This post is also available in Spanish
Brazo de Reina literally translates to “Queen’s Arm” in English and is a traditional Colombian Cake Roll. Brazo de Reina it is basically a sponge cake filled with sweet whipped cream and fresh strawberries. There are different variations of roll cakes in Colombia, such as Pionono and Rollo Rojo de Guayaba. Pionono is usually filled with dulce de leche and Rollo Rojo de Guayaba is filled with guava jam or jelly.
Roll cakes can be intimidating for beginner bakers like me, but this Brazo de Reina recipe is very easy to make, takes only about 12 minutes to bake and it makes a beautiful presentation. I don’t know about you, but I love making these kind of desserts!
The combination of the light and spongy cake with strawberries and cream filling is fantastic. The filling is creamy, light and naturally sweet, and would certainly make a perfect Valentine’s treat 🙂
Buen provecho and I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ingredients
(1 roll)
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For the Filling:
2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups diced strawberries
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a baking sheet. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper. Set aside and lay a clean kitchen towel on a work surface.
- With an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a bowl until stiff and set aside. In another bowl, beat the egg yolks until pale. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla extract.
- In another bowl sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and mix well.
- Fold in the egg whites into the flour-egg mixture.
- Spread the batter evenly over the parchment paper.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until the cake is golden.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, beat the cream on medium speed until it begins to thicken. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until soft peaks form. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Run a table knife around the edges of the cake and invert the cake onto the prepared kitchen towel. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Starting at the narrow end, roll up the cake and towel together, into a log. Cool completely on a wire rack.
- Unroll the cake and remove the towel, spread the whipped cream over the cake and top with strawberries. Roll up the cake and transfer, seam side down, to a serving plate. Sprinkle with powder ed sugar or whipped cream and when ready to serve, cut the roll into thick slices and arrange on a platter.
Belinda @zomppa says
Great, now I just want this cake!!
Evelyne@cheapethniceatz says
Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! I love the name of this cake roll and I would eat it up in no time.
Juliana says
Looks beautiful your strawberry roll…love the freshness of this cake. And it is a nice treat for Valentine’s Day.
Hope you are enjoying your week Erica!
Jenn and Seth says
oh my gosh this is absolutely gorgeous Erica! looks super delicious! hope you had a wonderful valentine’s day!
grace says
lovely! a successful cake roll is a beautiful thing. 🙂
Chris says
Pinned it! Can’t wait to try it when the strawberries are in season!
Alison says
Found this while searching for a dessert to make for my friend at work who just got married. She is Colombian and I am hoping I can make this yummy looking dessert to celebrate her and her new husband 🙂 Thank you for the recipe!
Patricia says
What size baking sheet do you use?
Taby says
Made this cake roll for a family get together and it was an absolute hit! Easy to make and simply delicious. The family loved it!! Thank you so much
Kevin Landrum says
Hi, how many people should this serve?
Erica Dinho says
About 6 to 8 servings.
Amanda says
What size baking sheet do you use?
Rachel says
I found another recipe that used dulce de Leche as the filling instead of a cream filling. Could I use that instead or is the cream a better filling for this specific cake recipe?
Erica Dinho says
Hi Rachel, for this recipe I prefer using cream, but here I have a different recipe using dulce de leche: http://www.mycolombianrecipes.com/dulce-de-leche-and-coconut-roll-pionono-de-arequipe-y-coco
Annie says
Used it for a school project on Columbia along with a lot of other research, it was really good!#99%-100%
Anonymous says
Hola! Yo hecho este receta por mi tarea en mi clase de español. Me amo brazo de reina porque el es facil a hacer. El pastel queda estrenado perfecto y el es similar a bizcocho esponjoso. El empaste es simple pero delicioso. Mi entero familia disfruta este postre. ¡Muchas gracias!
Carolyn says
Hola! Yo hecho este receta por mi tarea en mi clase de español. Me amo brazo de reina porque el es facil a hacer. El pastel queda estrenado perfecto y el es similar a bizcocho esponjoso. El empaste es simple pero delicioso. Mi entero familia disfruta este postre. ¡Muchas gracias!
Erin says
l Have to do this for a project for school and I am wondering if I can make it about four or five days before and how I should store it.
Thanks by the way, it looks delicious.
Kristi says
I made this and it was easy and really good