Baking: Red Velvet Cherry Cake Roll

Lately, I've been into everything cherry.  I ran across a recipe from Food Network for a Red Velvet Cherry Cake Roll and just HAD to give it a go!  

Food Network's version of the cake (Pic from Food Network)

While my first batch wasn't exactly flawless, it definitely tasted delicious!  And my coworkers thought so too and obligingly polished it all off.  

My version of the cake - not bad for a first attempt!

The ingredient listing may look impressive, but since I was able to finish a completed cake roll (and on a weeknight!) I know you can do it!  I couldn't wait to share this recipe with you all...

Red Velvet Cherry Cake Roll

Recipe from Food Network

Ingredients

For the cake:

Unsalted butter, for the baking sheet

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 cups cherry-flavored cola

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup buttermilk

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon red food coloring

2 teaspoons almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

For the filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

2 teaspoons almond extract

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grab an 11-by-17 inch rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper.  Butter the parchment paper and dust with flour.  I used a baking mat instead of parchment paper so I didn't butter the may, but I did butter the sides.

Bring the cherry cola to a boil over medium-high heat and then let simmer until it reduces to about 1/2 cup (approx 10-15 min).  Let the syrup cool.

Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  

In a separate large bowl, mix the granulated sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, almond and vanilla extracts, and the cherry cola syrup.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  

Spread batter onto the prepared baking sheet and bake until the cake starts to pull away from the pan (recipe says 15 min, but it took me 25 maybe 30 min!).  Make sure you check your baking sheet - if you have ghetto ones like mine that seem to warp the minute it touches any heat, you need to make sure the batter isn't sliding and/or pooling into one corner.  Let baked cake cool in the pan for 5 min.

Dust a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) with confectioners sugar (I'm not a fan of using towels on food so I used parchment paper for this step).  Invert the cake onto the towel and carefully peel the off the parchment/baking mat.  Make sure that the side of the cake that you want on the outside is facing the bottom - the side of the cake on the mat baked out nice and smooth so I opted for that to by the outside of my cake and flipped it over again so that this side was facing parchment paper. 

Trim cake edges so that they are straight (I used a pizza cutter for this).  Starting from one short end, carefully roll up the cake around the towel.  Let it cool completely in this rolled shape.

 

While your cake is cooling, start preparing the filling.  Whisk the cream cheese, 1/2 cup cream, and almond extract in a large bowl. 

With an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer if you have), beat the remaining 1 cup cream and the confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form.  Gradually fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.  Chill until ready to use.

When the cake has cooled, carefully unroll.  Spread the filling and gently reroll the cake. 

Dust with confectioners' sugar an voila!  You have a dessert that will surely impress!  I sadly do not have a picture of the finished and rolled up cake before it was devoured, but I will definitely be making this again!

Good luck and happy eating!

Thanks for reading - Piggy KK