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This red velvet cake roll with cream cheese filling is sweet, soft and just perfect for Valentine’s day. Very easy to make, festive and delicious.
This Red Velvet Cake Roll With Cream Cheese Filling recipe has been originally posted in February 2015 and updated with a few changes in the ingredients in January 2019.
Cake rolls take a lot less time to make than baking a cake and always look impressive.
Take it to a party or serve to your guests or a loved one.
With pretty much everyone is in Valentine’s Day Mood, (including ME, too!)
I decided to experiment and bake a red velvet cake roll.
The result was this fluffy red velvet roll with creamy and tasty cream cheese filling.
What ingredients do you need to make this Red Velvet Cake Roll With Cream Cheese Filling?
- flour
- eggs
- sugar
- vinegar
- red food coloring
- milk
- oil
- vanilla extract
- cocoa powder
- salt
- baking powder
- cream cheese
- butter
- powdered sugar
How to make red velvet cake roll?
To be honest, I had the most trouble when choosing a recipe for the actual cake layer, because for the cream cheese frosting – I have a favorite recipe I always use.
The cake was fluffier for some reason and paired well with the frosting.
I also happened to have about 1/3 of the cream cheese frosting left, because when filling the roll, I felt that it was too much.
Well, I guess it wasn’t doing to be too much and you can go ahead and use the whole amount of frosting. Will do it next time.
Cake:
-
Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Spray a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray and line bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and lightly flour it. Set a side.
-
Generously sprinkle a thin kitchen cotton towel with powdered sugar.
-
In a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set a side.
-
Beat the eggs – in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment best eggs and sugar for 2 minutes, until fluffy. Add milk and oil. Add vanilla. Beat to combine.
-
Add in the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Add vinegar.
-
Then add the red food coloring and mix until incorporated.
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Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 15-17 minutes, until cake springs back when touched. (I baked it for 17 minutes)
-
Immediately loosen cake and turn onto prepared towel. Peel off parchment paper. Starting with the narrow end, roll up cake and towel together. Let it cool completely.
Cream Cheese Filling:
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In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment beat together cream cheese and butter, until well combined for about 4-5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla and mix until evenly distributed.
To Assemble:
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Once cake roll has completely cooled, carefully unroll. You might have some of to stuck to the towel and tiny cracks, but this is ok.
-
Spread cream cheese over the surface of the roll.
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Roll cake up again and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, before serving.
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Dust the top with powdered sugar. Slice and enjoy!
What kind of pan to use for baking a cake roll?
Make sure you use the correct size pan. Mine is 10×15-inch jelly roll pan. This way the cake is the perfect thickness. Too thin or too thick of a cake roll will result in breaking and cracking.
Tips to bake Red Velvet Cake Roll:
- When baking a cake roll, it is very important not to over bake the cake layer, because the roll will end up with a lot of cracks and will be chewy.
- On the other hand – I almost always have cracks in my cake rolls, but they either get hidden when I add the filling or I just sprinkle powdered sugar or cocoa on top.
- Do not over bake the cake layer. Keep a close eye on it. Too dry of a cake layer will be tough and it is prone to cracking.
- Use a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan
- If the cake roll cracks a little, don’t worry, this is fixable, once you add the frosting (filling) and roll the cake roll back, it will “glue” it together.
- The truth is – my rolls are not perfect and I’m ok with it.
As long as they are delicious, it is all good!
What kind of filling is best for red velvet cake roll?
I love the combination of red velvet cake and cream cheese filling.
- Cream cheese filling
- Buttercream filling
- White chocolate filling
Can you make red velvet cake roll with cake mix?
While there are some recipes calling for the use of cake mix, I personally have not tried it and wouldn’t recommend it. Cake rolls are easy to make, but can also easily go wrong, if you don’t use the right ingredients and amounts. Make sure you measure correctly.
Red Velvet Cake Roll
Video
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup flour, all purpose
- 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp liquid red food coloring
For the cream cheese filling:
- 6 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 oz unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups powdered sugar, , sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Spray a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray and line bottom with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper and lightly flour it. Set a side.
- Generously sprinkle a thin kitchen cotton towel with powdered sugar.
- In a bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Set a side.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment best eggs and sugar for 2 minutes, until fluffy. Add milk and oil. Add vanilla. Beat to combine.
- Add in the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Add vinegar.
- Add the red food coloring and mix until incorporated.
- Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 15-17 minutes, until cake springs back when touched. (I baked it for 17 minutes)
- Immediately loosen cake and turn onto prepared towel. Peel off parchment paper. Starting with the narrow end, roll up cake and towel together. Let it cool completely.
Cream Cheese Filling:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment beat together cream cheese and butter, until well combined for about 4-5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Add vanilla and mix until evenly distributed.
To Assemble:
- Once cake roll has completely cooled, carefully unroll. You might have some of to stuck to the towel and tiny cracks, but this is ok.
- Spread cream cheese over the surface of the roll.
- Roll cake up again and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, before serving.
- Dust the top with powdered sugar. Slice and enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Cake Roll Recipes:
Carrot Cake Roll
Can I substitute the milk for coconut milk?
yes, but use the coconut milk that comes in a carton box, not a tin can.
I followed the instructions precisely, and yet when I rolled it up the whole cake cracked and fell apart. I’m not sure if I want to make it again. It was delicious, though!
It happens sometimes with cake rolls. Without any details, I cannot tall what went wrong.