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This melt-in-your-mouth fluffy and moist Blackberry Lemon Cake Roll (a.k.a. Swiss Roll) is easier than you think! The cake batter has just 4 ingredients and the whipped blackberry frosting is ridiculously simple to make.
This cake only looks like it took forever but really it has simple ingredients, comes together quickly and is definitely a show-stopping cake! Take a bite of this Blackberry Lemon Cake Roll and you’ll have no words, only sound effects…. mmm…
Watch the Blackberry Lemon Cake Roll Video:
The combination of blackberries and lemon just makes my mouth water. P.S. You can make this cake roll a day in advance, cover and refrigerate and it will be just as good the next day. Hooray for make-ahead desserts!
That topping looks so lovely but it’s the easiest part of the cake!!
Tools You Will Need (affiliate):
Flour Sifter or fine mesh sieve
18×13 (half sheet) rimmed baking sheet
parchment paper to line baking sheet
clean tea towel or linen towel
flexible spatula
High powered stand mixer*
Piping Bag and Large Open Star Wilton 1M Tip
*If using a good electric hand mixer instead of a stand mixer, add 2 min to eggs/sugar mixing time.
The Ingredients are surprisingly really simple but the results are awesome!
⬇️Print-Friendly Blackberry Lemon Cake Roll Recipe:
Blackberry Lemon Cake Roll (VIDEO)
Ingredients
Sponge Cake Ingredients:
- 5 large eggs, room temp
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
For the Lemon Syrup:
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, from 1 med/large lemon
For the Blackberry Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 8 Tbsp 113 grams unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 6 oz blackberries, chopped (reserving 6 whole berries to garnish)
Optional Garnish:
- 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 1 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 2 lemon slices, cut into triangles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line the bottom of an 18x13 baking sheet with parchment paper (do not grease).
- Add 5 eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment and beat on high speed 1 min, or until foamy. Gradually add sugar and beat on high 7 min. It will be thick, fluffy and tripled in volume**
- Whisk together flour and baking powder and sift into egg batter one third at a time, folding to incorporate between each addition and scraping from the bottom to catch hidden flour pockets. Stop mixing when you no longer see streaks of flour.
- Transfer to lined baking sheet and bake right away at 350˚F for 13-15 min (mine took 15 min) or until top is golden. Remove from oven and right away run a thin edged spatula or knife around edges of your cake to loosen from the pan. While cake is hot***, invert cake face down onto a clean, dry linen towel, remove parchment paper then roll cake into the towel. Let cool to room temp (30 min - 1hr) in a draft free room.
- Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for lemon syrup (water, sugar, lemon juice), stir to dissolve sugar and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 8 oz softened cream cheese, 8 Tbsp softened butter and 1 cup powdered sugar. Beat together starting on low speed to incorporate sugar, then turn the mixer up to high speed for 2-3 min or until whipped, white and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add coarsely chopped blackberries and stir into cream with mixer on low, just until incorporated.
- Carefully Unroll cake and loosen from the towel. Brush the top evenly with your lemon syrup. Put dollops of blackberry frosting over the surface and spread evenly. Roll the cake tightly in the same direction you rolled it the first time. Slice off the edges if desired and dust generously with powdered sugar.
- For the topping, beat together 3/4 cup heavy cream with 1 Tbsp powdered sugar for 2 min on high speed until fluffy and spreadable. Transfer to a large piping bag with a large open star tip and pipe 6 flowers over the top, placing a fresh blackberry and lemon triangle into the center of each one.
Notes
***To prevent cracks in cake roll, it should be rolled in the linen towel right after it comes out of the oven.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
This sponge cake base in this blackberry lemon cake roll is amazing! It takes on moisture really well and won’t get soggy for several days. Hungry for More? Check out all of my many cake recipes using this easy European sponge cake base.
Ready, Set,… Bake!! Enjoy this my friends! 🙂
Did I need to use all the lemon mixture?
Mine is nowhere near as neat as yours, but it tastes great!
Hi Janet, I used it all, you’re welcome use as much as you’d like 🙂 I hope you love this recipe!
Hi Natasha
For the blackberry lemon roll cake can I try it with strawberries. I just can’t get the fresh blackberry but i have the frozen pack? It can I use frozen blackberry ?
That should still be ok to use frozen blackberries, but thaw them according to package instructions and pat dry with a paper towel so they are not overly juicy. You probably wouldn’t want to decorate the top with frozen though.
this looks great! i’ve been trying to find a good roll recipe for a summer pot luck and it looks like this one will be it (i made a pumpkin one for fall last year and everyone loved it) i wanted to ask if the syrup gives it a very lemony flavor or if i could/should put zest in the cake or the filling to make it more pronounced?
Hi Elyshia! I think it has a good lemony flavor but you can add zest if you’d like.
okay sweet thank you! 🙂 i’m sure it will turn out great. have a good weekend
You’re welcome!
Hi Natasha, I hope you and your family are doing great.I love your videos … I was wondering can I make the blackberry lemon cake roll (Swiss roll) and the blueberry pie (including your pie crust) 2 days in advance? My husband’s grandpa b-day is this August 4 of 2022 but I won’t have time tomorrow or the 4th, so I was hopping to make them today August 2nd of 2022 is that possible or it will destroy the desserts?. I will really appreciate you getting back with me to the best of your convince. May the Lord Jesús Bless your entire family.
Thanks
Hi Viviana. You can make this cake roll a day in advance, cover, and refrigerate and it will be just as good the next day. It might be fine the 2nd day as well. 🙂
Hi Natasha…. I wanted to do a swiss roll for a friends mother that does’t like very much. I thought of using blueberries. Fresh…. Will it bleed to much in the cream frosting
Hi Terri, I won’t be able to advise unless I personally test it. It will be an experiment for you if you give that a try!
Hi Natasha!
Can I bake sponge cake day before and roll with cream next day?
Hi Malgorzata, You would want to roll it into shape after it’s baked if you try to roll it the next day it will likely crack and break.
Can this be made today and refrigerated to serve tomorrow. Or will it be soggy?
Hi Dee, I have refrigerated it overnight and served the following day. It’s best enjoyed within a day but it will stay good in the fridge up to 3 days or depending on how fresh your berries are.
Hey Natasha,
All you recipes are amazing and delicious. I was wondering how tall is your sheet pan? Thanks for the answer in advance.
Hi Emily, I used a rimmed baking sheet, about 1”.
I’ve made this twice. This time the cake stuck to the parchment paper and then stuck to the towel
It isn’t very pretty but I suspect it tastes delicious. I’ll just cover it with whipped cream and apologize to my guests for the way it looks. I think they will be too busy eating it to care how it looks.
Hi Mary, make sure to use parchment paper and not wax paper. Also “while the cake is hot and just out of the oven” is key to help get the parchment off easier. If you wait until it cools, it’s a little more challenging. I hope that helps and I hope you love the cake roll.
What is the secret for the roll not to stick to the towel? Is there a special towel you use? Thanks
Hi Marya, I usually use a clean tea towel or linen towel.
Oh my goodness… what a delicious dessert. I have to say, I thought it might be good, but this is the tastier roulade I ever had in my life. Thank you Natasha for sharing these beautiful and easy recipes with us. I make so many foods based on you recipes and this one is definitely going to be our number 1 dessert now. It’s so easy to make, few ingredients, and soooo yummy.
Thank you again.
You’re welcome, Eugenia. Great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe!
I made this yesterday. It turned out beautifully, but smelled really, really eggy. I’m thinking of trying it again and adding vanilla to see if I can cut down on that eggy smell. Have you experienced the smell and have you added vanilla to this? I really enjoy your videos and recipes. I’ve made several of your things and love all of them, just a little disappointed in this one.
Hi Priscilla! This is a sponge cake that relies heavily on the eggs for structure and texture. It is extremely important to beat the eggs and sugar for the time stated to get the whipped volume needed. If not beat long enough it can be eggy. The vanilla may help reduce this. Be sure to use fresh eggs as well and check the size of eggs you used. I used large eggs for this recipe. I hope this is helpful and I hope you try it again and have better results.
Use the zest of an orange or lemon & that will cut out that eggy smell & taste . I hate that eggs smell also
Is it okay to use FROZEN blackberries? Or will it add too much liquid to the filling? Thanks!
Hi Kelly, that should still be ok, but thaw them according to package instructions and pat dry with a paper towel so they are not overly juicy. You probably wouldn’t want to decorate the top with frozen though.
Hi, could I make it like a cake? Do you have a suggestion of what measures would be and how much crust to make and in what round cake pans, what sizes? Thank you
Hi Jovanka, I have not tested this recipe in cake pans. This cake is best in thinner layers. I am not sure how the frosting would hold up if you tried to use it for a cake. You’d have to experiment with it.
Hi Natasha,
I love your recipes. As of yet I have not made this but plan too soon. Can I use cake flour instead of APF or will it be too light?
Thank you
I have not tested it. You’d have to experiment. If you try it, please let us know how it works out for you.
Hi Natasha! I’ve made this cake twice and both times it was a HIT! I love it…and the friends I shared it with did too! I did lightly butter the parchment and put powdered sugar on the tea towel the second time and that helped a lot with sticking! I will be making this again…. probably today!! 🙂
Hi Joyce, that’s so great! I’m happy to know that you and your friends loved this recipe. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha,
I am not new to baking and I have made this cake about four times now and each time this is what I face: cake sticking to parchment paper, cake sticking to towel, flat thin cake with lots of air pockets in it. When I fold in the sifted flour and fold enough to see streaks disappear, upon pouring it into the pan I will find clumps of flour in the batter pouring out of the bowl. How do you fold in the sifted flour and incorporate it enough? Is there another sponge cake recipe you recommend. I am thinking of trying this recipe and wanted to ask you what is the difference. I need an easier way to incorporate the flour without over mixing.
I would recommend beating the eggs and sugar longer since that is likely the problem. This was written for using a high powered stand mixer. If using an electric hand mixer or a lower powered mixer, you would need to increase the mixing time by 3-5 minutes. When you pull up on the whisk, the egg/sugar ribbon should stay on the surface of the batter for a second before disappearing into the batter. This is a good test to see if you’ve mixed long enough. If the eggs and sugar are beaten adequately, it is less likely you would overmix when adding flour.
I just made this for my girlfriend’s birthday…she had posted it on her FB page. It is really yummy but I had some concerns before I started based on some of the comments of the cake sticking and breaking. To avoid those problems, I lightly sprayed the parchment with PAM and also lightly dusted the linen dish towel with powdered sugar before rolling up the cake. This seemed to work well and avoided sticking and cracking of the cake. I’m sure my girlfriends will enjoy this with a glass of bubbly tonight!
Thank you for sharing those tips with us, Irene! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I was so bummed. I ended up having a lot of issues with this cake. And I am not a first time cake maker. Really disappointed with the lack of lemon flavor even after doubling the simple syrup. Also it ended up resembling the flavor of scrambled eggs though the eggs & sugar were beat over 7 minutes & appeared exactly like the video, what would cause that? Frosting was was good surprisingly refreshing and not overly sweet like some.
Hi Megan, I’m sorry to hear that and I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. Did you make sure to beat on high speed in an electric stand mixer? If beating with a hand mixer, you do need to increase the time. Also, make sure to bake right away so have your oven preheated and ready to go when the mixing is completed.
Hi Natalie, just baked your blackberry and lemon Swiss roll ( I used strawberries instead). Not bad for my first attempt but hubby loves it. 🥰.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
I made this cake last night and it was a hit! Everyone loved it and asked for more. Thank you Natasha! I love your recipes!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!