Episode 15 – Jellyroll Sponge

Episode 15
September 9, 2010
Jellyroll Sponge

If you’ve ever had a twinkie, or better yet, a ho-ho or ring ding, then you have a pretty good idea of what a jellyroll is.  Granted, a homemade jellyroll will taste much better than one of those store bought confections that has, what I can only guess is, an infinite shelf-life.  Either way, if you’ve ever wanted to know how to make a jellyroll – now you can see it on here!

That’s not to say that I didn’t have a tough time with this episode.  I actually had to do it twice because in my first shoot the jellyroll was way underbaked and too soft.  When I removed it from the pan all I saw on the bottom was barely cooked batter.  There were a lot of reasons for this.  For one, I’m working with a lot of recipes from school which means they are pretty large batches so when I reduce it I’m taking a risk that it may still be too large a batch for a home baker.  In that case it was – so I cut that recipe in half again before shooting the second take.  The second reason was I doubled panned and placed an empty sheet pan in the oven which really inhibited baking on the bottom.  Usually this isn’t such a bad thing because most of the time cakes easily get burnt on the bottom – but you don’t want a completely unbaked product either!  For a jellyroll sponge you really want a thoroughly and evenly baked item.  The answer was only using an empty sheet pan on the rack below the jellyroll to help distribute the oven’s heat more evenly.

That being said, this isn’t the easiest of recipes.  There are a lot of things that can go wrong.  Don’t let that deter you from trying to make this though!  The ingredients are readily available in your house so it’s not overtly expensive to make a jellyroll.  Second, it doesn’t take a long time to make the batter and bake it – approximately 30-45 minutes from start to finish – so if you mess up your day isn’t completely ruined.  Third, there are plenty of alternatives you can do if something does go wrong:

If you bake it right but it tears when removing it or when rolling it up try making a napoleon style jellyroll.  What I mean is cut the rectangle into even strips or pieces and stack the jelly covered strips on top of each other like you’re making a sandwich.  You can also line a bowl with the cake and scoop some ice cream into the “cake bowl” and serve it like that.  You can even use a layer to fill a cake for an interesting middle layer.

If you overbake it, the jellyroll will be hard, crisp, and cookie or cracker-like.  In this instance use it like a cookie or piece of toast.  Cut strips and spread some jam and call it a day.  You can also serve it with a cream or pudding dessert as a nice crunch component.  You can crumble it up and use it as an ice cream topping or as a decorative siding for a cake.  You can cut the cookie up into squares and top it with baked meringue, ice cream, or a soft macaroon and serve it quasi-baked Alaska style.

Try to be flexible and think of alternatives anytime you bake.  It’ll help keep your stress level down and you’ll really admire your creativity if you think outside the box.  Plus your guests will never know you really wanted to make a jellyroll – just tell them what you’re serving is what you meant to do all along!  “I saw this jellyroll sponge recipe and I thought to myself, ‘Gee wouldn’t this make a really easy and tasty cookie?’”  Won’t your guests be impressed?

Anyway, here’s the recipe for the jellyroll sponge and enjoy the two part episode below!