Strawberry Shortcake Roll

Have you ever eaten a Little Debbie Strawberry Shortcake? They are cheap, flavorful, and I've seen my husband literally put away an entire box of them in one sitting. I may not like them as much as he does, but every now and then I get to wanting one.

Seriously, if you haven't already, try these. They really are good! 

I was laying in bed the other night, and I had a craving for one at oh, about 2 AM (thank you pregnancy weirdness). Of course, I'm not getting up to go all the way into town to get one, and asking Daddy Monkey would have resulted in hysterical laughter right before he said 'No', and went right back to snoring. So, I made it my mission to recreate a recipe for them.

Google didn't yield me a whole lot of options, and all of them that I did find just seemed way too dense, the cream too heavy, and the strawberry filling just wasn't quite right. That's one of the things I really love about the store bought snack cakes, they have a lighter texture and the strawberry filling has a good flavor.

Pumpkin Roll is a big hit in my house during the holidays, so I figured that I could modify the recipe I use for it and come up with something appropriate for summertime. I don't claim to be a great baker, (I hate measuring things), but Little Monkey and Daddy Monkey seem to love it all, so I won't complain. Here's the recipe that I came up with, its not quite the same, and I need to figure out how to get the cake a little less dense, but flavor-wise, it was far superior to the store bought cakes. I also decided to leave a few chunks in the strawberry filling at the last minute, and I'm very glad that I did. It gave it a nice texture. And yes, it's messy looking. Like I said, NOT the greatest baker in the world.

Strawberry Shortcake Roll (Makes 2)

Ingredients: 

*Roll*
-6 eggs
-2 c. granulated sugar
-2/3 c. water
-2 tsp. vanilla
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
-powdered sugar

*Cream Filling*
-(1) 8 oz. block cream cheese (softened)
-(1) 7 oz. container marshmallow fluff

*Strawberry Filling*
-1 quart strawberries (fresh or frozen, chopped or pureed. If frozen,  thaw and drain well)
-(1) 14.5 oz. container strawberry glaze

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray (2) 10.5 in. X 15.5 in. jelly roll pan with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment or waxed paper. Spray a light coating of non-stick on the paper surface as well. Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes. 

This is how the eggs should look

3. Gradually add in sugar on low speed. Add in water, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Add in flour, gradually. 

4. Pour batter into prepared baking pans. Bake for 12-15 minutes (My oven took 13).

5. While cake is baking prepare the cream filling and strawberry filling.

6. For cream filling--In medium bowl beat together cream cheese and marshmallow fluff on medium speed until smooth. Set aside. 

7. For strawberry filling--place strawberries in food processor (or in my case, blender. My food processor lid met an untimely death this morning, thanks to an angry 4 year old) and chop as finely as desired. Mix with strawberry glaze and set aside. 

You can see how I left a few larger pieces in the mixture. I'm very glad that I did. 

8. When cake is done, remove from oven and set aside. Place a kitchen towel on a clean surface. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar. Carefully invert cake onto towel. Gently remove paper from cake and sprinkle top with powdered sugar. Roll together cake and towel, and place in freezer for 10-15 minutes or until just cooled. 

9. Remove from freezer and gently unroll cake

10. Spread cake with 1/2 of cream filling, followed with 1/3-1/2 of strawberry filling. Roll up gently. It will be messy. Sprinkle top of cake with powdered sugar.

11. Chill in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes or until ready to serve. Store, tightly covered, in refrigerator.