Sourdough Chocolate Cake Roll With Cream Cheese Filling

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This sourdough chocolate cake roll is soft, moist, and delicious. Full of a rich cocoa flavor and a luscious cream cheese filling. This is the perfect dessert for the Christmas season, or for any holiday gathering, paired with some hot cocoa.  I have always loved making a sourdough pumpkin roll in the fall, and then I thought, why not try making a chocolate cake roll?  Made with sourdough to be extra healthy and with a delicious chocolate flavor from natural cocoa, this recipe is a winner!  My favorite part is that it looks like you went to a lot of work to make this when it’s really the simplest dessert you can make.  A win-win for sure! 

sourdough chocolate cake roll up close

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Fast and easy to make – whenever I need a last-minute dessert for anything during the holiday season, I make this sourdough chocolate cake roll.  If you’re not worried about long fermenting it, you can get it made in less than 30 minutes, and once it cools, you can add the filling and it will be ready to serve.
  • Looks fancy when it’s not – this sourdough chocolate roll cake looks like you went to a lot of work to make it, when it’s actually one of the easiest desserts you can make.
  • Healthy – sweetened with mostly pure maple syrup, which replaces the usual sugar, and sourdough discard, which adds the gut-healthy fermentation benefits we all need.
  • Delicious – you’ll absolutely love the combination of the light chocolate sponge cake and the cream cheese filling.

Ingredients

  • Flour – I prefer all-purpose flour for making this chocolate roll, but you can also use fresh-milled hard white wheat flour as well.  I usually purchase both my wheat and flour from Azure Standard and store them in bulk in my homestead pantry. 
  • Beef tallow
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder
  • Sourdough starter – active sourdough starter or sourdough discard will both work fine
  • Eggs, farm-fresh are always best
  • Pure maple syrup this adds a delicious maple flavor twist to the chocolate 
  • Salt-I prefer to use  Redmond Real Salt, but use whatever you have available.
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Baking soda
  • Cream Cheese
  • Homemade butter
  • Confectioners sugar

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Tools

Favorite Sourdough Recipes:

How to Make This Chocolate Cake Roll

Prepare The Cake Batter

The night before you want to bake the chocolate cake roll, combine all of the batter ingredients except for the baking soda in a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer.

mixing up sourdough chocolate cake roll

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment at room temperature overnight.  If you’re in a hurry, you can skip this step but you’ll lose some of the long fermentation benefits of the sourdough.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper being sure to cover the edges of the pan, and carefully spread the cake batter over the parchment paper using a rubber spatula.

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spreading sourdough chocolate cake roll on pan

Bake The Chocolate Cake Roll

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and poke it with a toothpick to make sure the toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched.  This means your cake is done all the way through.

Roll the cake and the parchment paper up into a roll, beginning with the short end and allow the tender cake to cool while rolled up.  (Be careful because it will be hot).

rolling up sourdough chocolate cake roll

Let the rolled cake cool completely, covered with a tea towel.  I sometimes set the rolled-up cake outside to cool more quickly in the winter.

While the cake is cooling, mix the filling ingredients in a separate bowl on medium speed with a hand mixer or a whisk attachment on a stand mixer until they are well incorporated.  

Unroll the completely cooled cake roll gently.

Spread the cream cheese filling over the cake evenly, and then carefully roll it back up, peeling off the parchment paper as you roll it up.

adding frosting to sourdough chocolate cake roll

Dust with powdered sugar if desired.  

Slice and serve immediately with a cup of hot chocolate and some homemade marshmallows.

Store leftover cake roll in the refrigerator in an airtight container until time for serving.

You can also freeze this sourdough chocolate cake roll for up to a month.  I would suggest that you slice it before freezing, and then plan on thawing it slowly in the refrigerator.

sourdough chocolate cake roll

Tips

  • This is the perfect make-ahead dessert for Christmas or any holiday gathering. 
  • Like the taste of peppermint?  Crush some candy canes and sprinkle them on the filling before rolling it up.
  • In a hurry to make this?  Just mix it up and bake it.  You don’t have to let it set overnight in order for it to turn out.  
  • To keep the chocolate cake roll from cracking, be sure to roll it up when it’s hot out of the oven, and allow it to fully cool on a wire rack before spreading the filling on it.
  • For different flavors some alternative fillings are: chocolate ganache, peanut butter mousse, or raspberry whipped filling. 

More Recipes Like This

sourdough chocolate cake roll up close

Sourdough Chocolate Cake Roll With Cream Cheese Filling

This sourdough chocolate cake roll is soft, moist, and delicious. Full of a rich cocoa flavor and a luscious cream cheese filling. This is the perfect dessert for the Christmas season, or for any holiday gathering, paired with some hot cocoa.  I have always loved making a sourdough pumpkin roll in the fall, and then I thought, why not try making a chocolate cake roll?  Made with sourdough to be extra healthy and with a delicious chocolate flavor from natural cocoa, this recipe is a winner!  My favorite part is that it looks like you went to a lot of work to make this when it's really the simplest dessert you can make.  A win-win for sure! 
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Ferment time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 25 minutes
Serving Size 10 people

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Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes and homesteading tips from us every week!

Equipment

  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 1 measuring cups and spoons
  • 1 Baking sheet or jelly roll pan
  • 1 parchment paper

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup melted beef tallow or butter
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey (brown sugar works too)
  • 1/2 cup sourdough starter (active or discard is fine)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking soda

Filling Ingredients

  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  • The night before you want to bake the chocolate cake roll, combine all of the batter ingredients except for the baking soda in a medium bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and allow to ferment at room temperature overnight.  If you're in a hurry, you can skip this step but you'll lose some of the long fermentation benefits of the sourdough.
  • When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper being sure to cover the edges of the pan, and carefully spread the cake batter over the parchment paper using a rubber spatula.
  • Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
  • Remove from the oven and poke it with a toothpick to make sure the toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched.  This means your cake is done all the way through.
  • Roll the cake and the parchment paper up into a roll, beginning with the short end and allow the tender cake to cool while rolled up.  (Be careful because it will be hot).
  • Let the rolled cake cool completely, covered with a tea towel.  I sometimes set the rolled-up cake outside to cool more quickly in the winter.
  • While the cake is cooling, mix the filling ingredients in a separate bowl on medium speed with a hand mixer or a whisk attachment on a stand mixer until they are well incorporated.  
  • Unroll the completely cooled cake roll gently.
  • Spread the cream cheese filling over the cake evenly, and then carefully roll it back up, peeling off the parchment paper as you roll it up.
  • Dust with powdered sugar if desired.  
  • Slice and serve immediately with a cup of hot chocolate and some homemade marshmallows.
  • Store leftover cake roll in the refrigerator in an airtight container until time for serving.
  • You can also freeze this sourdough chocolate cake roll for up to a month.  I would suggest that you slice it before freezing, and then plan on thawing it slowly in the refrigerator.

Notes

  • This is the perfect make-ahead dessert for Christmas or any holiday gathering. 
  • Like the taste of peppermint?  Crush some candy canes and sprinkle them on the filling before rolling it up.
  • In a hurry to make this?  Just mix it up and bake it.  You don’t have to let it set overnight in order for it to turn out.  
  • To keep the chocolate cake roll from cracking, be sure to roll it up when it’s hot out of the oven, and allow it to fully cool on a wire rack before spreading the filling on it.
  • For different flavors some alternative fillings are: chocolate ganache, peanut butter mousse, or raspberry whipped filling. 

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