Painted Cake Roll

You’ll need a 9″ x 13″ size sheet pan for this recipe.

Lay out a long sheet of parchment paper (about the length of your sheet pan). Use a marker and draw your preferred design (I did flowers) on the parchment paper. Turn it over and set the paper on the sheet pan. Grease this paper with butter or non-stick spray then use a paper towel and lightly rub the surface to remove any excess grease. Keep this pan aside.

For the pattern/paint: In a small bowl mix all of the ingredients listed under the pattern section (except the food coloring) and divide this into portions to add desired colors to it. Add your desired amount and color of food coloring into each portion of the paint. Transfer each color into a separate piping bag and pipe it to fill in the outlines of the designs on the greased parchment paper. Once patterns/designs are made, put the paper (still on the sheet pan) into the freezer and freeze for at least 15 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the cake batter. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Into a medium sized bowl sift the flour and baking powder together; keep aside.

In a larger bowl using an electric mixer beat eggs with sugar until light and fluffy. Then add vanilla extract and warm water and beat again for another 4 to 5 minutes.

Fold in the flour mixture and mix with a spoon to nicely combine everything. Pour this batter into the sheet pan over the pattern and gently spread the cake batter to cover the entire pan. Bake for 10 minutes in a 375 F oven.

At the 10 minute point, immediately remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle the surface of another sheet of parchment paper with some confectioners’ sugar and flip the cake out of the pan onto the paper.

Let cake cool for about 5 minutes then carefully remove the parchment paper from the top (the painted side will be visible now). Again let it cool keeping it covered with a kitchen towel or paper towel for another 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, flip the cake again onto another sheet of parchment paper that you’ve dusted with confectioners’ sugar (now the plain side of the cake will be visible). Spread the top of the cake (the plain side) with the filling (recipe follows).

Make a sugar syrup by combining the hot water and super-fine sugar listed in the filling section. Mix these together until sugar is dissolved. Spread the sugar syrup over the cake using a brush or just sprinkle it over the cake. Spread the jam over the cake evenly.

Carefully roll up the cake (removing the paper as you go) to make a log shape. Roll it tightly, starting from a short end, and cover with the parchment paper again. Tightly twist the ends of the paper (on both sides) to keep the roll in shape and to set. Make sure that you start rolling from the opposite end of the pattern to make sure that the pattern is visible (comes outside) when the cake is fully rolled. Refrigerate the rolled cake for at least an hour before cutting and serving.

Inspired by a recipe on The Novice Housewife.