I know…I know, It’s two days post-christmas feast and I have the nerve to share a dessert recipe? I can’t believe it myself. But…in my defense, I made this for christmas and I just couldn’t NOT share it. You never know when you’re going to need a recipe for a snickerdoodle roll cake, and who am I to keep that from you? So, here it is. I promise that my next recipe will be something healthy and not holiday related. It’ll be a dish to get your new year off to a great start. And, if you’re intimidated by making roll cakes, you absolutely shouldn’t be. I was nervous about the whole thing crumbling the first time I made one, but the sponge cake base makes it almost fool-proof. This cake is a buttercream lovers dream. The cake only serves as a base for the brown sugar cinnamon butter cream that gives this dessert its snickerdoodle like essence. You don’t have to make this right now, but I highly suggest bookmarking it for future endeavors!
- Vanilla Sponge Cake
- 2 eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sifted cake flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter Cream
- 2 and 1/4 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 4 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup of half and half, plus more if needed
- 1/4 cup cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup suar, 2 tsp cinnamon) to sprinkle on top
- Heat the oven to 450F.
- Line a 17X12″ sheet pan with parchment paper . Set aside.
- In a grease-free bowl, add the 2 egg whites and 1 tablespoon of sugar. With a whisk, whip until firm peaks form. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl add the 2 eggs, 3 egg yolks and 1/2 cup sugar. With the paddle attachment on, beat on medium to high speed around 5 minutes until pale in color and thickened. Add the vanilla extract and beat few more seconds.
- With the spatula, fold the whipped egg whites into the egg yolks mixture.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, spread it evenly and bake for 6-7 minutes until golden brown and, when touched, it springs back.
- As soon as you remove the cake from the oven sprinkle with powder sugar and then invert the cake onto a clean dish towel. Remove the parchment paper, sprinkle with more powder sugar, and roll up the cake with the towel. Place on a wire rack to cool
- While the cake cools, prepare the buttercream. Beat together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until fluffy and pale in colour.
- Add 2 cups of the confectioner’s sugar and the vanilla extract and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until it is fully incorporated.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the half and half. Beat to incorporate again.
- Add another 2 cups of the confectioner’s sugar and beat, starting on low and moving up to high, until fully incorporated. Check the consistency of the buttercream. If it needs to be thicker, add the remaining confectioner’s sugar. If it is too thick, add more half and half a teaspoon at a time, beating after each addition, until it reaches the consistency you like.
- Gently unroll the cake and spread the buttercream evenly all over it.
- Roll it again and spread the butter cream over the top as well. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top and garnish with cinnamon sticks.
- Place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Kassie Stutsman
Saturday 25th of November 2023
I made the snickerdoodle buttercream icing and for some reason it is very grainy. Is your icing also grainy? If not, what am I doing wrong as I followed the ingredients?
JS
Sunday 27th of December 2020
Hi! Just made this yesterday but I noted a couple of things. First, the instructions do not indicate when to add the flour and corn starch, so I added just before folding the whipped egg white mixture, which seemed to work well. However, I had the exact size pan called for and there wasn’t nearly enough batter. I made a second batch and it was just right for the 12x17 sheet pan. The cake texture looked good and it rolled nicely, so I’m looking forward to serving it. I also made a double batch of the buttercream and doubles the cinnamon called for to make the cinnamon more pronounced. The cake looks beautiful — thanks for sharing the recipe!
Paige
Monday 28th of December 2020
Thank you so much for sharing! We're slowly going through old posts and updating the recipes and photos so this one will move to the top of the list for me to retest! Thank you for pushing through and I'll be sure to update with your notes!
Darwin Hoover
Sunday 6th of December 2020
Curious do you add the whipped eggs to the cake mix or do you make the mix with the ingredients you have here
Paige
Monday 7th of December 2020
Hi there! It is confusing because there are so many egg steps! You'll whip the egg whites and then fold them into the other whisked eggs and yolks before mixing with the dry ingredients. Hope that helps!
Laney
Wednesday 18th of March 2020
Hi! This turned out a lot sweeter than I could handle, and I didn't use all the powdered sugar! Also, you forgot to add instructions to add cake flour and cornstarch into the batter. I added some cinnamon into the cake batter, and that turned out well.
Paige
Tuesday 24th of March 2020
Thanks, Laney! I'll take a look at it! This is an older recipe so it's possible it needs adjusting. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!