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Brazo de Mercedes

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Brazo de Mercedes is a type of rolled cake (sometimes referred to as jelly roll) made from a sheet of soft meringue with custard filling. This heavenly cake can be considered as one of the all-time favorites in the Philippines.

filipino brazo de mercedes egg yolk cake recipe

What I like most about this cake is the sponge like texture of the meringue that literally melts in my mouth. The light flavor of the meringue is balanced by the flavor of the rich custard filling. This is truly amazing!

Most of you might be thinking that this rolled cake is hard to create; you might be surprised how easy it is to make your own Brazo de Mercedes after reading this post and watching the cooking video. However, it will take a bit of practice to perfect the process. There is no question about the delicious result of this recipe, but rolling the meringue can be a bit of a challenge. It took me around 3 tries before getting that nice look, so you too should not quit.

I won’t extend the introduction because I know that most of you are eager to start working on this project (I am getting at least 17 requests per day for this recipe).

Try this Brazo de Mercedes recipe and let me know what you think.

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5 from 1 vote

Brazo de Mercedes

This is a recipe for Brazo de Mercedes
Course Cake
Cuisine Filipino
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 6
Author Vanjo Merano

Ingredients

  • 10 large raw eggs yolks and whites separated
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
  • 14 ounces condensed milk

Instructions

  • Combine egg whites and cream of tartar then beat using an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
  • Make the meringue by gradually adding the granulated sugar while mixing the ingredients. Continue mixing until the texture is semi-firm.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Place wax paper on top of a cookie sheet or large rectangular baking pan and grease the surface.
  • Place the meringue on top of the greased wax paper then spread evenly using a spatula.
  • Bake the meringue for 20 to 22 minutes or until the color of the top part turns light to medium brown.
  • While the meringue is in the oven, make the filling by combining the egg yolks and condensed milk in a small cooking pot. Apply heat and cook the mixture while continuously stirring until the texture becomes thick.
  • Add the vanilla extract to the condensed milk and egg yolk mixture, turn off the heat, and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
  • Remove the meringue from the oven and cool down for a few minutes.
  • Sprinkle the confectioners sugar on top of the meringue then place wax paper on the top part of the meringue followed by a similar sized baking pan or tray. The meringue should now be in the middle of two baking trays.
  • Flip the meringue: the new cookie sheet/baking tray placed on top should now be below. Remove the baking tray and the wax paper (you should now see the opposite side of the baked meringue) then spread the filling (cooked egg yolks, condensed milk, and vanilla extract mixture) over the meringue.
  • Roll the meringue. Complete rolling side to side starting at the longest side. Make sure that the layer with filling is rolled inward.
  • Transfer to a serving plate then serve.
  • Share and enjoy!

Nutrition

Serving: 6g

Watch the Video on How to Make Brazo de Mercedes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. hello there! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE RECIPE…CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT. HOPE THAT YOU’LL PUBLISH ALSO THE RECIPE OF SANSRIVAL. MORE POWER

  3. kuya thanks so much for this…cant wait to try it this weekend!
    you make it so easy for us! more power to you..

  7. Hi! I’ve tried the Brazo de Mercedes and it turned our perfectly. I would like to say thank you. my husband likes it.. Thank’s more recepies pls. Thank You Thank You!

  9. I baked it this pm its gorgeous just a question can I add vanilla extract on egg white mixture to get rid of the raw egg smell?

    • You can edgar but I don’t recommend it because adding liquid to the egg whites while beating might affect the texture of the meringue. We need the meringue to be as fluffy as possible to be able to make a soft outer layer for the brazo de mercedes. Hope this helps.

  10. Hi, this is my first time to comment. Love your website very much. Thanks for your good heart in sharing with us your God-given talent. Just want to ask, what will I use to grease the surface of the wax paper? Thanks again. God bless 🙂

  14. can i use baking paper instead of wax paper? and also what im going to use to grease the paper?can i use water or oil? pls. reply.

  15. can i use baking paper instead of wax paper? and also what im going to use to grease the paper?can i use water or oil? pls. reply i like to try this. thanks!

  18. Dear Panlasang Pinoy,
    Thank you for sharing your Brazo recipe, w/c may Nanay and I always trying hard to do wayback when I’am just a kid… She will be delighted and happy co’z [email protected] done it perfect! That from your Help.
    Thanks again

  19. hi i tried to make this kanina lang and the egg whites didnt reach its soft peak, ma liquid siya… =( what to do??

  20. Hi PP,

    I made this twice already but I always end up with the same problem -- flat meringe! I always beat the egg whites until they reach the soft peak stage and it seems to be alright while the mixture is in the oven but whenever I take it out, it seems to lose all the air inside the meringue and flatten out. Instead of a soft sponge-like texture, I get a flat, “eggy” cake. Would you have an idea on why this always happens? I bake it at 175 deg centigrade for 22 min. I’m a bit frustrated at the moment 🙁

    Thanks!

  22. Substitute 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar for each 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

  23. One tsp. of baking powder equals 1/4 tsp. of baking soda and 5/8 tsp. of cream of tartar

  24. it’s really good! tried it yesterday. Going to make some tomorrow for everyone to taste at work. More power to you!

  25. Cool website, bro. I’ve tried this dessert at a Philippine store at Tampa and I love it. Ive been looking forever how to make this dessert because its like $12 per box here(small portion too). So, Kudos to you, sir. Keep up the good work!

    (gotta sweet talk the wife to make it for me this weekend lol)

  26. What if i don’t have any cream of tartar available, what can i use as a substitute??

  27. I finally found cream of tartar at my local food 4 less seasoning aisle so i decided to bake one up, per your recipe. I thought the custard was a little bit too sweet for my taste. Is there a way to lessen the sweetness without sacrificing the consistency of the custard? thanks in advance and I hope you can show us a recipe of sans rival in the future.

  28. hello po kuya, can u show us po sa video the whole process ng pag roll kc i tried to do this ywice pero di sya nagiging katulad nung nasa picture ng sa inyo. I will appreciate it so much po if you would let us see it.Thanks a bunch.

  29. Thank you so much, just discovered you website and I am learning a lot!!
    God Bless you!!
    Thank you for the recipe of brazo de mercedes..
    I wanna know if you have recipe for sansrival?

  30. thanks sa recipe. i tried it the other day. it was yummy! im so happy i discover your site. thanks for sharing your recipes. =)

  31. Hi can you help me? i cant find any cream of tartar here..any substitute? thanks.

  33. Thanks for sharing all these fillipino recipes! It makes me feel closer at home….will surely recommend your site to my friends! More power!

  34. Thanks for sharing your recipes (and with youtube at that). Could you try out sans rival recipe as well? thank you!

  36. Sir Eric… I think I made the filling too sweet! I tried to convert online from Ounces to ml and here in canada, a can of sweetened condensed milk is 300 ml which I think is fairly close to 14 ounces… Is there any way to UnSweeten the filling?

  38. Thank u for this…made one and it was yummy!!! will definitely follow ur recipe 🙂 Hope u can make chocolate moist cake and sans rival please 🙂

  39. do you have a no-bake recipe for only egg white. got lots of it after doing leche flan and i don’t know what to do with them. btw,im inspired to do brazo de mercedes after watching your video. thanks

  40. Thank you for sharing this recipe kuya. My first try is absolutely perfect i must say….a success… thanks a lot…

  41. Thanks, i made my first baked cake. Perfeczion :-)! My gf loves to bake and i even don’t mind it. Now i started to love baking. It’s really fun. More power to you.

  44. hi i love to cook brazo de mercedes..,but is there any substitute Cream of tartar??i dont have that here in sweden..,please help me.

  45. Eric, You made it look so simple. I’ve been making Brazo de Mecedes BUT always frustrated of the outcome. I live 5,000 above sea level, the mirangue always comes flat. Though I have mastered the filling. Do you have any suggestions for any adjustments for a high altitute? NEED HELP. Thank you, Eric! Great job!

    • you probably over beat the meringue which flattened it. you should always watch for the soft peaks and stop beating when this happens. from my personal experience making cakes that require meringue.

  46. id like to add coconut milk on the custard filling..anu magiging measurements ng custard ingredients?

  48. put the tray a little higher where you would normally put it when you bake the meringue. your tray is probably too near the heat source.

  50. Hello Po!!! thank you soo much for this recipe!! ive been missing this since i dont know when!! i will try and make this cake on monday hehe soo excited good luck to me!! Your website is such a great help for me!! i never enjoyed cooking the way i did now! thank you for your website and sa u na rin po!!

  52. hello, sir! i’m a fan of your site. thank you very much for sharing all your recipes. i’ve tried this recipe and it is so delicious but i can’t get to roll it properly..hope you could give us tips on this..more power to you and God bless!

  53. Thank you so much for the recipe of Brazo de Mercedes really it’s to long for me sicking the recipe of brazo de mercedes,but now i know how to bake,also thanks for your video.

  54. Thanks for the recipe kuya!This is one of my husbands favorite and since we lived an hour away from goldilocks he’s craving for it everynow and then…But thanks to you!coz we don’t need to drive that far just to satisfy his cravings..hehehe!now i can just make it anytime he wants it!He said,”Honey how did you make it?It taste like goldilocks!”now we saved a lot of money because of all the recipe’s you’re posting here.this is my favorite website!keep up the good work kuya!More blessing to you!

  55. The simplest, easiest and delicious brazo de mercedes recipe. An instant hit to my friends and now still receiving orders of it. Thanks to you kuya ang KUDOS to your blog. More power!

  56. Thanks for this recipe. I baked Brazo de Mercedes two time already using recipes I found on other. I had to throw everything, It didnt turn out good. Then, I saw the video of this recipe and it looked simple, I tried it yesterday and it came out perfect! Thanks for this recipe!

  57. favorite ko yung brazo de mercedes. i cant to make it. nag try ako before pero palpak.lol! yung syo kuya is easy to follow. i’ll let you know how it turn out.
    Can ypu make Ube Macapuno na cake.thanks! keep up the good work. God bless!!!

  58. Tried this recipe today. Took me 50 minutes from start to finish. Turned out good too. Thank you for all you do! 🙂

  62. Thank you for sharing the recipe, its really yuuummmmmy, as you said its easy to make it, My family and friends really enjoy it.

  65. s! -- mga 5 mins siguro pag-beat nung egg…depende sa speed ng hand mixer mo…sa akin on high na yun…

    dd -- pam yung brand nung ginamit ko na pang-spray…

    hope this will help

  66. i watch this ever time i try a new filipino dish,it helps and i enjoy watching it..prima!!!

  67. 🙂 this site is absolutely perfect for mom like me…im almost 1 month watching those video from youtube.and some of the recipe i already tried…thank you for creating this site, its wonderful…..

  68. Dear Sir,
    The tutorial video of your brazo mercedes was so easy to follow,thank you.I tried to make this cake for my parent’s wedding anniversary but when I started to roll my meringue(with the filling),it cracked.What did I do wrong? 🙁 Do I have to roll it while the meringue is still warm? Because I rolled it when the meringue was completely cool.

    • You have to roll the cake fresh from the oven while still hot… It will crack if rolled cool. The same procedure you done in all Rolled-cakes recipes.
      Hopes this help.

  70. hi kuya, can i beat the white egg using by whisk bulk,, dont have elctric hand mixer for now po…

  71. Thanks po for this recipe. I tried it and it was great!! I never done this before but it is so simple…
    Thanks and more power!

    • It’s okay if you don’t have confectioners’ sugar, however if your meringue’s done and you’ll put the custard inside and roll it, it’ll be hard ‘cos it’s sticky.

  73. Hi! I loved your recipe and found it very easy to make. My 1st was perfect! However, I can’t seem to remove that eggy smell on the egg whites when cooked. Would you know a trick to remove that smell? thanks!

    • add a few drops of lemon juice 🙂 I also add 1 tsp. vanilla to the meringue mixture, it gets rid of the eggy flavor …

  74. hi po.. I tried this yesterday but dumikit po cia on wax paper kaya i wasnt able to roll it that good.is it because mainit pa cia kaya dumikit?
    anyway, thanks a lot. I learned a lot from this website..I just learned cooking so it helps me a lot..

  75. Hi!, this is the first time i will do baking, we don’t have an oven here in our place,but my mom use turbo broiler like for making baked macaroni .I want to know maybe there’s a difference with the Preheating time and is there an adjusments for the settings ?thanks i hope you can answer my question i want to do this !going to wait for your reply! 🙂 thanks again

    • I’m also interested to know if meringue can be cooked using turbo boiler.. I just hope someone can answer this. I believe you can also try this using conventional oven or oven toaster.

  76. Hi Kuya! Super thanks for this recipe 🙂 I love Brazo de Mercedes and now I can just make it when I crave for it!

  78. hi kuya:).,thanks for this recipe .,i really want to bake this one.,,what if i dont have cream of tartar , what could be the possible substitute for it?ia baking powder is all right?.,thanks a lot.,waiting for ur reply…!!!!:)

  79. Hi! I just want to ask how if I can’t find the Cream of tartar in market what would be I substitute? I want to try to bake this recipe.. tnx for the video and I’ll wait for your rply,.. thank you very much =) =D =)

  81. One cannot do away with cream of tartar when making brazo de mercedes.
    Aside from the air incorporated while beating the egg whites with sugar serving as it’s leavening agent, cream of tartar aids and stabilizes the meringue.

    Should you run out of cream of tartar just remember this formula:
    Mix 1 part baking powder + 1 part baking soda = cream of tartar!!!!
    since the recipe requires 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, simply proceed to measure 1/2 tsp.
    Just make sure u mix both baking powder and baking soda well before doing so.

    Hope this tip will help yeddahand John Henry……happy baking!

  82. i dont think may cream of tartar dto. anu ang pede kong ipalit n ingredient?thank you po and God bless

  84. i made this one yesterday! it turn out so great! thanks po sa recipe.. ill sare this to my friends ! God Bless po!