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–+ servings
A slice of pandan swiss roll cake cut from the roll and laying in front of the rest of the roll cake.

Pandan Swiss Roll

Author: Gail Ng
Soft and fluffy pandan swiss roll cake filled with whipped cream and coated in toasted coconut flakes
5 from 2 votes
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Prep Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Chilling Time 3 hours
Total Time 4 hours 37 minutes
Yield 8 slices
Category Dessert
Cuisine Filipino

Equipment

Ingredients
  

Toasted Coconut Topping

  • 100 g large coconut flakes

Pandan Cake

  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 150 g granulated sugar, divided into 100g + 50g
  • 50 g milk, dairy or non-dairy
  • 50 g light-tasting oil, e.g. canola oil, avocado oil, etc.
  • 1-2 teaspoons pandan extract
  • 1 drop green gel food colouring, optional, if your pandan extract is clear
  • 120 g cake flour

Whipped Cream Filling

  • 400 g whipping cream or heavy cream, cold
  • 40 g powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon pandan extract, optional, only if yours is clear

Instructions
 

Toasted Coconut Topping

  • Prep: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 12x17" baking tray with parchment paper on the bottom only.
  • Toast coconut flakes: Scatter coconut flakes across the baking tray and spread them out. Bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring them around occasionally until they are lightly golden brown. Let the coconut flakes cool on the baking tray completely before transferring them to a small container for later.
    Left to right: hand spreading coconut flakes on a baking sheet, toasted coconut flakes on a baking sheet.

Pandan Cake

  • Prep: Raise the oven temperature to 350°F. Clean off your lined baking tray from toasting the coconut flakes and set aside.
  • Divide eggs: Separate the egg whites and egg yolks into two separate large mixing bowls, being careful not to get any of the yolks into the egg whites. Set the bowl of egg yolks aside.
  • Egg white meringue: To the egg whites, add cream of tartar. Use an electric hand mixer to beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until they become frothy like cappuccino foam. Add 100g of granulated sugar, one spoonful at a time, mixing well between each addition. After all the sugar has been added, continue beating the egg whites on medium-high speed until they become stiff peaks. Set aside.
    Left to right: sprinkling a spoonful of sugar into egg whites while beating with hand mixer, lifting hand mixer out of meringue to show the stiff peaks.
  • Egg yolk mixture: To the egg yolks, add the remaining 50g of sugar and use the same hand mixer to mix until combined. Add the milk, oil, pandan extract, and green gel food colouring. Mix until combined.
    Left to right: egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl, mixing green batter with a hand mixer.
  • Sift in flour: Use a fine mesh sieve to sift the flour into the egg yolk mixture. Mix until just combined and smooth.
    Left to right: sifting flour into bowl of cake batter, mixing cake batter with a hand mixer.
  • Combine egg whites and egg yolks: Add about ⅓ of the egg white meringue into the egg yolk mixture. Use a spatula to fold them together until combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as that's where thick batter accumulates. Add the rest of the meringue and fold together until no streaks remain.
    Left to right: dropping meringue into bowl of cake batter from a spatula, folding chiffon cake batter with a spatula.
  • Fill pan: Pour the batter into your lined baking tray. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter into the edges and sides of the pan and smooth the top into an even layer.
    Left to right: pouring pandan cake batter into baking tray, smoothing cake batter into baking tray with a spatula.
  • Bake: Bake for about 12-13 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is puffy. Let the cake cool in the pan for only 5 minutes before running an offset spatula around the edges to release the cake from the pan.
  • Release cake: Place a wire rack (or parchment) on top of the pan, grip both sides of the pan and rack (with oven mitts), and flip the cake onto the rack. Peel the parchment paper off the cake. Place a fresh sheet of parchment paper on top and flip the cake onto the parchment paper.
    Left to right: hand peeling parchment paper off of baked cake sheet, pandan chiffon cake sheet on parchment paper.
  • Pre-roll the cake: Use a serrated knife to cut the browned edges off the two short ends of the cake sheet (optional). While it's still warm, roll up the cake sheet with the parchment paper, starting from one short end of the sheet. Let the cake cool completely in this rolled-up log shape.
    Left to right: hands rolling cake sheet up with parchment paper, hand holding rolled-up cake to show the cross-section.

Whipped Cream Filling

  • Whip cream: In a large mixing bowl, add whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and pandan extract (optional). Use a hand mixer on medium-high speed to beat the cream until it becomes firm peaks.
    Left to right: ingredients for whipped cream in a mixing bowl, lifting hand mixer out of bowl of whipped cream.
  • Spread cream: Unroll the cooled cake sheet. Use an offset spatula to spread a thick and even layer of whipped cream on top of the cake sheet. Leave the last 1" at the end of the cake sheet empty. Save any remaining whipped cream for the outside of the cake.
    Left to right: spreading whipped cream on a cake sheet with an offset spatula, layer of whipped cream on a cake sheet.
  • Roll cake: Roll the cake sheet up in the same way it was pre-rolled, without the parchment paper this time. When you get to the end of the roll, place a sheet of plastic wrap next to the cake so that you can roll the cake right onto the plastic wrap. Use an offset spatula to remove any excess cream that squishes out of the seam and push in any cream that squishes out from the two ends of the roll.
    Left to right: hands rolling pandan roll cake up, cake roll wrapped in plastic wrap.
  • Chill: Wrap the cake roll in plastic wrap and chill the in fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight to allow the cream to set.
  • Coconut coating: Before serving, use an offset spatula to spread a thin layer of whipped cream on the outside of the cake roll. Press handfuls of your toasted coconut flakes all around the outside of the cake roll.
    Left to right: spreading whipped cream on outside of roll cake, hands pressing handfuls of toasted coconut flakes onto roll cake.
  • Slice: Use a serrated knife in a sawing motion to cut about ½" off both ends of the cake roll to reveal the swirl. Cut the cake roll into 1-2" thick slices.

Notes

  • Stiff peaks: This means that when you pull the hand mixer out of the egg white meringue, the meringue stands up in little pointy "peaks" that curl over slightly at the tips. If you flip the bowl over, the meringue should not budge or fall out. If it's not at this stage yet, keep beating.
  • Pandan extract: There are various kinds of pandan extract that you can use for this cake. Artificial pandan extract/flavouring can be clear or have green colouring already added. If you're using natural/homemade pandan extract, it will naturally be tinted green but the pigment may not be enough to show in this cake. I used a clear pandan extract so I added green gel food colouring and I was also able to add the extract to the whipped cream. You can decide what you want to do based on the kind of pandan extract you're using.

Nutrition

Calories: 509kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 180mg | Sodium: 68mg | Potassium: 203mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 924IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg
Keywords pandan cake roll, pandan roll cake, pandan swiss roll
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