Fresh coffee/espresso will always taste better in desserts than the instant stuff for the same reason why it tastes better to drink. Also, espresso is a darker roast, so it has more of what people associate as a "coffee taste". If I were going to make a coffee roll, I'd probably sub some of the flour for a good Dutch processed cocoa powder in the cake. Then I'd make a simple syrup with fresh espresso (1:1 ratio by volume of espresso & sugar) and brush the syrup onto the sponge. For the cream you don't want to add liquid coffee, so you could either just use plain whipped cream or use instant coffee just for that. Hope that helps!

Thank youuu! I was hoping to make it and then let you know how it went but I haven’t had a chance to get around it yet.

Could I ask you an additional question? If I wanted to make a coffee Swiss roll, how would I adjust this recipe? I’ve tried instant coffee for some desserts in the past and for some odd reason, I find that adding freshly brewed espresso tastes much better. I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks again!

Hi Quinn, I'm happy to hear you've been enjoying my Jalapeño cheddar rolls! Thanks for the recipe suggestion, I've added it the list of requests. As for converting this, it should be possible by substituting 15-20 grams of the cake flour for matcha powder. Be sure to sift it through a fine mesh sieve or you will end up with clumps of matcha. Then you could add some matcha to the whipped cream to make it a light green. When you roll the cake, I'd suggest adding a core of anko (https://norecipes.com/anko-red-bean-paste-recipe/) to the center of the roll. Then you can finish it off with a sprinkle of matcha powder on top. Hope that helps!

Hi Heather, I'm sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. Unfortunately baking is less about luck and more about precision (a lesson I've learned the hard way in the past). It sounds like you've deduced the problem yourself and based on what you described (and assuming you didn't make any ingredient substitutions) I'd say it was was one of two things. 1) The eggs did not have enough air incorporated into them. This could be caused by the eggs not being heated enough (100 degrees F), or because they were not beaten long enough (5 minutes on a stand mixer with a whisk attachment at high speed). 2) The eggs had enough air incorporated but then lost it all in a subsequent step. This could be caused by adding the butter or by over mixing. I hope this helps for next time!

This didn't work for me at all. I must not have cooked the egg mixture enough as it didn't puff up for me. I didn't have enough batter for my sheet pan, so ended up putting it in one 9-inch round. I ended up with a super dense, thick pancake. It tasted good, but I ended up giving up and will try my luck with another recipe.

Hi Natalia, thanks so much for taking the time to let me know! I put a lot of time into developing this recipe, and thought it was pretty good, but the only other comment I've gotten from someone who made it said they didn't enjoy it. Happy Holidays!

Made it several times. Never failed me recipe.

Sorry to hear it didn't turn out how you'd expected. Can you tell me a little more about what the problem was, and maybe I can help you troubleshoot.