Joanna Gaines Just Shared the Christmas Dessert Recipe Her Family Has Made for 35 Years

Many of us have certain family recipes that are reserved for special occasions, like Christmas, and the Gaines family is no exception. “Today we’re going to be sharing Bevie’s famous chocolate roll,” Joanna says at the start of a recent Instagram reelreferring to her mother-in-law’s recipe.

The chocolate sponge cake roll has been a Gaines family tradition for 35 years and made its cookbook debut in Joanna’s first Magnolia Table cookbook in 2018. Jo admits that she’s had multiple fails when attempting to make this chocolate roll, but adds that the recipe is one of her favorites from the book. She wanted Bevie to show her tricks firsthand for chocolate roll success.

The first tip, says Bevie, is that the pan has to be 15 inches by 10 inches. Jo places parchment paper on the pan and then sprays it with nonstick spray, which, apparently, is a new pro tip from Jo. “What Joanna started doing this year,” says Bevie, “she started spraying this paper.”

To start the cake, Bevie whips four egg whites with the mixer at full speed until they’re stiff, then slowly adds 1/2 cup of sugar. “It’s like, super stiff,” says Jo as she shows just how stiff the egg white and sugar mixture ends up being.

Bevie then beats four egg yolks with a fork, adding 2 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of “good vanilla” and 1/2 cup of sugar. They then sift together 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder and a pinch of salt.

While sifting the dry ingredients together, Jo comments to Bevie that she notices Bevie still reads the recipe while she’s making it, even after 35 years. “I read it over and over and over when I’m making this cake—[it’s] not a forgiving cake,” says Bevie.

Bevie then gently folds the egg yolk mixture into the beaten egg whites, followed by folding in the dry ingredients, and then very gently spreads the mixture into the pan. “I treat this little egg white like it’s very, very special,” says Bevie.

The pan is placed into a 325°F oven. “And after 15 minutes, I start patting, and if it pops back up, it’s ready,” says Bevie.

Once out of the oven, Bevie gingerly rolls the cake while gently scraping it off the parchment paper (allow it to cool for a couple of minutes first). She then takes an old tea towel, sprinkles it with powdered sugar, places the rolled-up cake on the towel, and proceeds to slowly and carefully unroll the cake.

Once unrolled, the Gaines gals spread Cool Whip on the cake, roll it back up and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. After using a serrated knife to cut the cake, they add the finishing touch to each slice—a drizzle of Jo’s homemade hot fudge sauce. Jo adds that it’s also typically served with fresh whipped cream.

Dessert rolls made with sponge cake make a great holiday dessert because they’re light, especially when compared to other desserts like pie and other cakes. And after a big holiday meal, a lighter dessert is perfect.

Our Black Forest Cake Roll is similar to Jo’s, but we zhuzh up the filling by adding cream cheese and maraschino cherries to the whipped dessert topping. Or, if you’re still in pumpkin spice mode, give our Pumpkin Roll Cake with Pecan-Cream Cheese Filling a shot.

As delicious as cake rolls can be, though, they are also pretty fussy. I mean, if Joanna Gaines has a tough time getting it to come out the way it’s supposed to, that says something.

If you love sponge cake, consider a trifle, like our Cranberry Coconut Trifle. It’s a lot more forgiving and easier to assemble than a cake roll—and we use some fiber-rich whole-wheat pastry flour to make the cake. The sponge cake is layered with a silky, creamy homemade custard and cranberry filling, then crowned with homemade whipped cream and yogurt topping.

Our Pumpkin Trifle and Lemon-Blueberry Trifle would also make amazing centerpieces on any holiday table. If you do decide to attempt the cake roll and it breaks apart, don’t fret. Just use it in the trifle—we won’t tell!