Banana Cake Roll
A moist banana sponge swirled with creamy filling, topped with a sweet glaze and festive mix-ins. This Banana Cake Roll is an impressive yet approachable dessert that feels bakery-worthy but can be pulled off in your own kitchen.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 7 oz cream cheese softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp whole milk
For the cake batter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 4 large eggs separated
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar divided
- ⅔ cup mashed banana 1 large or 2 small
- ⅓ cup pecans chopped
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup candied ginger chopped
For the glaze
- 1 oz cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 –3 tsp whole milk
Instructions
- Grease a 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan, line with parchment, and preheat oven to 375°F.
- Beat cream cheese with ½ cup sugar until smooth, then mix in egg and milk. Spread evenly in the pan.
- Chop pecans, cranberries, and candied ginger. Reserve ⅓ cup for batter and the rest for topping.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Beat egg yolks and vanilla for 5 minutes until pale, then slowly add ⅓ cup sugar. Stir in mashed banana and ⅓ cup of the chopped mix-ins.
- In a separate bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add ⅓ cup sugar and whip to stiff peaks.
- Fold yolk mixture into whites gently, then fold in flour mixture in two parts until just combined.
- Spread batter over filling in the pan and bake 15–20 minutes until light golden.
- Dust a towel with powdered sugar. Cool cake 5 minutes, loosen edges, flip onto the towel, peel parchment, and roll from the short side. Let rest seam-side down for 10 minutes.
- Blend cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake and sprinkle with reserved pecans, cranberries, and ginger.