Swiss roll

Swiss roll

A familiar form of chocolate Swiss roll
Type	Sponge cake
Place of origin	Central Europe
Main ingredients	Flour, eggs, sugar, jam or buttercream

A Swiss roll, jelly roll, or cream roll is a type of sponge cake roll filled with whipped cream, jam, or icing.

The origins of the term are unclear. In spite of the name Swiss roll, the cake is believed to have originated elsewhere in Central Europe, likely Austria. It appears to have been invented in the nineteenth century, along with Battenberg, doughnuts and Victoria sponge.

The shape of the Swiss roll has inspired usage as a descriptive term in other fields, such as in optics and many forms of the term "".

Jelly cake (layer cake) is an old English recipe. The earliest published reference for a rolled cake spread with jelly was in the Northern Farmer, a journal published in Utica, New York, in December 1852. Called “To Make Jelly Cake”, the recipe describes a modern "jelly roll" and reads: “Bake quick and while hot spread with jelly. Roll carefully, and wrap it in a cloth. When cold cut in slices for the table.”

The terminology evolved in America for many years. From 1852 to 1877 such a dessert was called: Jelly Cake (1852), Roll Jelly Cake (1860), Swiss Roll (1872), Jelly Roll (1873), and Rolled Jelly Cake (1876). The name “Jelly Roll” was eventually adopted.

The origin of the term "Swiss roll" is unknown. The earliest British reference to a rolled cake by that name appeared on a bill of fare dated 18 June 1871, published in the 1872 book A Voyage from Southampton to Cape Town, in the Union Company’s Mail Steamer “Syria” (London). A recipe for "Swiss roll" also appeared in the U.S. that same year in The American Home Cook Book, published in Detroit, Michigan, in 1872.

Several 1880s to 1890s cookbooks from London, England, used the name Swiss roll exclusively.

The American Pastry Cook, published in Chicago in 1894, presented a basic "Jelly Roll Mixture" then listed variants made from it that included a Swiss roll, Venice roll, Paris roll, chocolate roll, jelly roll cotelettes, and decorated jelly rolls.