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Rainbow Roll Cake
Rainbow roll cake is a vibrant cake with all the colors of the rainbow! This moist and sweet cake is wrapped around a creamy buttercream filling.
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This vibrant rainbow roll cake has all the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple! Moist and sweet with a creamy buttercream filling inside, this dazzling roll cake is an eye-catching treat that is perfect for a birthday party or special occasion.
MORE RECIPES: Rainbow Popcorn | Christmas Vanilla Roll Cake | Carrot Cake Roll
A delightful vision of vibrant rainbow stripes, it’s hard to resist the allure of this rainbow roll cake. Surprisingly easy to make at home, the bright colors of the moist cake wrapped around a creamy buttercream filling that is just begging to be eaten.
Soft and light, this delicious rainbow roll cake would be a fun way to celebrate everything rainbow-colored and spirited. Serve a slice of roll cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a spoonful of whipped cream, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top for a fabulous way to celebrate any occasion. You can also rainbow sprinkles onto the filling once it has been spread for an extra pop of color in the middle of your cake.
Whether you’re a kitchen novice or an experienced baker, it’s easier than you think to create a beautiful rainbow swiss roll cake with just a few simple steps. Get ready to impress your friends and family with this delicious show-stopper!
Rainbow Roll Cake Ingredients
- Flour - all-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Eggs - large eggs
- Sugar - granulated sugar
- Oil - vegetable oil
- Vanilla - pure vanilla extract
- Almond - pure almond extract
- Food coloring - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring
- Sugar - powdered sugar
- Butter - salted sweet cream butter
- Vanilla - clear vanilla flavoring
- Cream - heavy cream
It is very important to be gentle when folding in the flour and the color. You want to keep as much of the air bubbles in the batter as possible to keep the cake fluffy. Place each bag in a bowl or cup with the cut end up so the batter doesn’t spill out while piping the layers in the cake pan.
Make sure you are using an actual jelly roll pan. You cannot substitute a cookie sheet for a jelly roll pan as it will not produce the cake you are hoping for.
You can use a tea towel to wrap the warm cake roll in, but the rainbow colors will stain the tea towel. The parchment paper is disposable and will not stain. Be patient when rolling and unrolling the cake roll. Unrolling too quickly can cause cracks in the cake.
How to Make Rainbow Roll Cake
Rainbow Cake
FIRST STEP: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10x15x1-inch baking sheet (jelly roll pan) with parchment paper. Set it aside.
SECOND STEP: Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a small mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
THIRD STEP: Using either a stand mixer or a medium-sized mixing bowl and a handheld mixer on high speed, beat together the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and almond extract for 5 to 6 minutes, until thickened and light yellow.
FOURTH STEP: Gently fold in the flour mixture until combined.
FIFTH STEP: Quickly and gently divide the batter between 6 bowls (about ⅔ cup each).
SIXTH STEP: Add 1 color of the gel food color per bowl. Depending on how dark you want to tint the batter, we recommend 3 to 5 drops. Gently fold the gel into the cake batter.
SEVENTH STEP: Spoon the individual colors into 6 disposable piping bags or quart-size ziplock bags. Secure the tops of the bags.
EIGHTH STEP: Lightly spray the prepared baking sheet with nonstick spray, paying close attention to the edges.
NINTH STEP: Snip off a small corner of the bag. Starting at 1 corner of the prepared baking sheet, gently squeeze a small amount of the red batter. Be sure to keep the line as straight as possible. Next, gently squeeze a line of orange batter ¾ inch-1 inch wide. Next, the yellow, green, blue, and purple. Continue until the pan has been covered. Lightly tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles in the cake batter. Bake for 8 minutes.
TENTH STEP: Remove the pan from the oven. Measure out a piece of parchment paper to roll the cake in. You will need to leave about a 2-inch overhang to begin the cake roll. Lightly dust the baked cake.
ELEVENTH STEP: Have a large cutting board or cooling rack ready to aid in the cake transfer.
TWELFTH STEP: While the cake is warm, lay the piece of parchment paper over the powdered sugar-dusted cake. Place the cutting board (or cooling rack) on top of the parchment. Carefully flip the cake over so that the cake is resting on the dusted piece of parchment and cutting board/cooling rack.
THIRTEENTH STEP: Remove the upside-down cake pan, and carefully peel off the parchment paper that the cake was baked on.
FOURTEENTH STEP: Fold the overhanging end of the parchment paper up onto the cake and then gently and patiently start rolling the shorter side of the cake towards the other short side. The parchment paper will be rolled up inside the cake. Once rolled, transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Buttercream Filling
FIFTEENTH STEP: Using either a stand mixer or a medium-sized mixing bowl and a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat the softened butter for 1 to 1½ minutes until smooth.
SIXTEENTH STEP: Add the clear vanilla and the almond extract and continue mixing for another 30 seconds.
SEVENTEENTH STEP: Lower the mixer speed to low, and beat in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Alternate with the heavy cream. Increase the speed back up to medium-high and continue mixing for 1 more minute until smooth.
EIGHTEENTH STEP: Once the cake has completely cooled, gently unroll the cake. Using either a silicone spatula or an offset spatula, spread the filling over the surface of the cake roll, avoiding the outer edges.
NINETEENTH STEP: Tear off 2 sheets of plastic wrap to overlap the long edges and lightly spray with nonstick spray. This is for tightly wrapping the filled cake roll.
TWENTIETH STEP: Slowly roll the cake back up as before. Transfer the cake roll to the prepared plastic wrap. Roll the finished cake roll up in the plastic wrap. Once finished wrapping, twist the ends tightly to seal the cake roll securely. Chill in the refrigerator for 6 hours. Remove just before serving to slice the cake into ten ½-inch slices.
Do I have to use gel food coloring?
We recommend gel food coloring in this rainbow cake recipe. You will get a nice bright color with only a few drops, while liquid food coloring will require quite a bit for equally vibrant rainbow colors.
Why did my rainbow roll crack?
Your cake needs to be rolled with parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven. When the cake is rolled while warm, the heat and moisture will help give you a crack-free cake. The cake is much more likely to crack if it is rolled when cooled.
Is a jelly roll pan the same as a baking sheet?
A jelly roll pan is different from a baking sheet. It’s important to use a 10×15-inch jelly roll pan for this cake as you want it to be nice and thin. A baking sheet will not work for this recipe.
How to Store Rainbow Roll Cake
IN THE FRIDGE: Store any leftover roll cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
IN THE FREEZER: You can freeze the cake roll for up to 3 months. Wrap the plastic-wrapped cake roll in a layer of aluminum foil. Allow the cake roll to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Rainbow Roll Cake
Rainbow roll cake is a vibrant cake with all the colors of the rainbow! This moist and sweet cake is wrapped around a creamy buttercream filling.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 8 hours 35 minutes
Servings 10
Ingredients
Rainbow Cake
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
- gel food coloring red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Buttercream Filling
- ¾ cup salted sweet cream butter softened
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla flavoring
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
Rainbow Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10x15x1-inch baking sheet (jelly roll pan) with parchment paper. Set it aside.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a small mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Using either a stand mixer or a medium-sized mixing bowl and a handheld mixer on high speed, beat together the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and almond extract for 5 to 6 minutes, until thickened and light yellow.
- Gently fold in the flour mixture until combined.
- Quickly and gently divide the batter between 6 bowls (about ⅔ cup each).
- Add 1 color of the gel food color per bowl. Depending on how dark you want to tint the batter, we recommend 3 to 5 drops. Gently fold the gel into the cake batter.
- Spoon the individual colors into 6 disposable piping bags or quart-size ziplock bags. Secure the tops of the bags.
- Lightly spray the prepared baking sheet with nonstick spray, paying close attention to the edges.
- Snip off a small corner of the bag. Starting at 1 corner of the prepared baking sheet, gently squeeze a small amount of the red batter. Be sure to keep the line as straight as possible. Next, gently squeeze a line of orange batter ¾ inch-1 inch wide. Next, the yellow, green, blue, and purple. Continue until the pan has been covered. Lightly tap the pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles in the cake batter. Bake for 8 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Measure out a piece of parchment paper to roll the cake in. You will need to leave about a 2-inch overhang to begin the cake roll. Lightly dust the baked cake.
- ELEVENTH STEP: Have a large cutting board or cooling rack ready to aid in the cake transfer.
- While the cake is warm, lay the piece of parchment paper over the powdered sugar-dusted cake. Place the cutting board (or cooling rack) on top of the parchment. Carefully flip the cake over so that the cake is resting on the dusted piece of parchment and cutting board/cooling rack.
- Remove the upside-down cake pan, and carefully peel off the parchment paper that the cake was baked on.
- Fold the overhanging end of the parchment paper up onto the cake and then gently and patiently start rolling the shorter side of the cake towards the other short side. The parchment paper will be rolled up inside the cake. Once rolled, transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Buttercream Filling
- Using either a stand mixer or a medium-sized mixing bowl and a handheld mixer on medium-high speed, beat the softened butter for 1 to 1½ minutes until smooth.
- Add the clear vanilla and the almond extract and continue mixing for another 30 seconds.
- Lower the mixer speed to low, and beat in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Alternate with the heavy cream. Increase the speed back up to medium-high and continue mixing for 1 more minute until smooth.
- Once the cake has completely cooled, gently unroll the cake. Using either a silicone spatula or an offset spatula, spread the filling over the surface of the cake roll, avoiding the outer edges.
- Tear off 2 sheets of plastic wrap to overlap the long edges and lightly spray with nonstick spray. This is for tightly wrapping the filled cake roll.
- Slowly roll the cake back up as before. Transfer the cake roll to the prepared plastic wrap. Roll the finished cake roll up in the plastic wrap. Once finished wrapping, twist the ends tightly to seal the cake roll securely. Chill in the refrigerator for 6 hours. Remove just before serving to slice the cake into ten ½-inch slices.
Nutrition
Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 105mg | Sodium: 253mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 565IU | Vitamin C: 0.02mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg
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