Karen Wils photo Raspberry jam ready for a jelly roll.

ESCANABA — I inherited a jelly roll pan from my mother.

Sweet memories leap from the pan just by looking at it. Sometimes called a sponge cake or a Swiss roll, the American jelly roll was a country classic dessert.

When I was a kid many years ago, late summer was the time when Mom often whipped up awesome, light, tender and tasty jelly rolls.

The number one reason why she liked to bake them was because it was one of Dad’s favorite desserts. Other reasons included that fresh eggs were cheap and abundant and Mom had a cellar full of homemade jams and jellies to use up before fall and the next canning season.

The thin jelly roll cake bakes in about fourteen minutes so that made it nice for in the summertime. You did not have to have your oven on very long on a hot day.

Watching Mom prepare one of these delicacies was entertaining too. The cake was baked in a special rectangular pan. When it was golden brown and springy to the touch, she removed it from the oven and deftly bound it up in a flour sack dish towel that was dusted with powdered sugar.

Then the cake rested while the mixing dishes were washed.

Now came the fun part. Mom would ask one of us kids to go down to the fruit cellar and pick out a jelly or jam to go inside the cake. Raspberry red was Dad’s favorite choice. Deep purple grape jelly, golden apple jelly and my pick, choke cherry jelly were some of the sweet fillings that were slathered on the sponge cake.

Then quick as a wink, Mom rolled that cake up into a cute curly-que. Then she sprinkled it generously with powdered sugar. After the evening meal, Mom would cut the jelly roll with a piece of nylon thread that helped keep the pretty swirls neat. The cake was enjoyed with coffee.

Jelly rolls don’t have to be all about fruit flavors either. Creamy frostings, almond flavoring and chocolate fillings are popular too.

At Christmastime, a chocolate sponge cake is rolled up with fudgy frosting and it is called a Yule log.

Tis the season to be buying Sure-Jell and sugar. Haul out the pint jars, rings and lids. The wild cherries, black berries, raspberries and apples are ripening all over the U.P. It might be a little hot and steamy right now to be standing over a boiling pot but come January, homemade jelly will be wonderful.

So, I’ve inherited this jelly roll pan and I do make a lot of jam, especially raspberry. I have watched the YouTube videos on making jelly rolls and mine are good — but not quite as good as Mom’s were.

On a rainy or boring late summer day, get an old cookbook, get a baking partner, watch a jelly roll making video and crack open some eggs. Have a sweet weekend.

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.