Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Red Velvet Cherry Cake Roll

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Special occasions need special treats. It is my daughter’s birthday next Sunday, when she will be enjoying a full gluten cake with her friends. I thought to make her feel more special and made this Red Velvet Cake Roll for Pre-Birthday dinner. I invited two of my close friends, whose daughter’s are also friends with my daughter.
  

 

I was instantly drawn to this cake recipe in a food network magazine which needed Cherry cola. Unfortunately, we do not get cherry cola in Canada. I thought to use grenadine syrup instead. I have worked with Maraschino cherries before and I knew that they would give a beautiful hue and moistness to the cake. So in a way this recipe grew out of my necessity.

 

 

This cake roll is a bit different from standard red velvet cakes as it contains cherry puree and grenadine syrup. Not only does it look good it tastes great with cherries, cocoa, grenadine. Its a wonderful combination of flavors. The cake has such wonderful moist texture that my friends and their daughters were surprised to find, it was Gluten free. They know that I mostly make Gf cakes but they were not expecting a rolled cake. The girls just raved about it the entire time.

 

 

The ingredients showing in red are the changes that I made to the original recipe in black.

RED VELVET CHERRY CAKE ROLL
Adapted from: Food network Magazine

Ingredients for the cake:
Unsalted butter for the baking sheet

1.5 GF flour mix for cakes+ 1/2 tsp xanthum gum

2 cups cherry cola reduced to 1/2 cup ( 0.5 cup Maraschino cherries, pureed with syrup)
2 tbsp dutch process cocoa powder (regular cocoa powder)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar (165 gm( little less than 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup butter milk (1/4 cup)
3 large eggs
1 tbsp red food coloring ( scant 1 tbsp soft red gel paste)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract ( 1tsp)
2 tsp almond extract (1 tsp grenadine)
Gf flour for dusting
For the filling:
125 gm cream cheese, softened
1.5 cups cold (heavy)whipping cream
2 tsp almond extract (1 tsp vanilla+ dash of grenadine)
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
Maraschino cherries for serving (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 35 degrees F. Butter an 11 by 17 ” rimmed baking sheet and line with parchment paper ; Butter the parchment paper dust with flour.
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder,baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate large bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, vegetable oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring and vanilla extract.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
Spread the batter on the prepared baking sheet( I spread the batter till 15″); bake until the cake pulls away from the pan, about 15 minutes.
let cool on the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Dust parchment paper or kitchen towel with confectioner’s sugar.
Invert the cake onto the paper and peel off the other parchment paper. Trim the cake edges.
Starting with a short end, roll up the cake around the towel or parchment paper. Let cool completely on rack.
Method for filling:
Whisk the cream cheese, 1/2 cup cream,vanilla extract and grenadine in a large bowl. beat the remaining 1 cup cream and the confectioner’s sugar with a mixer until soft peaks form; gradually fold into the cream cheese mixture.
Chill until ready ready to use. Unroll the cooled cake.
Spread with the filling, then gently re roll the cake and transfer to a platter, seam side down.
Let the cake rest in refrigerator for 4-6 hours before slicing.

 

Note: If you want to be fancier, dust generously with confectioner’s sugar ( which I haven’t done). I used only 3/4 of the filling ( which I preferred) because the cake was very moist and was hard to roll. I followed some tips for easy rolling which you can check here and here. The best thing about this cake is that it stayed soft, moist and velvety even the third day. I ate the left over slice today.

Update for my readers:

In spite of the fact that I’m not in favor of social networking sites, I joined Pinterest. One thing leads to another. To be on pinterest I had to sign up for Facebook or twitter (it make no sense to me), but I did what I needed to do. Now you can find me on Pinterest and Twitter.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. What a lovely pre birthday dessert! I love the colors and I bet it tasted amazing. I have yet to try making a roll of any sort…something about it intimidates me. But this looks so good I may have to finally try it. I am not on facebook, twitter or pintrest and although I sometimes am intrigued by all of these things I find it annoying that I have to be signed up on one to be on the other lol. I’m to lazy to maintain these things.

    Reply

    • It seems difficult but its not if you follow some tips. I have made a link on my site.
      I am too lazy to maintain my accounts like you but I made it. It felt nice seeing your comment.

      Reply

  4. Oh what a lovely pre birthday treat! I’m sure your daughter is going to love it! I love the first picture.

    Reply

  5. That looks lovely, the substitution that you used sounds really good too!! I’m sure your daughter did feel really special!!!

    Reply

  6. Sweet of you to make this special item prior to your daughter’s birthday. I really do like the changes you made to this recipe, especially because I love maraschino cherries. You did a great job on the roll. I have yet to make one-I think the whole process of rolling is why I hesitate.
    I am only on Google + in addition to foodbuzz. Sadly though I have already had to file a report of someone in violation on Google +.

    Reply

    • Tina, I am surprised to read that you hesitate to make only because of rolling. Even you know it is not that hard. You are an amazing baker and it should be just apiece of cake for you.
      Do people violate some rules?

      Reply

  8. Great and beautiful looking cake for the special occasion. Just like the girls, I am raving over this cake. Very very nice and simply love it.

    Reply

  10. You have made and presented this cake stunningly my friend – too good 😀
    And love the beautiful flavours and colouring!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    Reply

  11. That is beautiful–and I think the use of cherry puree was inspired. I’ll bet it tastes better than most red velvet cakes for just that reason!

    Reply

    • That’s true! Cherry Puree is the whole reason for that moistness and bright color in combination with grenadine and little gel paste.

      Reply

  16. I’ve seen this in S’pore bakeries but haven’t got the chance to try it. Balvinder, this is simply gorgeous, just like those I’ve seen in the malls!

    Reply

  17. You don’t get cherry coke in canada? That’s so sad!!! The cake looks pretty with all that red 🙂

    Reply

  18. Wow Neetu! You have rolled out a perfect beauty 🙂 It looks gorgeous and perfectly done! Great!!!

    Reply

  19. That’s a gorgeous cake roll Balvinder! I love how moist and delicious it looks! Good that you found a substitute for cherry cola.

    Reply

  22. Ooh such a lovely cake rollYour idea of using the cherries and grenadine certainly bumped-up the flavor :)Look really moist and delicious :).BTW there seems to be a typo in the oven temperature..

    Reply

  23. I love the idea of a roll instead of just the usual cake or cupcakes…More effort in making sure the roll is neat and turns out pretty. Adds charm to an already delightful and vibrant colored treat. Happy Birthday to your girl…;)

    Reply

    • Yes, the whole idea of making roll was that I wanted a cake that look beautiful without too much of icing on it.

      Reply

  24. Happy birthday to your daughter and the cake looks spectacular! It looks extremely loist and fluffy!

    Reply

  25. Besides being gorgeous, I know your cake roll tastes amazing!!!! Love this!

    Reply

  26. I love a good dessert roll and this definitely looks amazing. I will have to give this recipe a whirl! Following your blog now, looking forward to sharing with you!

    Reply

  28. Wow! What an amazing Red velvet roll with cherries! I love the idea of using cherries & greanadine syrup in this red velvet cake. When I make my red velvet cake, I’ve used beetroots & it was really delicious , even though it was not that appealing than the usual red color. Will certain bookmarked this awesome recipe & can’t wait to try it out when we harvest our cherries! Truly a fabulous recipe! Have a lovely weekend & Happy Birthday to your daughter ! 🙂

    Reply

  29. I am trying to eat gluten free. I love your space for innovative ideas 🙂

    Reply

  30. Beautiful! I always think cake roll is hard to make but you made it so pretty! Love the red velvet and cherry combo! Your daughter is lucky to have a mom like you! Happy Birthday to your daughter! 🙂

    Reply

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