This Black Forest Cake Roll (Vegan Swiss Roll) is a fluffy Vegan Chocolate Sponge Cake with a cherry cream filling rolled into a Yule Log. Making it vegan is easier than you think and it only takes a few minutes to prepare! Impress everyone with this show-stopping simple and delicious dessert.
Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake Roll
If you’ve ever thought making a fluffy Vegan Chocolate Cake Roll without using eggs or any dairy ingredients is hard, I can tell you that it’s actually not that complicated! Today I‘ll show you, how simple it is! Step-by-step!
Honestly making a Vegan Swiss Roll is not something new and unusual for me. I used to bake them often in the past before I started my blog. I guess it was kind of a “Trend” earlier because so many bloggers on Instagram were making them all the time. Which means I wasn’t the only one who had fun creating different kinds of Vegan Swiss Rolls (Yule Log). Ever since I started my blog, however, I’ve wanted to try new things and create other recipes. Well, now I decided it’s time to share an easy recipe for this Black Forest Cake Roll with you.
Vegan Swiss Roll or Yule Log?
I have to admit that I’m not sure what this Chocolate Sponge Cake Roll is actually called in America or England. So I simply use a variety of names: Black Forest Cake Roll, Vegan Swiss Roll, and Chocolate Yule Log. ? Just wanted to mention that, so please do not be irritated. What’s your favorite name for this kind of Cake?
Step-by-Step Instructions
To make this Black Forest Cake Roll, first, start with lining a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then combine all ingredients for the Vegan Chocolate Sponge Cake batter according to the recipe below. When the batter is mixed together, pour it onto the prepared baking tray and spread it evenly using a spatula. Pop it straight into the preheated oven and bake for around 20 minutes or until the cake is firm but still soft and springs back when you press down gently with your finger. Please make sure not to bake the Chocolate Sponge Cake for too long or it will get dry and crumbly.
When the Chocolate Sponge Cake is done baking, remove it from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes or so. In the meantime, dust a smooth kitchen towel with some sugar. This will help keep the cake from sticking to the towel. Then place the cake face-down onto the sugared towel and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Roll into shape with the towel and set aside to cool completely. If you want to make this Black Forest Cake Roll in advance, you can store it wrapped in the towel in the fridge until the next day. It will be just as good!
Cherry & Cream Filling
That filling and topping if this Black Forest Cake Roll looks so dreamy but it’s actually the easiest part of the Yule Log! You can make your own compote according to this recipe (it works also well with other fruits, no matter if canned, fresh or frozen) or using store-bought compote. Simply beat non-dairy cream (or another creamy filling) until whipped and spread approx. 1/2 amount of the cream over the unrolled cake along with the cherry compote. Then re-roll and frost with remaining cream.
Black Forest Cake Roll
This Black Forest Cake Roll only looks like it took forever but really it has simple ingredients, comes together quickly, and is definitely a show-stopping cake! It is:
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Quick and Easy to make
- Chocolatey
- Creamy
- Juicy
- Moist
- Can be filled with different fillings
- Tastes like heaven on earth!
Fluffy Vegan Cake Recipes
Once you take a bite of this fluffy and creamy Black Forest Cake Roll, you’ll have no words, only delicious feelings in your mouth and happiness in soul! The combination of chocolate, cherries and cream truly makes my mouth water. If you think so too, you should definitely give this recipe a try or check out my similar recipes for fluffy Vegan Cakes, such as my Vegan Black Forest Cake, Cranberry Vanilla Cake or my Best Vegan Chocolate Cake. Happy baking, guys!
Black Forest Cake Roll (Vegan Swiss Roll)
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Chocolate Sponge Cake
- 1 ½ cup (185 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (40 g) cornstarch
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- ½ cup (100 g) fine sugar + more to sprinkle
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅓ tsp xanthan gum optional to make the cake more elastic
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- pinch of salt
- ½ tsp vanilla ground
- ¾ cup (180 ml) non-dairy milk or more, if needed
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) chickpea brine or sub more milk
- ¼ cup (50 ml) oil
Filling + Frosting
- 1 ⅔ cups (400 ml) non-dairy whipping cream
- 3 tsp powdered sugar or to taste
- 1 ½ packs of cream stabilizer
- approx. ⅓ cup cherry compote
For Garnish (optional)
- canned cherries & chopped chocolate
Instructions
Chocolate Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 355 °F (180 °C). Line a 11.8-x15.7-inch (30x40 cm) baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, stir the apple cider vinegar into the non-dairy milk and set aside for about 3-5 minutes to create vegan buttermilk.
- Add the oil and chickpea brine into the vegan buttermilk and stir until combined.
- Combine the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthin gum (if using), salt, and vanilla and sift into the wet mixture. Stir to combine (but please do not overmix, or the cake won’t be fluffy). The batter should be thick and pourable. Add a little more milk, if needed.
- Pour the batter onto the prepared baking tray and spread evenly with a spatula. Tap the tray on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for approx. 20 minutes or until the cake is firm but still soft and springs back when you press down gently with your finger. (Please do not overbake though, or it will get dry and crumbly and you can’t roll it up easily without cracking).
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes.
- In the meantime, generously dust a smooth kitchen towel with some sugar. (This will help keeping the cake from sticking. You can also watch this video for visual instruction.)
- Place the cake face-down onto the sugared towel and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Trim of the edges with a sharp knife if they’re too dry.
- Roll into a log with the towel and set aside to cool completely. (You can also make the cake one day in advance and place it wrapped with the towel in the fridge overnight.)
Filling + Frosting
- Prepare the cherry compote according to this recipe (or use store-bought. You could also use other fruits to make it).
- Beat cold non-dairy cream with a hand mixer on high speed for 1 minute. Continue mixing, add sifted powdered sugar and cream stabilizer as you go. Beat for approx. 2 minutes longer until whipped and stiff peaks form.
Assemble the Cake Roll
- Carefully, unroll the cooled cake from the towel, spread a thin layer of cream and cherry compote evenly over the cake, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges. Then re-roll tightly.
- Spread the remaining cream over the cake roll and make pipes, and decorate with cherries, if you like. Sprinkle over chopped chocolate or create other decorations to your wish.
- Enjoy immediately or store in the fridge for later!
Notes
- You can also add other fillings of your choice, such as drained non-dairy yogurt (quark), tofu, custard, cream cheese. However, I can’t guarantee if this will result in a more runny filling, so please make sure that the consistency of the filling you choose is not so watery, otherwise, the liquid will soak into the sponge cake, which makes it soggy.
- The chickpea brine (the liquid of canned chickpeas) and xanthan gum help making the cake easier to roll, however, you could also try using another egg substitute or just adding a little more non-dairy milk instead of chickpea brine. If you notice a few cracks on the outside of the cake, just cover up with some cocoa powder or melted chocolate and the cream frosting.
- If you want to make a lemon or vanilla cake roll, you can omit the cocoa powder and add more flour instead.
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just embarking on this recipe, I’m quite frustrated by no size given for the tin. I’m having to get out a variety of sizes and compare your pic of hands over tin and compare with mine to estimate. I hope the mix is enough to cover tray
Hi Stephanie,
I used a 11.8-x15.7-inch (30×40 cm) baking sheet.
Greetings,
Bianca
Hi Bianca,
Just wanted to say thanks for the great recipe! it worked so well for me and instead of making a Swiss roll (or Roulade), I cut out little circles (I managed to get 5 circles form 2 batches) for a cake 🙂 I’m really surprised it worked so well! thanks again <3
Awesome! Thanks for your great feedback ❤️
I wish you wonderful Easter days! 🙂
Hello, I was wondering how many eggs I’d use if I was using egg instead of chickpea brine? I don’t use milk, but egg is fine and I don’t know where to get chickpea brine.
Chickpea brine is the liquid of canned chickpeas. I think you could try using 2 small eggs instead.
No matter what I do, the sponge falls apart each time. And I do follow every step of the recipe.
Hi Emma, so sorry for that. I wish I could help you. You can read the comments below what other readers say. Maybe you’ll find something that helps 💖
Hi Emma,
I’m Emma too 😂 Anyways, I just made this recipe twice today and I had no problems. Here are some tips that might help you next time you try to make this cake:
-sifting the ingredients together is very important, sift the dry into the wet and then mix (do not over mix)
-don’t make it and then wait for the oven to heat up –> preheat the oven so your batter doesn’t have to sit/wait
-don’t over bake it! I only needed about 16 minutes in my oven. instead of poking the cake to see if it’s ready, just press on it lightly and if it comes back up/bounces back, then it’s ready
-once you’re done baking it, lay it down on a towel (the front side of the cake) and leave the parchment paper on it, then take a moist towel and lay it over the parchment paper, after that lay your baking try over it (if it had rims, if it is only a flat tray though, don’t do that). the reason why this step helps is because it moistens the parchment paper so it’s easy to take off and by keeping the heat/steam in the closed space, your cake becomes more spongy 🙂
-only leave the moist towel and baking try on the cake for about 5 minutes, then roll the cake up just like the recipe tells you to
-also, don’t supplement the chickpea brine with milk
I hope my tips make sense and that I was able to help you a bit and do try the recipe again, it turned out very nicely for me 🙂
Thank you so much for helping other people! I really appreciate it! Happy Easter! 🙂
Hi,
So happy to find this recipe and made the sponge, only cooked it for 15 mins as it seemed done by then and I didn’t want to over bake it. Cooked in a Rayburn so temperature and timings aren’t always a bit vague! It looked perfect coming out, and rolled up well. Left to cool, but when we unrolled it it broke into strips and had gone from a light sponge to a more stodgy one. I could live with the stodgy if it had stayed together but it was literally in strips. I felt it to cool in the t-towel for a few hours. Any idea how to make it more successful please?
Hi Sylvie, when you roll up the cake while still hot, the steam drafts into the towel which keeps the cake moist. However, when the cake dries out, it cracks easily. Was your towel still damp? You can also spray the cake with water before rolling up. This will create more steam to help keeping the cake moist. Once rolled up, you can wrap it tightly in cling film to ensure the moisture stays inside. Greetings, Bianca
This was a success for me! I only used the Swiss roll part of the recipe as I was wanting to make a vegan yule log for Christmas. It was very light and fluffy and I was so pleased with it. It did crack slightly but I’m not bothered by that as I was covering it in buttercream so was easy to hide. I’m in the UK and its worth noting that the all purpose flour is PLAIN flour here and I didn’t use the chickpea liquid, i just added the extra milk as stated and it worked great. My cooking time was about 8-10 mins, not long at all, I was careful not to over-bake it. Will return here for more recipes. Thank you
Hi Clare,
so glad your swiss roll came out great! 🙂
Thanks for your great feedback and happy new year! 🎊
Greetings,
Bianca ❤️
So it didn’t work for me either 🙁 , but to be fair I did not do an entire recipe and I think it may have been because it was too thin? Is it better thick vs thin? I did weigh out my ingredients because I noticed some people had some trouble too, so I thought maybe weighing was more precise. I didn’t over bake the cake either. But as it unraveled it cracked all over the place unfortunately. I am wondering if it would work if I had done the entire recipe. But I didn’t want to waste food, so I’m only testing out half ingredients. Do you think it would work better with vegan butter vs oil? I know I didn’t over bake it as it was nice and moist. I loved that it wasn’t so sweet though and not so much oil! I just want it to roll! What if I rolled it when I was ready to add my ingredients instead? Maybe I’ll try that out. I want to make a Christmas log cake, but so far I am having no luck. Not sure what I did wrong other than doing half recipe, but I’ll try again. Can’t eat cake though as I’m on a darn diet ʕ⁎̯͡⁎ʔ༄! Oh and I unraveled it when it was cold, could that have been the issue? I only waited until it was cool. But maybe if I did it the next day it would have been more stable? Idk just trying to figure it out. I’ll experiment with it some more. I guess I’m wasting ingredients this week. I think this could work though after practice.. Best
I made this and this time I did it exact! It still cracked and broke but we still managed to roll it. It rolled way better than other recipes that I tested out. However I didn’t roll it 3 min later, I decided to covered it flat with plastic wrap and a tea towel while still hot and I waited for it to fully cool. Then added my filling. I figured if it fell apart when I unraveled it would likely fall apart and it would have been harder to use. So if I have the filling added i had a better chance it would stick together. My mother did it and cracked it went but I said just keep rolling jajaja and I quickly wrapped it with more plastic wrap tightly and stuck it in the fridge over night. The next day I cut the plastic wrap and it stayed together, success yay! I added a delicious chocolate ganache, I made it thick enough to cover the cracks and mistakes. Then I added some thin chocolate chards or pieces around like bark on a tree and raspberries on top and around for decoration. The cake was delicious! The entire thing was beautiful too! It did remind me of a giant yodel, but way better jajaja. I added a vanilla bean vegan cream cheese for the filling. So my Bûche de Noël cake was a success! I wonder why for some it worked and for some it didn’t. Maybe there is a difference in flour in some countries? But I’m making assumptions. I did find it difficult to make the batter even in the pan, so I made the batter as even as possible. I wasn’t sure the pan size either. But it seemed like a medium size jelly pan. Anyway thanks for the recipe. I’ll use it again if I attempt to make this. Plus the cake recipe was very good as just a regular cake. Way less sugar and fat too!
Yay! That’s awesome! So glad it turned out well! Thanks for the feedback! Loved reading your story! 😀
Hi Romeo,
You can also try adding 1/2 tsp of Xanthan gum as this makes the cake more flexible. If you try only half of the recipe, use 1/4 tsp Xanthan gum. You don’t need much of it.
Greetings,
Bianca
Such good instructions, I’m very excited to try. I was wondering what type of sugar would be closest to fine sugar between granulated, casters, or confectioners sugar?
Hi Samantha,
you can use granulated sugar for this recipe. 🙂
looks great cant wait to make this for my gcse finial cook
Thank you so much, Connor! 🙂
Hi,
Can I replace apple cider vinegar with white vinegar
Yes! 🙂
i did this recipe with gluten free flour and i replaced apple vinegar wih rice. the mass was too thick so i added chicpea sauce and a little more milk and it came out perfectly. it did not break as i expected. kids loved it. thanx for sharing this recipe.
So glad this vegan swiss roll turned out great in the gluten-free version! 🙂
Thanks for your feedback! ♡