Gingerbread Cake Roll with Eggnog Whipped Cream

Normally my mom will eat anything I make. But the two things she doesn’t like are gingerbread and eggnog. She’d help me make gingerbread men when I was a kid…but she’d never eat them. And she’d just make disgusting faces when my dad and I guzzled the eggnog.

My parents were both big time “your tastes will change” and “you’ll like it when you’re older” people. And I have to give it to them…they were sort of right. I eat pork chops now. And I like spinach – but only raw. But I’ll never, ever eat mustard or white bratwurst, thankyouverymuch.  My point? Tastes change as you get older. I’m going somewhere, I promise.

The point is that my mom put aside her dislike of gingerbread and eggnog to try this cake roll at Thanksgiving. She’s doesn’t suffer from food neophobia (it’s a thing) like I do. And guess what?

She LIKED this Gingerbread Cake Roll. And she even liked the Eggnog Whipped Cream!

Pretty much my point is that even if you don’t like these essential Christmas ingredients, there is still a very good chance you’ll like this cake roll.

How to make Gingerbread Cake Roll

Let’s break down this cake roll recipe, shall we? We’re old pros at cake rolls around here, right? Oh, you’re not? Okay then, go read my step-by-step photo tutorial of how to make a carrot cake roll and my tips and tricks for cake roll success in my zucchini cake roll recipe.

{Or maybe you could go drool over the lemon cake roll. Or the ice cream cake roll. I’m Crazy for Cake Rolls around here!}

The cake part of this roll is a gingerbread cake. It’s a similar recipe to the Spiced Apple Cake Roll, but with more spice and molasses. You bake the cake in a jelly roll pan (a 10×15 pan with 1″ sides). I always like to line my pan with foil and spray with the floured cooking spray for easy removal. I’ve been told you can also use parchment, but I’ve never tried it.

I always bake my cakes at 350°F for about 10-11 minutes. A toothpick will come out clean. Err on the side of more done to less done but not so much it’s totally dried out.

You roll the hot and just out of the oven cake up in a clean kitchen towel that’s been coated with powdered sugar. Then you let it cool completely.

Note: because of all the molasses and the applesauce in this cake, it’s a moist one. The exterior of the cake is one that will transfer to your fingers. That’s okay, mine still rolled and unrolled just fine.

When the cake is cool (about 2 hours or you can wait until the next day), you make your whipped cream. I infused my whipped cream with some low-fat eggnog. I added only a few tablespoons so it’s not too strong, but the eggnog flavor is there. If you really don’t like eggnog, you could fill this cake with plain whipped cream or lemon whipped cream, or even ice cream.

Once it’s filled you can wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for up to 2 days. Before I served it I piped on some whipped cream. Note that the whipped cream won’t  be perfect two days later, but if you stir it up a little, there should be enough  that’s okay to pipe onto the top of the cake. (I made this on a Tuesday, and served it on a Thursday.)