Swiss roll
Encyclopedia
- This article is concerned about the pastry. For the use of the term in electromagnetics and optics see Swiss roll (metamaterial)
A Swiss roll or jelly roll is a type of sponge cake
Sponge cake
Sponge cake is a cake based on flour , sugar, and eggs, sometimes leavened with baking powder which has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. A sponge cake may be produced by either the batter method, or the foam method. Typicially the batter method in the U.S. is known as a...
roll. The thin cake is made of eggs, flour and sugar and baked in a very shallow rectangular baking tray, called a sheet pan
Sheet pan
Sheet pans, baking trays or baking sheets are flat, rectangular metal pans used in an oven. They are primarily used for baking flat products such as cookies, sheet cakes, and swiss rolls....
. The cake is removed from the pan and spread with jam or buttercream, rolled up, and served in circular slices.
The origins of the term "Swiss roll"
are unclear. The cake originated in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, but not in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. It appears to have been invented in the nineteenth century, along with Battenberg
Battenberg
-Places:* Battenberg, Hesse, a town in Hesse, Germany* Battenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany* Battenberg Mausoleum, mausoleum of Prince Alexander of Battenberg in Sofia, Bulgaria...
, doughnuts and Victoria sponge. It is a traditional German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
and probably Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n type of cake. The shape of the Swiss roll has inspired usage of the term as a descriptive term in other fields, such as in optics.
Different countries
Hong Kong
The origin of this pastry is likely from the U.K.United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, since Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
was a British colony
British overseas territories
The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...
from the 19th to late 20th century. The cake is never packaged, as it is sold fresh daily in the Chinese bakeries
Chinese bakery
Chinese bakery products consists of pastries, cakes, snacks, and desserts of largely Chinese origin, though some are derived from Western baked goods. Some of the most common Chinese bakery products include mooncakes, sun cakes, egg tarts, and wife cakes....
. Overall, this cake has been sold next to other Chinese pastries well before the popularising of western-style bakeries such as Maxim
Maxim's Catering
Maxim's is Hong Kong's largest food & beverage corporation and restaurant chain. Founded in 1956 by Dr James Tak Wu and his brother S.T...
. There are several popular variations.
- The first is the Swiss Roll version (Chinese: 瑞士卷 or 瑞士卷蛋糕). The roll is made of a standard recipe, and a whipped cream filling is standard.
- The second is the Chocolate Swiss Roll version (Chinese: 朱克力瑞士卷). The roll is made of egg in combination with chocolate flavouring. It also has a whipped cream filling.
- Some bakeries offer their own variations, such as layers of egg and chocolate swirl. Other variations include strawberryStrawberryFragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
, coffeeCoffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and orangeOrange (fruit)An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
fillings. - Another flavor popular in Hong Kong is the mangoMangoThe mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
flavour, which has a mangoMangoThe mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
flavoured roll with a whipped cream filling. - A popular flavor in Chinese Bakeries in America is the Tiger Roll. It has a coffee flavored golden-esque stripped outer appearance and is chocolate colored with traditional white cream inside. It is similar to the look of a Tiger BreadTiger breadTiger bread or Dutch crunch is made with sesame oil and with a pattern baked into the top made by painting rice paste onto the surface prior to baking. The paste dries and cracks during the baking process, creating a two-colour effect similar to a tiger's markings, hence the name. The rice paste...
or as known in Northern California, the Dutch Crunch Bread.
It can be served with different things and is a dessert.
Overseas Chinatowns
Most U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
bakeries sell the basic Hong Kong Swiss Roll version. It essentially looks and tastes identical to the one sold in Hong Kong.
India
In IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Swiss rolls are called Jam Rolls. Tiny village Kanjirapally in the south Indian state of Kerala is the best known place for Jam Rolls. A special type of swiss roll with pineapple jelly filling was developed by Kunju's cake shop started in 1931. They use only organic raw materials and rolls are baked in wood-fired traditional oven.
Indonesia
In IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the Swiss Roll Cake is called Bolu Gulung. Most bakeries sell Swiss Rolls daily, and they are filled with butter cream, cheese or fruit jam. It is also very common for the Swiss Rolls to be sold by the slice, but some shops sell by both slice and roll.
Malaysia
Varieties produced in Malaysia include coconutCoconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
(kaya), pandan
Pandanus amaryllifolius
Pandanus amaryllifolius is a tropical plant in the screwpine genus which is known commonly as pandan and is used widely in Southeast Asian cooking as a flavoring. The plant is rare in the wild but is widely cultivated. It is an upright green plant with fan-shaped sprays of long, narrow, bladelike...
, blueberry
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
, strawberry
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
, and vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
.
Portugal
In Portugal desserts called tortas are commonly found on restaurant menus. Such desserts are not tarts, nor are they similar to German torte. They are simplly Swiss rolls with jam filling.Sweden
In SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the Swiss roll is called rulltårta (roll-cake). It is commonly served with coffee. The filling often consists of butter cream and strawberry jam. The base of a chocolate version, called drömrulltårta (dream roll-cake) is made mostly of potato flour
Potato starch
Potato starch is starch extracted from potatoes. The cells of the root tubers of the potato plant contain starch grains . To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed; the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells...
, instead of the typical wheat flour
Wheat flour
Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. More wheat flour is produced than any other flour. Wheat varieties are called "clean," "white," or "brown" if they have high gluten content, and they are called "soft" or "weak" flour if gluten content is low...
, and is filled with butter cream.
More elaborate versions of the Swiss roll can be found in bakeries, with, for example, whipped cream and a whole banana rolled in the middle, or with a thin marzipan coating that resembles a birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
log.
Switzerland
Despite its name, the Swiss roll does not originate in Switzerland and is not widely eaten there. Swiss rolls are called Biskuitroulade or Roulade in Swiss German, gâteau roulé or roulade in French and biscotto arrotolato in Italian.United Kingdom
In the U.K. the Swiss roll is popular for tea time or as a dessert. A variety of Swiss rolls are available on sale in supermarkets in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, such as the chocolate Swiss roll, lemon Swiss roll or the jam Swiss roll; these Swiss rolls will have different colours. The jam Swiss roll will be filled with jam and also possibly cream as a filling, and sugar covers it on the outside. The chocolate Swiss roll is made in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in a similar way to the United States. Jam Roly-Poly
Jam Roly-Poly
Jam Roly-Poly, Dead Man's Arm or Dead Man's Leg is a traditional British dessert probably invented in the early 19th century. It is a flat-rolled suet pudding, which is then spread with jam and rolled up, similar to a Swiss roll. In days past, Jam Roly-Poly was also known as shirt-sleeve pudding,...
is a similar dessert made with suet pudding rather than cake, filled with jam and served hot with custard.
United States
The most common method of making a Swiss roll is to use a basic sponge cake recipe. Chocolate Swiss rolls called Ho Hos are made in the same way, but cocoa powder is substituted for some of the flour, and the cake is filled with either whipped creamWhipped cream
Whipped cream is cream that has been beaten by a mixer, whisk, or fork until it is light and fluffy. Whipped cream is often sweetened and sometimes flavored with vanilla, in which case it may be called Chantilly cream or crème Chantilly ....
or with butter cream, and sometimes flavoured with vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
, chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
, or a chocolate-flavoured liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
. A chocolate Swiss roll is sometimes called a chocolate log. Swiss rolls in the United States are often called "Jelly Rolls".
In other languages
- Catalan: Braç de gitano
- Danish: Roulade
- Estonian: Rullbiskviit
- French: Gâteau roulé or Roulade or Rouleau Suisse
- Finnish: Kääretorttu
- German: Biskuitrolle, or Biskuitrollade (Austria)
- Italian: Tronchetto (literally "little trunk" (of the tree))
- Hebrew: גלילה (gəlēlah)
- Hungarian: Lekváros tekercs, or Piskóta tekercs
- Norwegian: Rullekake
- Portuguese: Torta (Portugal), Rocambole (Brazil)
- Spanish: In ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, a Swiss Roll is called either pionono or brazo de reina, where it's filled with dulce de guayaba (guavaGuavaGuavas are plants in the myrtle family genus Psidium , which contains about 100 species of tropical shrubs and small trees. They are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America...
jam) or arequipe. In ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, it is called pionono, where it's filled with dulce de lecheDulce de lecheDulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...
. In ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, it is called brazo de Reina. In the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, it is called brazo de Mercedes. In Spain, it is called brazo de gitano (literally translated as gypsy's arm) and is commonly filled with cream or chocolate truffle. - Japanese:ロールケーキ (Roll cake)
- Swedish: Rulltårta
- Turkish: Rulo pasta (Roll cake)