It’s not often that the stars align when you have the itch to try something new, but just the other day, with some lemons that needed to be put use staring at me, up popped what seemed to be a relatively do-able recipe for a lemon cream roll cake. I’ve wanted to try a jelly roll for some time, thinking that by the holidays it’d be fun to tackle a bouche de noel. More to come on that score.
Any way, with time on my hands, and those lemons on the counter, curiosity, passion, and a sense of adventure combined. And, it all worked out.
You can find the recipe that grabbed my attention here. If you’ve never made a roll cake, or jelly roll, let me share what I learned in this process.
First, you’ll need a jelly roll pan. A jelly roll pan is slightly larger than a quarter-sheet pan, so you’ll want to be sure you have the right equipment.
A flour sack kitchen towel works best for the rolling process. Those towels tend to be thinner, and have a uniformly flat surface (no waffle weave), making them easy to use in the rolling process.
I suggest a fine mesh strainer when it comes time to dust the towel with powdered sugar in preparation for rolling the cake. And the more uniform and generous the layer of powdered sugar, the easier things will be.
When you start the rolling process, having a bit of towel to fold over the cake to start the rolling will make things easier. Traditionally, rolling so that the towel rolls up inside the cake is all that you need. If you’re concerned about sticking, you can put some parchment on the top of the cake and roll that up with the towel.
Once the cake is completely cooled and you’re ready to finish it, there’s more fun to be had in deciding what to roll into it.
My published recipe calls for a slightly heavier mascarpone filling. I didn’t have any mascarpone, so fell back on ‘old reliable’ and used some sweetened whipped cream.
This cake, with lemon zest and juice in the batter, will satisfy almost anyone’s craving for lemon. However, in the ‘there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing’ department, you could elevate the lemon-ness by filling the roll with lemon curd.
And let’s not overlook why a jelly roll is called a jelly roll. Store-bought works well; just think about putting it in a pan and heating it to improve spreadability. With this lemon cake, raspberry or blueberry or strawberry would be spectacular!
Lastly, when spreading the filling, leave a clean 1″ at the end where you will start rolling, and roll that over first. Then, as you roll, slightly lift the upper part of the cake so that you don’t squeegee all of the goodness out the far end.
These things are fun! I hope you’ll try it.
never 2 old 2 start cooking 
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