Easy Swiss Roll Cake Recipe

This four-ingredient Swiss roll cake recipe takes lush cakes to the next level with layers of Swiss roll cakes, pudding, and whipped cream topping! It’s super easy to make and absolutely delicious.

When is the last time you’ve had a Little Debbie snack of any kind? They’re nostalgic, classic, and somehow find their way into my cart once a month or so. My personal favorites are peanut butter bars (they remind me of my great grandpa), star crunch, and of course swiss roll cakes.

I thought it would be fun to build off that nostalgia and go with a lush cake (aka a rich and creamy cake kind of like striped delight) made up of Swiss roll cakes.

It’s fun to make and even more fun to eat. Plus, it’s delicious and gives you all those nostalgic vibes while being actually really yummy. The flavors of the pudding and whipped cream work their magic with the classic chocolate and cream flavors of the little cakes.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Unique – when was the last time you had a cake made out of Swiss roll cakes? My guess is probably never, and you’re going to love it. And any anyone who’s ever had a Swiss roll cake is going to love it!
• Pretty – Swiss roll cakes themselves are pretty with their little internal swirl and this cake builds off of that making it a cake that looks just beautiful once done.
• Easy – this cake only takes four ingredients and other than chopping the Swiss roll cakes, it’s super easy! And chopping those is easy, it just takes a bit of time!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Swiss Roll Cakes – cut your cakes into 5ths so the ideal thickness of each layer. If you cut them a little thinner or a little thicker, it won’t make or break the cake but 5ths is ideal. You need 48 total cakes to make a 9×13 pan full of this cake. As you’re slicing the cakes, try to keep the little pieces of chocolate that come off for garnish!

Chocolate pudding mix – make sure it’s instant chocolate pudding mix so that it can turn into pudding quickly for this cake! Regular pudding just doesn’t work the same way.

Milk – you want to use whole milk in this lush cake so to give it the creamy and full-bodied lush cake taste you want. Anything with less fat content just won’t have the same richness.

Cool Whip – you’ll need about 4 oz of Cool Whip for the bottom layer, 4 oz for mixing with the pudding, and another 8 oz to put on top. You can either get a 16 oz container and split it into 1/4, 1/4, and 1/2 or you can get two 8 oz containers and split one into half and leave the other.

Instructions

Just like with any other pudding + Cool Whip dessert (hello pumpkin delight), this one is super easy to make.

First, whisk the milk and pudding mix in a medium sized bowl for 2 minutes, or until the pudding begins to thicken. I recommend doing this by hand so you don’t over mix the pudding.

Once the pudding has begun to thicken, put the bowl in the fridge and let it chill for about five minutes. This will allow the pudding to come together before you mix it into the cake.

While the pudding is chilling, spread 1/4th of the Cool Whip all over the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. This will help to stabilize the first row of cut swiss roll cakes.

Next, create a full layer of sliced Swiss Roll Cakes over the Cool Whip and gently press them into it. When I was doing it, it was about eight slices of cake across and eight down.

Place more slices around the edge of the baking dish with the cut side out so you get that really pretty swirly look on the outside of the cake.

This edging will also seal your cake layers into the middle of the cake so don’t skip this step even if you don’t care about it being pretty.

For the next layer, combine 1/4th of the Cool Whip with 1/3rd of the chilled chocolate pudding. Mix it together well then spread evenly over the layer of Swiss cake rolls, staying inside the edge of the cake.

After your pudding layer, you’re going to add another layer of Swiss cake roll slices, gently pressing into the pudding mixture, then another layer of pudding mixture over top.

After your second layer of pudding, add the final layer of rolls, kind of like you’re making a Swiss roll cake lasagna! This should be the last of your Swiss cake roll slices.

Finish it off by topping everything with a layer of Cool Whip with what you have remaining from earlier. Wrap the entire cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Garnish with more Swiss cake roll slices or the chocolate flakes left when slicing the Swiss cake rolls.

Slice into squares and serve chilled! Just look at that gorgeous cake – I just just all of the fun swirls and chocolate bits!

Expert Tips

Freeze the cake for a few hours before slicing if you are short of time and don’t have time to refrigerate for the 6+ hours the cake needs to fully set. J

Try it frozen! This Swiss roll cake recipe freezes great! Just keep it wrapped with plastic wrap and put in the freezer then either eat frozen (it’s a yummy frozen dessert) or let it thaw and eat chilled.

Store in the refrigerator topped with plastic wrap for up to five days before freezing the leftovers or throwing away.

Recipe FAQs

More Easy Cakes

If you like this Swiss roll cake recipe, you’ll love these other delicious cake recipes!

• Pumpkin crunch cake – talk about easy, this pumpkin cake starts with cake mix and ends with crunch. It’s a great fall dessert!
• Jello poke cake – this gorgeous poke cake is filled with jello flavors and topped with a homemade whipped cream!
• Oreo ice cream cake – Oreos, ice cream sandwiches, and chocolate all layered together in one amazingly delicious ice cream cake!
• Chocolate lava cake – homemade molten lava cakes that are decadent and dangerously good!
• Red velvet cake – this showstopping red velvet cake is the ultimate holiday dessert with its bright red color and sugared cranberry topping!