even spray your parchment paper with Baker’s Joy for added insurance that the cake won’t stick, but it’s not necessary.

Red Velvet Cake Roll Ingredients

To make this red velvet cake roll recipe, you will need:

• All-Purpose Flour
• Cocoa Powder – 100 % natural unsweetened cacao
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Eggs
• Granulated Sugar
• Oil
• Buttermilk – or regular milk, plus vinegar. Stir together and let the mixture sit for 5 minutes before using.
• White Distilled Vinegar
• Vanilla Extract
• Red Food Coloring – optional. Traditional recipes don’t use this, but if you want a vibrant color, you will want to add it.
• Powdered Sugar – (Not pictured.) If you don’t use parchment paper and decide to use a tea towel, you will need to coat it with powdered sugar.

Making the Cake Batter

After you’ve gathered your ingredients:

1. Whisk eggs until light and frothy in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.
2. Add sugar and oil. Mix together.
3. Add buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and red food coloring. Mix together.
4. Stir in flour and cocoa mixture.

• Pour cake batter into a parchment lined jelly-roll pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 13-15 minutes or until cake springs back when touched.

How to Roll a Cake Roll

After baking the red velvet cake, it’s time to roll it up. You want to do this while it’s still warm. Traditionally you would immediately turn the cake out onto a powdered sugar coated towel, remove the parchment paper and then roll it up.

To roll the cake up in parchment paper, it’s best to wait a few minutes before rolling the cake, to let off some of the steam first.

1. Lift the cake out of the pan with the parchment paper and set it on a wire rack. Wait 3 minutes to let off any steam. (But don’t forget about it. It still needs to be warm/hot to shape it correctly.)
2. Fold the end of the paper over one of the shorter ends (a 10-inch side). Then lift the cake and fold/roll it over the top of the parchment.
3. Roll the cake tightly towards the other short (10-inch) side. You can use the ends of the parchment paper to help if the cake is too hot for your fingers, but keep it tight.
4. Let the rolled up cake rest on the wire rack until cool.

Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients

While the cake cools, you can make the cream cheese filling. You will need:

• Cream Cheese – COLD. Don’t let the fact that it’s cold freak you out. Using cold cream cheese will help the filling not squeeze out.
• Butter – room temperature. This helps balance out the cold cream cheese so they will cream together.
• Powdered Sugar – I only use 1 cup. It’s just enough sweetness without going overboard and won’t make the frosting stringy.
• Vanilla – for flavoring.

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix together, then refrigerate until cake is cool.

How to Fill a Cake Roll

After the red velvet cake roll has cooled, carefully un-roll the cake. The parchment paper will be sticky and moist as well as the cake. You can let the cake rest for 5 minutes after unrolling it to allow some of the moisture to evaporate. Then:

1. Dollop the cream cheese frosting over the cake.
2. Use an offset spatula to spread the cream cheese filling evenly over the cake leaving a 1/2-inch bare on the edge that you will roll towards. IMPORTANT: Keep the tip of the spatula in the frosting at all times, or it will pull up the moist cake crumbs and mix with the frosting.
3. Start rolling the cake back up by lifting the end of the cake up and over the filling, tucking the cake into the frosting.
4. Use your hands to tightly roll the cake without pressing the cake down and squeezing the frosting out. (A lift and fold/roll motion.) You can alternately lift the parchment paper with one hand, while rolling the cake with the other hand.

Chilling and Slicing

After the red velvet cake roll is filled and rolled back up, it’s best to chill it before slicing the cake, to help the filling set.

Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate/freeze it for at least 1-2 hours. I prefer to double wrap and freeze the cake roll overnight.

Use a serrated knife to cut the red velvet cake roll into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices; for about 12 servings. For clean looking slices, rinse and dry the blade between cuts.

Using a serrated knife and cutting the cake like you would bread (sawing back and forth) prevents smashing the cake and squeezing the filling out.

Wrap any leftover slices of red velvet cake directly on the platter and store in the fridge up to 5 days.

To Make-Ahead and Freeze

You can make this red velvet cake roll ahead of time and freeze it. Double wrap the cake tightly with plastic wrap. Or use one layer of plastic wrap and one layer of foil. Label and freeze for up to 2-3 months.

NOTE: You can slice the cake from frozen and then stagger the pieces on a serving platter. (I actually prefer it this way.) They will thaw after about 20 minutes at room temperature. Alternately thaw the cake roll/slices in the fridge overnight.

If You Make This Recipe, Please Rate and Review it in the Comments Below. THANKS!