Christmas Cake Roll

Last Updated on December 18, 2025 by becky

This festive Christmas cake roll recipe features a red-and-white striped sponge cake rolled around a homemade chocolate peppermint buttercream filling. The best peppermint cake roll for Christmastime!

Why Make This Christmas Cake Roll?

If someone asks me to list my favorite things to make in the kitchen, I’ll usually say chocolate truffles, or gingerbread houses, or elaborate sugar sculptures. Admittedly, I’m not much of a cake person. I like to eat it, of course, but it will never rank at the top of my all-time favorite bakes.

That said, I do enjoy making a good cake roll. During the summer months I frequently bake rainbow cake rolls for Pride events, and during the wintertime I like to bake and serve this classic peppermint cake roll.

Inspired by the stripes on a candy cane, this colorful dessert starts with a soft, red-and-white-striped sponge cake, which is baked then rolled around a cloth towel to create the classic Swiss roll shape, then slathered with a thick layer of creamy dark chocolate peppermint buttercream for a sweet, sliceable holiday treat.

Christmas Cake Roll Recipe Ingredients

To make the peppermint-striped sponge cake, you’ll need:

• Eggs – A good sponge cake starts with whipped eggs! For this recipe you’ll need 4 large eggs, at room temp.
• Granulated Sugar – Granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture. You can substitute caster sugar, measured by weight rather than volume

• Vanilla Bean Paste – I recommend Nielsen-Massey or Taylor & Colledge. Or, substitute the scrapings of 1 vanilla pod.
• Self Rising Flour – You’ll need 170 grams of self rising flour, weighed into two 85-gram portions.
• Red Gel Food Coloring – You’ll need red gel food coloring to tint the batter. Chefmaster‘s Super Red and Christmas Red will both work nicely.

Buttercream Ingredients

To make the buttercream, start by gathering:

• Unsalted Butter – I find it easiest to start with softened, unsalted butter. If the butter is too cold it will not blend smoothly with the sugar.
• Cocoa Powder – Choose unsweetened cocoa powder, not the sweetened kind used for making hot chocolate.

• Confectioner’s Sugar – Confectioner’s sugar (icing sugar, or powdered sugar) forms the base for the buttercream, along with softened butter. You’ll need additional confectioner’s sugar for dusting the tea towel and the sponge to prevent the cake from sticking.
• Whole Milk – You’ll need a few tablespoons of whole milk or whipping cream to adjust the consistency of the buttercream. You can also substitute skimmed milk or your favorite plant milk.
• Peppermint Oil – Opt for natural peppermint oil (not an extract or flavoring) but add it sparingly. A few drops are all you’ll need to make a deliciously pepperminty cake!

How to Make a Cake Roll for Christmas

To make this Christmas cake roll, start by using a hand or stand mixer to whip eggs and sugar until they’re pale and voluminous. Add some vanilla bean paste for flavoring, divide the foamy mixture into two small bowls, then carefully fold in self-rising flour with a rubber spatula. To one bowl, add a few drops of red gel food coloring.

Then, working very carefully, pipe the red and white batters diagonally across a parchment-lined quarter sheet tray to form the classic “peppermint stick” pattern.

Bake until dry to the touch, then flip the sponge onto a sugar-dusted tea towel and peel away the parchment.

Roll the hot cake into a tight log and cool completely, then carefully unroll and coat the entire surface with a thick layer of chocolate peppermint buttercream.

Re-roll the cake, wrap it in clingfilm, and chill until firm. Then, just slice and serve!

For ingredient quantities, step-by-step instructions, and process photos, scroll down to the recipe card below.

Special Tools and Equipment

To make this Christmas cake roll (or any other Swiss roll, like my rainbow cake roll) you’ll need:

• Kitchen Scale – A kitchen scale is an absolute must. When making the batter for a piped sponge, it’s crucial to keep the portions precise or you’ll end up making too much of one color and not enough of the other. And don’t try scraping the batter into into measuring cups—deflated, overmixed batter yields a dense and gummy cake.
• Fine Mesh Strainer – Use a fine mesh strainer to sift the flour into the whipped egg mixture, and to dust your tea towel (and the top of your sponge!) with confectioner’s sugar.

• Quarter Sheet Tray – Tray size matters for this recipe, so a quarter sheet tray is a must. If your tray is too big or too small, your cake will be too thin or too thick to roll.
• Small Stepped Palette Knife – I recommend a small stepped palette knife for spreading the buttercream.

• Piping Bags – You’ll need a pair of disposable piping bags, one for the red batter and one for the white.
• Clean Tea Towel – For rolling the cake. I suggest using a lightweight cotton or linen towel rather than terrycloth; the terrycloth fibers can embed themselves in the cake.

Piping the Stripes

After preparing the batter and dividing into into two piping bags, you’ll pipe it in alternating, diagonal stripes across a quarter sheet (13 x 9-inch) baking tray to create the classic “peppermint stick” pattern.

Start by piping two or three stripes of each color:

From there, continue piping until you’ve filled the entire tray with peppermint stripes:

Finally, go back around the edges “touch up” around the sides, filling in any open spots:

Note: Aim to use most of the batter, or your sponge cake will be too thin too roll. If you have lots of batter left over, go back and reinforce any thin-looking or uneven stripes.

Peppermint Cake Roll Tips and Tricks

This peppermint cake roll isn’t particularly difficult to make, but here are a few tips and tricks to ease things along:

Don’t overmix the sponge cake batter. Use a flexible rubber spatula to fold the flour into the eggs until just barely combined, with no dry spots remaining, but do your best not to deflate the mixture or your sponge will be tough and dense rather than light and airy. And rely on tangible and visual cues for baking—the striped sponge cake should look fully set, not wet or shiny, and the top should should feel dry to the touch and should spring back when touched.

When making the chocolate peppermint buttercream, go easy on the peppermint oil! Natural peppermint oil can quickly overpower a dish, so start with a few drops then taste and adjust as necessary.

And finally, don’t forget to keep the rolled cake cold. A cold Swiss roll is much, much easier to cut into clean, even slices.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

To chill: Tightly wrap the cake roll in several layers of clingfilm/plastic wrap. Place on a small tray and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

To serve: Carefully peel away the plastic wrap. With a sharp chef’s knife, cut into 9 slices, or as desired.

To store: Store leftover peppermint cake roll in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To freeze: Wrap cake roll in clingfilm/plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month.

Other Christmas recipes you might enjoy:

Gingerbread Wreath
Peppermint Meringues
Christmas Tree Brownies
Candy Cane Cookies
Miniature Christmas Puddings
Mince Pie Hand Pies
Nutella-Stuffed Christmas Wreaths
Peppermint Lollipops
Festive Cranberry Jelly Candies

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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