Recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
Adapted by Tejal Rao
- Total Time
- 2 hours, plus baking/cooling
- Rating
- 4(538)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This small, rich, impressive cake is a bit of a magic trick. It looks like a standard buttercream-covered cake, but cut it open, and it reveals several fine pink vertical layers. The key is to make a thick, flexible sponge and turn it into a single jelly roll using three smaller, connecting pieces, joining them up as you go, then sitting it upright (check out this video for step-by-step instructions). In Helen Goh and Yotam Ottolenghi's original version, that buttercream is flavored and stained with a pulp of simmered black currants, but this one incorporates the tartness of cranberries instead. —Tejal Rao
Featured in: Three Gorgeous Cakes for the Holidays
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- 8large eggs, whites and yolks separated
- ⅔cup plus 2 tablespoons (140 grams) white sugar, plus 1½ tablespoons
- 1tablespoon lemon juice, plus zest of 1 lemon
- ½cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 grams) all-purpose flour
- ⅛teaspoon salt
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
- 18-ounce bag (225 grams) frozen cranberries
- ⅓cup (75 grams) white sugar
- ¼cup (85 grams) light corn syrup
- ½cup plus 1 tablespoon (120 grams) white sugar
- 4large egg yolks
- 1¼cups plus 1 tablespoon (300 grams) unsalted butter cut into small cubes, at room temperature
- ½cup cranberry purée
- ½teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cake
For the Cranberry Purée
For the Cranberry Buttercream
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
825 calories; 53 grams fat; 31 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 16 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 83 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 69 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 102 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
For the Cake
Step
1
Heat the oven to 400 degrees, with a baking rack in the middle of the oven. Line a half baking pan (18 by 13 inches) or slightly smaller jellyroll pan (15 by 12 inches) with parchment paper. Grease, and set aside.
Step
2
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, and whisk on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, then pour in the 1½ tablespoons sugar. Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form, then scrape into a mixing bowl, and set aside.
Step
3
Place the egg yolks, remaining sugar, lemon juice and zest in the stand-mixer bowl (no need to wash it out), and beat on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes or until pale and thick. Remove bowl from the mixer, and sift the flour and salt directly into the bowl in 2 batches, folding through with a rubber spatula after each addition and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl until no flour is visible.
Step
4
Gently fold about ⅓ of the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, and fold with a rubber spatula until combined. Add the rest, and fold until incorporated. Scrape batter into the lined baking pan, and even out the surface with the spatula. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until cake is a light golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.
Step
5
Place on a wire rack to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then dust the top with confectioners’ sugar. Place a clean dish towel on top of the cake, then carefully, quickly, flip it over, so it’s lying on the dish towel. Gently peel away the paper, then hold onto one of the shorter ends of the cake, and roll it up into a jellyroll. Set it aside for 20 minutes, or until it’s room temperature and no longer warm at all, then unroll the cake and cut it lengthwise into three 4-inch-wide strips. Cover with a clean dish towel, and set aside.
For the Cranberry Purée
Step
6
Place the cranberries and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon water, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the fruit has softened. Transfer to a food processor, purée and set aside.
For the Buttercream
Step
7
Place the corn syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat, and stir with a wooden spoon, just until the sugar dissolves.
Step
8
While the sugar is dissolving, place the egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, and whip on medium-high speed until thick and pale in color.
Step
9
Increase the heat under the sugar syrup, and simmer until there are large bubbles all over the surface of the syrup, and the temperature, when taken with a digital thermometer, reads between 235 and 240 degrees, about 5 minutes. With the machine running, carefully pour the hot sugar syrup into the yolk mixture in a slow, steady trickle down the edge of the bowl, avoiding the spinning whisk. When all the syrup is in the bowl, increase the mixer speed to high, and beat for 10 minutes, or until the outside of the bowl no longer feels warm to the touch.
Step
10
Add the butter, one piece at a time, allowing it to incorporate before adding any more. When all the butter is added, stop the machine, and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whip for another minute or 2, until the buttercream is very smooth and light. Add ½ cup of cranberry purée (reserving what remains) and vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed until uniform in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix one more time. Set aside.
Assemble the Cake
Step
11
Spread each of the long strips of cake evenly with about 3 ounces of buttercream each. Starting with the narrow end of a strip, roll it up. Once the roll is finished, position the exposed end (of the rolled cake) at the beginning of the next strip of frosted cake, and continue rolling. Do the same with the third strip, creating one continuousroll of cake. Carefully turn the cylinder upright, so it’s sitting on a flat end, onto a serving dish. Cover cake with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before proceeding, leaving the remaining buttercream out at room temperature.
Step
12
Spread remaining buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake. Whisk the remaining cranberry purée with cold water until it’s runny, then drizzle 2 tablespoons or so around the top of the cake, and use a palette knife to spread it evenly, allowing a little to dribble down the sides. Set aside for at least 1 hour in the fridge, and set out at room temperature about 30 minutes before serving.
Ratings
4
out of 5
538
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Petaltown
If ever a recipe needed a video showing the assembly steps, it's this one!
Sharon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK6c8gXIq6w
MJ
The one thing I'm confused about is: the way you describe it, the height of the cake is 4 inches...that seems low compared to the picture above. Are you sure we shuoldn't cut the cake width wise into thirds thus making the cake 6 inches tall?
Assembling the cake
I can't picture your assembling instructions. Is it possible to show what you mean by rolling, attaching and standing them up together?
Jennifer
It may help to imagine taking the four strips and lining them up end to end = one super long 4" strip with icing on the top. Then just roll it like you would a jelly roll or a sleeping bag. When you're done rolling you would have a short very fat roll. Just "knock it over" so that it is sitting on a flat side. Now you have a cake!
LCB
Yes, the secret to the buttercream is to drizzle syrup on the edge of the stand mixer slowly but efficiently, making sure it is completely in liquid form, not viscous, when you start to drizzle. Don't stop pouring because the remaining syrup will harden in pot. It took me two tries but well worth it. (I also put the seeds of two vanilla pods in syrup and skipped the extract.)I increased the recipe by 1/2 because the original cake size is a bit small for holiday gatherings, IMO.
jessica
Imagine a thin sheet cake, the size of whichever sheet pan you use (18x13, or 15x12, height of ~ 1in). The first rolling up (until cooled), starting from a short side, is to prevent cracks when you later roll the strips. You unroll this and then cut the [cooled thin sheet cake] into 4 strips long-ways. Then you frost each strip. Roll the first one up. Tip this so it looks like a cinnamon roll. You could add the next strip, ends meeting, frosting facing center, or roll all strips on side-wise
Gayle
I'm not having trouble visualizing the assembly. Imagine rolling a jelly roll cake then just making it bigger and fatter with more jelly rolls. Ever so carefully pick that big boy up and set on end. Ta da! The icing will cover the seams.
Pamela
This is from pouring it in too fast. It needs to go in a very slow stream while constantly mixing. Julia Child shows you more clearly in her French buttercream instructions.
nybaker
this youtube video shows how you generally make a vertical layer cakehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOhSc78gAuc
Julie Parker
This was great and impressive but I agree that the buttercream directions weren’t helpful. The suggestion to look to Julia Child saved the day. Other issues were 1) that you need to start out by rolling the frosted cake pretty tightly so there’s no big hole at the center, and 2) that the cake was small, 7 inches across so fine for a small dinner party but as one of 3 desserts for a party of 30, it was the party favorite so I wished it had been bigger. I need to double the recipe next time.
Halley C
Made this last night, the frosting was a disaster. If you follow the directions for the buttercream as written, it's very easy to burn the sugar/corn syrup mixture. I've seen separate instructions for this same cake which instruct you to:"To make the buttercream, place the corn syrup (or golden syrup), granulated sugar and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and stir until all the sugar dissolves; this is your sugar syrup."Would follow that next time.
Baba
Lemon doesn't come through. I think it would be better with raspberry rather than cranberry.
KD
I made 2 cakes. One like the cake shown & the other as a jelly roll.Delicious. Light enough after a heavy meal despite all the eggs. The sponge is a standard jelly roll cake as is the French buttercream. The addition of the cranberry puree made it the star! Re: jelly roll cake, I sliced off the ends to make it even & frosted the cake.To serve: slice the cake using the puree sauce underneath or make decorative designs with the puree on the plates. I didn't make the sauce as runny.
Shawn
We are all now paying money for this service. We demand and deserve a video for these complicated instructions.
FrankOceansBumBum
You gotta be careful when creating the buttercream frosting. The sugar has to be really hot. Ask for help 🧡
Julie Parker
This was great and impressive but I agree that the buttercream directions weren’t helpful. The suggestion to look to Julia Child saved the day. Other issues were 1) that you need to start out by rolling the frosted cake pretty tightly so there’s no big hole at the center, and 2) that the cake was small, 7 inches across so fine for a small dinner party but as one of 3 desserts for a party of 30, it was the party favorite so I wished it had been bigger. I need to double the recipe next time.
Baba
Lemon doesn't come through. I think it would be better with raspberry rather than cranberry.
CD
Made this for Thanksgiving in two versions: the original and one with Maine blueberries slightly simmered with orange zest drained and stirred into the buttercream, plus served blueberries on the side. Fantastic alternative to traditional pies. To prevent blueberry seepage that will turn the sponge blue-green, reserve some of the plain buttercream of use it on both sides of the strip to create a thin barrier. I forget to do both sides, so there was some bluish creep, but it was still delicious.
LCB
Yes, the secret to the buttercream is to drizzle syrup on the edge of the stand mixer slowly but efficiently, making sure it is completely in liquid form, not viscous, when you start to drizzle. Don't stop pouring because the remaining syrup will harden in pot. It took me two tries but well worth it. (I also put the seeds of two vanilla pods in syrup and skipped the extract.)I increased the recipe by 1/2 because the original cake size is a bit small for holiday gatherings, IMO.
Christina
I thought this was a really fun cake to make. I cook a lot but don’t bake nearly as much so I knew I was going to have some trouble with it. The cake itself actually went fine the first time but the frosting took me three tries. I think I had the syrup a little bit too hot the first couple times and it just turned into globs on the side of the mixing bowl. Third time was the charm! The cake is very tasty, originally I was concerned it wasn’t lemony enough, but with the frosting it was perfect
Suzann
It would be so nice if the Helen the chef had tied her hair up. It is almost dragging in the buttercream
KD
I made 2 cakes. One like the cake shown & the other as a jelly roll.Delicious. Light enough after a heavy meal despite all the eggs. The sponge is a standard jelly roll cake as is the French buttercream. The addition of the cranberry puree made it the star! Re: jelly roll cake, I sliced off the ends to make it even & frosted the cake.To serve: slice the cake using the puree sauce underneath or make decorative designs with the puree on the plates. I didn't make the sauce as runny.
Jonathan
This cake is very fun to make. I used only about 60 percent of the sugar called for and it turned out great. Yes, it's a small cake, but it can yield eight lovely pieces. And the look of it will be just as delightful to your guests as the wonderful flavor. If you want a bigger cake, just double the recipe and roll six strips together.
SeaDee
I made this last month and it's delicious! Like others, I did have trouble with chunks of hard sugar in my frosting despite slowly pouring the syrup. Video link IS in the intro, tho not underlined, so easy to miss (where it says "..check out this video..")https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK6c8gXIq6w.Cake before frosting is 4 inches tall if jellyroll pan is 12 inches wide. Cut cake in three's lengthwise. Place short end to short end, and start rolling!
Rad Rad
I made this cake today...it was delicious, and pretty, but the frosting was a disaster. I have made other cooked frostings in the past that were less finicky. Like another commenter, I ended up with chunks of hard sugar on the sides of the bowl, and had to fish some out of the icing. It also ended up a lot more runny, and I ran out pretty much in rolling the layers, so I decided to frost the outside with a white chocolate buttercream. I would make it again, but with adjustments to the icing.
Halley C
Made this last night, the frosting was a disaster. If you follow the directions for the buttercream as written, it's very easy to burn the sugar/corn syrup mixture. I've seen separate instructions for this same cake which instruct you to:"To make the buttercream, place the corn syrup (or golden syrup), granulated sugar and vanilla seeds in a medium saucepan. Place over low heat and stir until all the sugar dissolves; this is your sugar syrup."Would follow that next time.
Sarah
I found this cake to be incredibly eggy, however the buttercream definitely made up for it - absolutely delicious!
SusieQ
Took two attempts to get this right! First time sponge was too thick (definitely use large jelly roll pan and not a cake pan). First attempt at buttercream ended up with hard lumps and had to use kettles of boiling water to clean off rock hard syrup off the bowl! Second attempt went more smoothly...poured slow steady stream down side with mixer on low speed. Real wow factor when you cut the cake! It looked lovely. Rich. My fiancé said he thought it tasted a bit like a giant Twinkie!
Polarshores
What a FUN cake to make! My sponge was a little uneven, but the bake on it was perfect, and once rolled the unevenness wasn’t noticeable. I did have to trim the top slightly to achieve a perfectly flat top with crisp edges. Reading many of the other comments, I’ll opine that this cake is very, very rich, so I’m particularly relieved that it isn’t gigantic. It may be compact, but it is jam-packed with flavor.
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