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Last Updated on December 25, 2020
A delightfully spicy and sweet, refreshingly nostalgic Gingerbread cake roll (swiss roll). Frosted with a cream cheese frosting, this cake is going to be the perfect final note to any holiday dinner!
If you aren’t already in the holiday mood, the smell of spices wafting through your home while this Gingerbread Cake Roll bakes will definitely get you there! If my home could smell like this all year, I’d be in paradise.
Gingerbread is, of course, a holiday classic – usually in the form of gingerbread man cookies or gingerbread houses (that are better left for display than eating).
But I decided to take Christmas dinner up a notch this year with a delightfully spicy and sweet, refreshingly nostalgic Gingerbread Roll Cake. Frosted with a low-carb cream cheese frosting, this cake is going to be the perfect final note to any holiday dinner!
The classic jelly-roll style cake is a fantastic choice for those following a keto diet since it’s a sponge/genoise style cake.
Most sponge cakes are predominantly whipped eggs, stabilized with sugar and flour, as opposed to butter cakes which are whipped butter and sugar stabilized with flour and eggs.
Some notes about this Gingerbread Cake Roll (Swiss Roll) Recipe
In this recipe, I’ve replaced the wheat flour with almond flour, and cane sugar with Swerve sugar (Erythritol based).
Traditional gingerbread is made with plenty of spices as well as molasses. In place of the molasses, I’ve used a combination of brown sugar and cocoa powder to help mimic the warm brown color of gingerbread baked goods.
If you’d like to use a Gingerbread Spice Mix instead of the individual spices listed, just substitute 2½ teaspoons in lieu of the ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
This recipe can also be made with a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer if that’s what you’ve got!
Be prepared to impress your holiday guests or surprise your friends and coworkers this season with this beauty. I like to garnish this cake with a few tree trimmings, or some holly for a festive natural look.
Get as creative as you like with garnishes, sprinkles, or even figurines! The real surprise will come when (and if) you tell them that the cake is gluten-free and incredibly low-carb!
Unlike some of the other keto-friendly sugar substitutes, the Erythritol sugar doesn’t have a chemical or off-putting aftertaste.
It’s ideal for recipes like a frosting, that isn’t baked to mask the flavor of the sugar. This cream cheese frosting is almost indistinguishable from a typically sweetened frosting! And I’ve never met someone who didn’t like cream cheese frosting.
Gingerbread Cake Roll (Swiss Roll)
This gingerbread cake roll is filled with warm spices and frosted with a sweet cream.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Roll Cake
- ¾ cup Almond Flour
- ¼ cup Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Nutmeg, ground or zested
- Pinch of Ground Cloves
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 teaspoons Cocoa Powder
- 4 Large Eggs
- ¾ cup Swerve Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup Swerve Confectioners Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¼ cup Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani, but any plain yogurt will work)
Frosting
- 12 ounces Cream Cheese
- ¾ cup Swerve Confectioner’s Sugar
- ¾ cup Heavy Cream
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Cocoa Powder for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Cake Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10”x15”x1” jelly roll cake pan with cooking spray, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together the almond flour, cornstarch, baking powder, spices, salt, and cocoa powder. Stir together and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, measure the four whole eggs, Swerve brown and confectioner’s sugars. Whip on high speed for five minutes. Eggs should have doubled in size, be thicker, pale yellow and fluffy.
Reduce mixer speed to the lowest setting and add vanilla extract and yogurt. Turn off the machine and remove the bowl.
Gently fold the dry ingredients into the whipped eggs in three parts, taking care not to deflate the batter too much. Once completely folded together, pour cake batter into pan. Smooth the batter with your spatula. Tilt the pan or gently tap to level the batter as necessary to even it out.
Bake the cake for 17 minutes, or until the cake doesn’t deflate when gently touched. Edges will be lightly browned and slightly shrinking from the sides of the pan.
Be ready for the cake to come out of the oven! When the cake comes out of the oven: Immediately sprinkle with Swerve Confectioner’s Sugar and lay a clean dry tea towel/dish towel completely over the cake. Invert a cooling rack or another sheet tray on top of the towel, and flip the entire cake over - be careful not to burn yourself on the hot cake pan.
Remove the cake pan. Gently and quickly roll the cake up with the towel, starting from the shorter side and rolling across the longer length of the cake. Let cool completely, about an hour to an hour and a half. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting!
Frosting Instructions
Cube up the cream cheese and put in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract, and mix on low until the cream cheese and sugar are combined. Then increase mixer speed to medium, and paddle until fluffy.
Turn the mixer off and scrape down the cream cheese from the sides of the bowl. Turn back on low speed and slowly stream in the heavy cream. When combined, increase mixer speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down as necessary.
Tenderly unroll the cake and peel the parchment paper from the inside of the cake. Using ⅔ of the frosting, evenly spread the frosting across the cake. Carefully roll the cake back up, rolling the cake up and off of the towel.
Transfer the cake to its final serving plate. Spread the remaining frosting over the cake to mimic the bark of a tree. Dust cocoa powder over it for more texture if you’d like!
Refrigerate your cake for about an hour before serving to let the frosting firm up. A chilled cake will be easier to cut.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
10Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 256Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 95mgSodium: 142mgCarbohydrates: 31gNet Carbohydrates: 0gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gSugar Alcohols: 0gProtein: 6g
Other Holiday Recipes to Enjoy
Yum! This looks so perfect for the holidays. Love that it’s low carb!
The fact that this is low carb just tickles me! Yum!
Looks super delicious!
I am so happy I stumbled across this recipe because my mom used to make a very similar gingerbread roll growing up! Cannot wait to make this for her and see what she thinks!
Absolutely perfect for holiday entertaining! Beautiful to look at and delicious to eat!
OMG! I LOVE these kinds of cakes but they almost have flour in them! Thanks so much for creating this version.
What a great festive dessert! And even better that its low carb!
This is just what I was looking for to make for the holidays! It’s like you’re a mind reader. Perfect!
I love all the gingerbread things! This looks delicious and not too hard, either. 🙂
i tried these rolls their sooo good i promise i am not lying
It’s beautiful! I usually make a buche de noel for Christmas and am planning on doing mine today . ..now I very well may switch to your gingerbread version. It’s amazing
Love all the spices and how perfectly festive this is!
Your ingredients list doesn’t mention how much cream cheese is needed for the frosting.
Sorry! Just updated. It’s 12 ounces Cream Cheese