Strawberry Chevron Cake Roll

“Failure is just part of the process, and it’s not just okay; it’s better than okay."  - Bob Goff.  I'm thankful for the reassurance that my cooking failures aren't a three-strikes-and-you’re-out sort of thing. Sometimes I need that gentle reminder to dust myself off so I can swing for the fences again.  And the only person keeping meticulous records of my screw-ups - is me. 😅

You see where I'm going with this don't you?  As soon as I start to gain some confidence in my baking skills - I have a REALLY off day and I manage to screw up the same recipe 4 times!!  No joke!  Allow me to break down my Chevron Cake Roll experience for you.
     Attempt #1:  I forgot to grease the parchment paper and the cake stuck to the pan.
     Attempt #2:  I greased the parchment but forgot to add flour to the cake.  🤦🏻‍♀️                 Attempt #3:  I forgot to add sugar to the egg whites. 
     Attempt #4:  I rolled the cake inside out so the chevron detail that I so                                                     painstakingly added to my cake, wasn't even visible.

Yep, baking professional right here. 😅  I will spare you the details about why I failed at this recipe so many times, but you should know that on more than one occasion during this Chevron cake journey, I considered scraping the entire thing, cutting my losses and just serving a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream.  Fortunately, there was a small part of me that had to see this process through, just to prove to myself that I could actually do it.  #stubbornnessatitsfinest 😂

​So after many (5 total) attempts, here is my Chevron cake roll recipe.  The pictures were taken from all 4 practice runs so just ignore any inconsistencies in the photographs.  Just remember that they're a compilation of all of my trials.  At the end of the day - I'm glad that my stick-to-it-ness took over my desire to give up on this recipe.  It really was worth all the effort.  🍓

Strawberry Chevron Cake Roll
4 egg whites
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup flour

Filling
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
3/4 cup fresh strawberries (quartered)

Beat egg whites and 1/3 c. sugar until stiff peaks form.

Beat egg yolks, 1/3 c. sugar and vanilla together in a separate bowl.

Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture.

Fold in the flour. 

Tint 1/4 cup of the batter with pink food coloring. 

Transfer tinted batter to a piping bag.  Pipe into zigzags onto greased parchment paper lined 10x15" baking sheet. 

Bake 2 minutes at 350.  Let cool 3 minutes. 

Spread white batter over pink.  

Bake 11 minutes longer.  Cool.  

Invert onto powdered sugar dusted parchment paper.  And then flip again so the chevron is on the bottom.  

Roll cake while warm and let cool.  

Whip cream and sugar.  

Unroll cake and spread cream over roll. 

Sprinkle strawberries over cream. 

Reroll cake and slice. (Preferably, not inside out.)  

Slice and enjoy.  🍓

Don't let my failed attempts at this cake roll discourage you from making it.  I'm pretty sure that I screwed up this recipe in every way possible.   I did my best to document each of my failures for you though so that you don't make the same mistakes.  And I can tell you from experience that even if you're cake doesn't look exactly like mine - as long as you add flour and sugar - it will still taste amazing.  💕
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Ciao!

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