This light and spongey champagne cake roll is flavored with reduced champagne and vanilla. Fill with champagne whipped cream to make an extra sparkly and celebratory New Year’s Eve dessert!
Let’s toast to the holiday season and a very happy new year ahead. I’m hoping you saved room for cake. And not just any cake… CHAMPAGNE CAKE ROLL. Cheers!
There are two parts to today’s champagne cake roll.
Before we even talk about how to make the sponge cake or whipped cream, we need to discuss the champagne. Let’s take something we learned from Strawberry Cake and reduce a flavor down. Reducing a flavor down packs as much flavor as possible into the cake without altering the cake’s texture. And today’s flavor is champagne! Reduce 1 cup of your favorite champagne down to 4 Tablespoons, which will take around 20 minutes. The reduced champagne will be dark with a very concentrated flavor. Delish.
Have you ever made a chocolate cake roll or a yule log cake for Christmas? Today’s cake is a sponge cake, just like those cake roll recipes. (It’s much easier, too—hardly any decoration!)
The entire cake is light and airy, floating on your tastebuds just like a glass of bubbly. Have you ever made sponge cake before? What’s interesting about sponge cake is that it’s made without butter or oil. All the magic happens with the eggs..
We’ll also use egg yolks, sifted cake flour (lightest texture ever!), baking powder for added lift, vanilla extract, and the reduced champagne. Takes an extra minute to whip the eggs, but the texture is unbelievable.
Tip: You get more volume with room temperature eggs than cold eggs. Before beginning, set the eggs in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes to warm them up.
Bake the cake roll in a 10×15 inch pan. A larger pan, such as a 12×17 inch pan, is doable but it yields a thinner and more fragile cake. 10×15-inch jelly roll pan is best.
Shaping a cake roll is easier than it looks. There are two tricks:
These two tricks help guarantee no rips, no cracks, and no sticking.
Believe it or not, the champagne whipped cream filling is even lighter and fluffier than the sponge cake! It’s made from heavy cream/heavy whipping cream, a little sugar, reduced champagne, a touch of vanilla. We use 2 Tablespoons of reduced champagne in the cake, brush the cake with 1 Tablespoon, then use 1 Tablespoon in the whipped cream. Beat it all together until fluffy.
What does it taste like? It actually tastes a little citrus-y! Bright and refreshing with the splashy taste of champagne. It has a really unique and refreshing flavor and I can see it tasting unbelievable on everything from cheesecake and choux pastry cream puffs to lemon berry trifle and strawberry shortcake. Oooooh and pavlova, too!
Totally optional, but I sprinkled cocoa powder on the inside of the cake roll before adding the champagne whipped cream. Just a little something extra if you’re feelin’ it.
Make sure the cake chills in the refrigerator for a few minutes before slicing because it’s much easier to cut that way!
Such a special dessert for any occasion requiring a little bubbly!
Need more New Year’s inspiration?
This light and spongey champagne cake roll is flavored with reduced champagne and vanilla. Fill with champagne whipped cream to make an extra sparkly and celebratory New Year's Eve dessert. Both the cake and whipped cream can be made ahead of time-- see make ahead instructions.
