Forget the frosting: Bake the design right into your cake with this Patterned Swiss Roll

Today is my birthday, and I made myself a cake, but not just any cake. I made my first Patterned Swiss Roll, complete with Happy Birthday message and a multicolored candles design.

This type of sponge cake is highly decorated, though not in the usual way. For a Patterned Swiss Roll, the decoration is created by piping colored batter onto parchment paper, freezing it, and then baking the design into the outside of the cake. The sponge is then rolled around a delicious filling.

My friend Kathy and I recently spent the day baking and we each made one of these cakes. Neither of us had ever made one before and thought if we made them together we had a better chance of having them turn out — and they did!

We each printed out a pattern large enough to fill a 13”x18” baking sheet with sides. (This took two pieces of 8½” x11” paper. Kathy selected a flower pattern and I decided on a birthday theme, but you could also use a coloring book page. An important thing to remember: If you are including a written message of some kind, be sure to print it in reverse as the finished cake will show the “back” of the design.

Start by placing the paper containing the design on the bottom of your baking sheet and then cover it with a sheet of parchment that lays flat from corner to corner in your pan.

Now follow the recipe to make the batter you will use as your design. In order to have vibrant colors that won’t water down your batter, it is important to use gel food coloring. It is also highly concentrated, so it won’t take much to achieve the colors you need.

Depending on your design, you may need more of one color than another, but since you are only adding a thin layer, you don’t need much batter.

To create the design, I found it helpful to use a small-gauge cake decorating tip to create the words, but then I used a clean paint brush to make the candles in my design. I found it helpful to test the best way to achieve this on a separate sheet of parchment prior to starting the actual design. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, as you can always wipe it off.

A key part of this recipe is placing the design part of your cake in the freezer prior to topping it with the cake batter. This is what keeps it in place and protects your artistic work from smearing when adding the cake batter.

The other important step is rolling the cake right out of the oven. This is crucial to being able to form the swirl in your finished cake. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully, but don’t let them intimidate you. This is one of those recipes you will make over and over once you make the first.

Cake4Kids

My mom always made my sisters and I a homemade birthday cake. Most of the time it was a frosted round layer cake with sprinkles and candles, but sometimes it would be in a special shape like a castle or character of some kind. I was so lucky to have a mom who was able to do this, but can you imagine a child who doesn’t have a cake on their birthday? Cake4Kids is an organization that helps to make sure this doesn’t happen.

A couple years ago, my daughter saw a segment on the Kelly Clarkson Show featuring Cake4Kids Executive Director Allison Bakewell (Yes, this is her real name!) sharing information about Cake4Kids and their mission to deliver free custom, homemade birthday cakes to at-risk and underserved youth across the country.

Started in 2010 as a grass-roots effort with a few volunteers baking 13 cakes for a few agencies, Cake4Kids has developed into a national organization with thousands of volunteer bakers creating incredible cakes for youth across the country.

With more than 90,000 cakes delivered, they partner with private and public agencies that serve youth to provide custom, homemade cakes and sweets. This includes those living in foster care, group homes, low-income housing with or without a parent; survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking; and even those without a home. Cake4Kids volunteers deliver directly to the agencies.

Volunteer bakers donate all the ingredients and supplies. There is no minimum commitment — volunteers choose how often and which cakes they want to bake, and never meet the recipient.

I am a member of the Chicagoland Chapter that was launched in 2020 and delivered my second cake last week.

Cake4Kids is always looking for more volunteers, as well as partners who can connect them with a child in need of a cake. If this interests you, please visit cake4kids.org to learn more.

Personally, it makes me sad to think of a child without a birthday cake. Baking for Cake4Kids has made me feel so good that I may enjoy it more than the recipient. It may be just a cake, but the child receiving it will know someone made it just for them. Happy baking!

• Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, won the 2011 Daily Herald Cook of the Week Challenge. Contact Penny at DhCulinaryAdventures@gmail.com.

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Patterned Swiss Roll Cake

Design batter:

4 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 ounces softened butter

¼ cup egg whites

7-8 tablespoons all-purpose flour (this will vary based on your design and how thick you need your batter)

Gel food coloring

Cake batter:

8 large eggs

1 cup sugar

2 cups cake flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Powdered sugar in sifter for sprinkling

Filling:

8 ounces cold cream cheese

½ cup powdered sugar

1 cup heavy cream

Fresh berries or 1 cup of your favorite preserves or jam

Preheat oven to 400°F and place oven rack in the center. Line a half sheet pan, 13”x18”, with parchment paper. If using, place printed pattern design under parchment.

Pattern batter: Cream together butter, flour, sugar and egg whites with whisk attachment until smooth. Divide based on your design needs into smaller bowls and color with gel food coloring.

Place in piping bag, if using, and apply batter to achieve design. Place entire pan into freezer for approximately 20 minutes.

Cake batter: Using the double boiler method, fill saucepan with 2“ to 3” water and bring to boil over medium heat, reduce to simmer. Place eggs, sugar and salt into mixing bowl of stand mixer and whisk together. Carefully place bowl on top of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, and whisk continually until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.

Place bowl on stand mixer, add vanilla, and whisk on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or until you reach the ribbon stage.* (See note below.) The mixture should triple in volume and lighten to a butter yellow in color.

Remove bowl from mixer and sift ⅓ of the flour into egg mixture, folding until combined, being careful not to deflate batter. Repeat with remaining flour.

Remove sheet pan from freezer and carefully remove pattern from beneath parchment.

Spread batter evenly into your prepared sheet pan and spread with an offset spatula all the way to the edges of pan. (Do not grease pan.)

Bake 8 minutes and remove from oven. Immediately use a paring knife to cut cake away from edges of pan and dust surface generously with powdered sugar. Place another piece of parchment, followed by a cooling rack, on top of cake and flip over to remove from cake pan.

Remove parchment from design side very carefully and dust with a little powdered sugar, but not as much as the other side. Place a tea towel over the patterned side of cake and, with the long side of cake toward you, carefully roll into a spiral. Roll should be 18” long. Allow to cool completely.

While cake is cooling, make filling.

Combine cold cream cheese and powdered sugar in bowl of stand mixer. Mix until very smooth. Add cold cream and whisk slowly until combined. Once blended, whisk on high speed until thick and spreadable.

Carefully unroll the cooled cake as much as you can; it will not lay flat. If using jam, spread a thin layer on the inside of the cake followed by the cream mixture. (I mistakenly put the jam on top of the cream mixture and it didn't stay in place, so learn from my mistake.) If using fresh berries, spread the whipped cream mixture first followed by fruit. Carefully reroll cake and chill.

I find it helpful to wrap the entire roll in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour prior to serving. To create a finished look, trim each end of the cake roll to expose the spiral before serving.

*Note: The ribbon stage is when an egg mixture triples in volume, becomes a buttery color and when drizzled onto itself forms ribbons of batter that stay on the surface before dissolving into itself.

Serves 12-14.

— Penny Kazmier