Test Kitchen #18: Strawberry Shortcake Jelly Roll

The mental journey that was taken during for this week's test kitchen in combination with the sudden arrival of summer heat was enough to make mush out of my already spongy brain. For some reason it's become increasingly difficult to come up with new ideas each week. Mostly because now that summer's finally here, I'm trying to think of things that can keep the oven off.

While out running/walking they other day (yes, running. Try to hold back your laughter.) I started to think about ice cream, which then in turn made me think of gelato. That could be fun! Homemade gelato on a hot summer afternoon would definitely be refreshing. When I got home, I emailed Dad about the idea and got us both started on some recipe research.

I arrived later than normal on Tuesday afternoon, having had a meeting and a few errands to run in the morning. Unfortunately, the research found that every recipe required the use of an ice cream maker in the final stages of prep. Since neither of us owned one, we tried to invent a way to rig up our own contraption, but realized this was going to be more trouble and time than it was worth.

I began to personally resent the ice cream maker. As a rule, I was taught that there is no room in your kitchen for a gadget or machine that can't perform at least three functions. (I'm looking at you avocado slicer. Really, people?! We need a dedicated gadget to perfectly slice our avocados?! Good Lord!) But really, why waste counter space, storage space and freezer space for something that gets used maybe twice a year. It's one of those appliances that always seems appealing while zapping items for your bridal registry. "Oooo. An ice cream maker! That'd be so much fun!" Then years later you're unearthing it from your basement or attic, just to turn to your partner and say, "Why the heck did we want this thing, again?"

But I digress.

So with Mom joining us on her first Tuesday off for summer vacation, she laid out all the cookbooks for us to find something new. I started paging through the Cooking Light Desserts book, looking for something that required only ingredients we already had in the house.

And that's when we landed on the Strawberry Shortcake Jelly Roll. We had all the ingredients, the oven only had to be on for ten minutes, and strawberries are a refreshing summer fruit.


This is actually really easy to make and I would definitely make it again. With Fourth of July right around the corner, it looked very patriotic on Mom's blueberry plates. My only change would be to find a way to make the yellow cake a little more moist. When Mom, Dad and I had a slice the cake was a little on the dry side. Later that night when Matt had it for dessert, the cake had gotten a little softer after the jam filling had a chance to soak in.

The issues with the cake could also have been due to the wacky calculations we had to go through with the ingredients. The recipe calls for a 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Our pan was 12 x 16.5 inches, so with a bigger pan the batter would spread out too far and the cake would be thin. So my Dad, the engineer, takes out his calculator and determines that our pan is one and a quarter times bigger than the pan in the recipe. Then we had to multiply all the ingredients by 1.25 to get the right ratio for the batter. If you want to try this math problem at home, better to just get out the yellow pages, find the nearest gelato shop and take the rest of the afternoon off. A designer friend of mine tells me that there's a great place in Bridgeport near the beach.

Guess where I'm headed this weekend.

Strawberry Shortcake Jelly Roll

Ingredients:
4 cups quartered strawberries (about 1 1/2 pounds)
3/4 cup sugar, divided
Cooking spray
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 egg whites
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 (10-ounce) jar strawberry jam
1/2 cup whipping cream
Orange rind strips (optional)

1. Combine the strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour; stir occasionally.

2. Preheat oven to 400°.

3. Coat a 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan with cooking spray; line bottom of pan with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray.

4. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Set aside.

5. Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar, egg whites, and egg yolks in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Stir in lemon rind and vanilla. Sift half of flour mixture over egg mixture; fold in. Repeat procedure with remaining flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan; spread evenly.

6. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Loosen cake from sides of pan; turn out onto a dishtowel dusted with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off wax paper; let cake cool 2 minutes. Starting at narrow end, roll up cake and towel together. Place, seam side down, on a wire rack; cool completely (about 1 hour). Unroll carefully; remove towel. Spread jam over cake, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Re-roll cake, and place, seam side down, on a platter. Cut into 8 slices.

7. Beat cream with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Serve strawberries and whipped cream with cake. Garnish with orange rind, if desired.

(Recipe and photo before the ingredients list courtesy of Cooking Light)

Notes: Save a few strawberries and add them to the filling so that you have some real fruit amongst the jam. For a more health friendly version, use sugar-free jam and skip the homemade heavy cream topping in favor of some fat-free Ready-Whip.