Strawberry Jelly Roll Cake just in time for Valentine's Day! You already make their heart go pitter patter, so why not treat their taste buds to this rich, delicious cake with fresh Florida strawberries all rolled up into a pretty package.
Recently I was fortunate to participate in a LIVE #SundaySupper event in Plant City, FL, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, with the Florida Strawberry Growers Associationand several of my Sunday Supper family members.
It was truly a spectacular weekend!We were pampered at the stunning Epicurean Hotel and enjoyed fabulous food and wine at some of Tampa's best restaurants such asCask Social Kitchen,Ava,Elevage Restaurant,Edge, andBern's Steak House.We even got to visit the grounds of the famous Florida Strawberry Festival! I have always wanted to attend the festival! Fingers crossed 2016 is the year I make it happen!Click hereto visit my Instagram page and see all the photos from our strawberry-licious weekend!
In addition to filling our bellies, welearned all about Florida Strawberries while touring many acres of beautiful strawberry farms. The strawberry growers at Mike Lott Farms andAstin Strawberry Exchange welcomed us on a beautiful Florida day to share their vast knowledge of growing strawberries in Florida. It was picture perfect!
I learned so much about how strawberries are grown in Florida and even about strawberry breeding when we visited the University of Florida Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. Dr. Vance Whitaker shared his passion for strawberry breeding and his very own variety, the Sweet Sensation™ strawberry. When shopping, look for the specially marked clam shells that identify Fresh From Florida Strawberries. Florida strawberries are available all winter long, so if you don't find them in your store, be sure to ask your grocer to get them for you!
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In addition to learning all about how Florida strawberries are grown, we also learned how they get to the stores for us to enjoy and how best to store them. Did you know strawberries are only handled once?! At the time they are picked they are put right into the container we buy in the store and then they are shipped out the very same day to ensure the freshest product makes it to the store. I like that!
The strawberry packaging is special too. Strawberry Sue explained the design of the clamshell container was very carefully engineered to be the best way to keep your strawberries when you bring them home from the store.
Sue also shared it is best to store strawberries in the refrigerator with the hulls in tact and unwashed. Once you remove the hull and wash the strawberry you introduce water and water shortens the life of the strawberries and waters down the flavor of the berry. Sue recommends washing, drying, and removing the strawberry hull right before serving. This is valuable info, because I came home with lots of strawberries and want to keep them as fresh as possible!
Fresh Florida strawberries make the best treats, and as soon as I got home I put my beautiful berries to work in this scrumptious Strawberry Jelly Roll Cake. This cake is easier to make than you might think and takes less time than a traditional cake. It's true! It also happens to be a family fave!
This cake makes an impressive presentation, no doubt, but the real beauty is in the taste! The light sweet flavor of the sponge cake paired with fresh Florida strawberries is love on a plate!
I actually made this cake 3 times with 3 different fillings! Well, 4 really. I promised to save my mom a piece, but before I knew it there was none left! Oops! In our defense, it was pretty darn good. So, I made it one last time with our favorite filling and gave her the whole cake, because I'm her favorite daughter :o), and I need to maintain that status! It takes work when you are 1 of 5 daughters!!
I'm sharing the recipe with our favorite filling of fresh Florida strawberries and Mascarpone cheese. Mascarpone cheese is a soft Italian cheese similar to cream cheese, but has a mild flavor that mingles nicely with the strawberries. If you prefer a stronger flavor, I recommend using our 2nd favorite filling by subbing 5 ounces of cream cheese in place of the Mascarpone. Enjoy!
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Life Tastes Good
Published 02/04/2016
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 eggs separated, room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces Mascarpone cheese
- 1 cup fresh Florida strawberries - washed & dried and then hulled and finely diced
- Confectioners' sugar
- Strawberries for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Let it hang over the sides.
- In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon double acting baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk to incorporate. Set aside
- Whisk 4 egg whites using the whisk attachment and the mixer at high speed until soft peaks form; 1-2 minutes. Slowly add in 1/3 cup sugar and whisk at high speed until glossy and stiff peaks form. About 2-3 minutes but time will vary depending on the speed of you mixer. Watch closely. You don't want the eggs to get dull looking and dry. Set aside.
- Clean off your whisk attachment, and use it once again to beat on high speed the 4 egg yolks in a separate bowl until thick and lemon yellow in color. About 5 minutes. Slowly sprinkle in 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Continue beating on high speed until ribbons form on the egg mixture when it drips back into the bowl.
- Sprinkle flour mixture over yolks and mix until just combined. Gently add beaten whites on top of the flour mixture and gently fold mixture to blend until combined and evenly colored.
- Spread batter into prepared pan and level. Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly pressed.
- While the cake is baking, sprinkle a kitchen towel, generously, with confectioner's sugar.
- Immediately invert hot cake onto towel and gently remove parchment paper. Cut off crispy edges and carefully roll up cake and towel from short end. Not too tightly.
- Cool cake completely then carefully unroll and spread with 8 ounces of softened mascarpone cheese all the way to the edges and sprinkle with a little confectioner's sugar to cover the cheese. Top the cheese with 1 cup of finely diced strawberries and distribute evenly in a thin layer.
- Carefully roll cake in the same direction as before. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and garnish with fresh strawberries. Enjoy!
Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 15 mins.
Cook time: 15 mins.
Total time: 30 mins.
Tags: Strawberry Jelly Roll Cake, Recipe, Valentine's Day, Florida, Strawberries, Fruit, Dessert, Mascarpone Cheese, Easy Recipe, Fresh Fruit
Disclosure: I attended the events in Tampa as a guest of Sunday Supper and the sponsors.I'd like to thank them for inviting me to participate in this amazing event.As always, all opinions are my own.
