Passionfruit Sponge Roll

The sponge cake roll goes by many names. In France it’s known as a ‘roulade’ and can be seen at Christmas time as the elaborate Bûche de Noël or ‘yule log’ covered in thick chocolate icing and miniature meringue mushrooms.

Also known as the Swiss or jelly roll, the sponge cake roll is a thin layer of sponge baked in a sheet pan. Cooled on a kitchen towel, the sponge cake is then spread with a filling such as freshly whipped cream or in this case, cream and passionfruit butter, and then rolled and sprinkled with icing sugar. When sliced, the sponge cake has a beautiful pinwheel pattern.

Most of my experiences with sponge rolls have been with the packaged variety. This translates to preservative-laden cake filled with fake cream, and pales in comparison to the real thing.

Passionfruit Sponge Roll

3 large eggs, room temperature
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup of castor (berry) sugar plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
5 Tbsp of all-purpose flour
1 tsp of baking powder
25 grams of butter, melted
1/2 cup freshly whipped cream
Passionfruit butter
Icing sugar for dusting

Special equipment: 20 x 30cm rectangle baking tin

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 390F (200C).
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the eggs and salt. Add 1/2 cup of castor sugar and vanilla essence and beat until combined and thick.
3. In a separate bowl sift together the flour and baking powder. Use a wooden spoon to lightly fold into the egg mixture. Gently fold in the butter.
4. Pour batter into the greased baking tin and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. The cake should spring back when lightly touched.
5. Gently turn sponge cake out onto a kitchen towel and sprinkle with a little castor sugar. Trim about 1cm all the way around. Allow to cool.
6. Once cooled, spread half the sponge with freshly whipped cream and the other half with passionfruit butter.
7. Gently roll up the sponge and place it flap side down (see photos above). Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Comments

[Pam]

omg, this recipe looks great, I'll probably try it, I love passion fruit...
great blog...
xxx

[helen]

How beautiful!

Passionfruit is a bit hard to track down here in Vancouver, but I imagine any heavily scented fruit will do...

[amanda B]

this looks so good. I want to try my hand out with a roulade as I have never attempted to make one yet. And I like passionfruit flavor too.

[Jodye]

This is gorgeous! The passion fruit sounds wonderful.

[mallory elise]

ahhh wonderful roll!! bravo! roll cakes are y favorite. i've done 3--but your yellows and whites are so summery :)

[Manggy]

Syrie, that is just beautiful. Roulades are the last frontier for me-- I just get so afraid it'll fall apart and all that effort would be for nothing! :P

[Julia @ Mélanger]

This looks beautiful. I made a roulade for mother's day last week but yours is much nicer. I think I should have rolled it short side in - compared with the recipe directions. Never mind, it tasted lovely. But your passionfruit version is definitely tempting. I think I may have to try!

[Sophie]

MMMMMM....Syrie! Your passoin fruit roll looks so lovely & fabulous!! Great dessert: I adore passoin fruit curd!! Yummie, indeed!!

[Patricia Scarpin]

Syrie, anything with passion fruit gets my undivided attention - this is beautiful!

[pigpigscorner]

What a perfect looking roll! Yum yum!

[Irene]

My grandma makes it with strawberry jame and walnuts... oooh yum. This one looks seriously, seriously delicious!

[Alice]

Hi First time here, and your recipes and photos are awesome!

[Sue]

I have not made a sponge roll since I can't even remember when, this one looks heavenly and I am going to have to give it a go, the only thing that I did not enjoy about these was the rolling of them, was always scared that they would break.

[Jackie @ PhamFatale.com]

Oh my, oh my it gets better and better everyday. I'm in awe with both your recipes and pictures.

[Syrie]

Thanks Pam. You too!

Hi Helen. They sell them on Graville Island - they're yellow. You could also use canned pulp though. Oh how I miss Vancouver!

Hi Amanda - go for it! It's so easy you will wish you tried it sooner.

Thank you Jodye!

Hi Mallory - 3! I need to catch up to you.

Mark you're being too modest -- you're a baking king!

Julia, that's a lovely Mother's Day present. Lucky mum.

Thanks Sophie. Yes passionfruit is gorgeous.

Thanks so much Patricia. Lovely to hear from you.

Thanks Pig Pig!

Ooh Irene - love the jam and walnut idea. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks so much for visiting Alice.

Go for it Sue..and even if it does break it'll still be delicious.

Thanks so much Jackie!

[Mr Juice Cleansing]

Wow - those photos are mouth watering - this one looks at alot of food photos and it takes alot to get those flavor buds in the eyes working and these photos do.

Thanks again for posting.

[red ribbon bakery]

Hey when i saw this photo makes me feel hungry.

-Ava

[Marc @ NoRecipes]

Passionfruit was my favourite fruit flavour until mangosteen knocked it off it's pedestal. This looks like the perfect cake. Too bad passionfruit is so expensive here:(

[zarpandit]

wooow super roll :) i try it as soon as possible ;)

[Joumana]

I have been making this type of cake for years. I would love to use passion fruit butter. I have to assume it is commonly available where you are? I guess I will have to make it myself!

[Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella]

Absolutely gorgeous roll and it looks like Passionfruit season right now! :D

[tramadol]

Wow! It looks yummy and amazing! A very big thanks for sharing!

[gourmandelise]

How Beautiful!!! So delicious!!

Great blog !!

Elise

[Leavenworth Wine Tours]

So delicious looking at this. :D