Roll, Jelly, Roll

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Jelly rolls. While I had never made ‘em before, I had looked in awe at many a party and picnic where these delightful dessert rolls appeared: pumpkin, apple spice, even raspberry crème. Yet they all looked to be tons more work than my standard cake-and-cookie fare.

Then it just so happened that my daughter and I were in the kitchen looking for something new to try on an evening when we both felt like cooking something delicious—and yes, even trying our hands at something new. So I pulled out one of our kids’ cookbooks and asked her if there was anything she’d like to make in it … and it was at J that inspiration struck (it was an alphabetical listing, naturally).

And I can’t help but think it was the artistically drawn illustration of the red raspberry-swirled roll slice that did it. Pictures—especially for kids—can be the clincher. So after a quick ingredient check: yes, we had eggs, sugar, vanilla, flour, baking power—and the all-important jelly. (Luckily I had just picked up some all-fruit seedless red raspberry jelly that would be perfect.)

We were off.

With nary a jellyroll pan at our house, we improvised with a standard baking sheet (or cookie sheet) with a ¾-inch edge (don’t those sheets come in handy for everything?!) and, as the instructions said, layered the pan with foil. Next step: coating the foil with shortening. Well, it took a bit of digging to find the shortening in the back of the cupboard, but we did it (I usually don’t use shortening—even if it’s vegetable—in lieu of the healthier olive or canola oil in most recipes). But for our first try at making a jellyroll, we didn’t want to improvise too much and have our new creation end up sticking instead of rolling.

While trying new recipes for the first time can be daring enough, substituting ingredients that could be questionable can sometimes lead to dismal results—and that’s not good when you’ve got kids in the kitchen. I would definitely err on the side of cautionary success over 100-percent healthy when there’s an enthusiastic kid involved (Working as a recipe developer has certainly given me a healthy appreciation for the chemistry and interaction of ingredients that we can take for granted in the kitchen). And having those small degrees of success help infinitely when encouraging the youngest of chefs.

So shortening it was.

I’ve since learned that jellyrolls became popular during WWII when food rationing made dessert creation extra-challenging. Thus, jellyrolls were created to use home-canned preserves in an attractive, delicious dessert way. And I learned that they really are not hard at all—in fact they are easier than some baked goods due to the short list of ingredients and even shorter baking time. And anything with a filling that is rolled and sliced certainly impresses those being served (even if it’s just you and the kids at snack time).

Best of all, this is a recipe that’s made for kids: from mixing the dough to the short baking time to unrolling the foil and re-rolling, jelly rolls—or in this case, apple butter rolls—are fun any which way you slice ‘em.

After we had the pan foil-covered and coated with shortening, it was time to mix the batter. Using an electric mixer, it takes only a minute or two—and daughter already knew the routine: dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another. After the batter is mixed it’s poured into the foiled/greased pan and baked for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, flip upside down on a clean tea towel that has been sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar and roll up. The towel takes the place of the filling at this step, helping to keep the cake together as it is rolled (for the filling step later) yet allowing the heat and steam to dissipate through the layers.

After this cake/towel creation has cooled for half an hour, here comes the fun: unroll, spread with your choice of filling and re-roll (not too tight, of course.) Then slice and enjoy.

Serves/Makes: 24

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup apple butter (may use jelly or jam instead, if preferred)
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar (or as desired)