Giraffe Swiss Roll Cake With Whipped Peanut Butter Filling

Here’s how to make a swiss roll cake with giraffe spots.

I’m gonna stick my neck out and guess that you’ve seen Animal Adventure Park’s live video giraffe cam of April the giraffe awaiting the birth of her mini-me.  If you love giraffe’s as much as I do, you cannot wait for baby; so, while we wait, let’s get ready to celebrate. Hopefully, you’re spotting the puns here cuz I’m on a roll…

Use the internet to print out a giraffe pattern and place it under a white parchment paper. Copy the pattern onto parchment using a sharpie pen, then flip over onto half sheet pan, then place the lined sheet pan in the freezer while making the batter.

Giraffe Swiss Roll Cake With Whipped Peanut Butter Filling

Vanilla Swiss Roll Cake

Preheat oven to 425°F.

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Prepare a half sheet pan by spraying it with non-stick spray and lining it with parchment paper.

Put sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat until creamy and almost frothy.

Add flour, salt, and vanilla. Mix until all ingredients are combined and smooth. Pour batter into a decorating bag with a small-holed decorating tip and use it to decorate golden lines on the giraffe pattern. Leave holes for the brown spots which is the next step.

You really only need to draw about 2/3 of the pan with the pattern as when you roll it up, that’s about how much will actually be showing. After vanilla is filled in, place the pan back into the freezer for 45 minutes to an hour until the lines of batter are very firm. This will help them to stay in place while they bake.

Chocolate Swiss Roll Cake

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 8 eggs
• 2/3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• Any leftover vanilla cake batter

Place sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, beat until creamy and almost frothy.

Add flour, salt, vanilla, and cocoa powder: and, mix until all ingredients are combined and smooth. Finally, mix in any leftover vanilla batter.

After the vanilla cake is finished freezing. Carefully spread over frozen giraffe lines. The goal is not to mess up your artwork and not allow the batter to slide under the parchment paper.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until firm. Here’s a great video that shows how to roll the swiss roll. It’s best to do this while the cake is still warm.

Peanut Butter Filling

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 teaspoons maple extract

Whip heavy cream until it has stiff peaks and then set aside in a different container. In the same mixing bowl, place the remaining ingredients and whip until fluffy. Add whipping cream back into the bowl and mix until combined, making the filling even lighter & fluffier.

After the swiss roll cake has completely cooled, add filling and roll up your one-of-a-kind masterpiece so you can enjoy it while watching April wait for hers.