This pumpkin roll cake recipe will become your new favorite dessert! Soft, moist, and with tangy cream cheese frosting and fall-inspired flavors, this sweet treat is delicious, easy to make, and looks fantastic.
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Ingredients and substitutes
Flour - Use regular all-purpose flour.
Spices - I use ground cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, which I add to all of my pumpkin-baked goodies. You can replace them with 2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
Salt - Never skip the salt when you bake.
Pumpkin purée - You can use homemade pumpkin purée if you want to do everything from scratch or buy any purée that you like. Just make sure it has no additives in it.
Eggs - Eggs should be at room temperature. If you forgot to take them out from the fridge in advance, you can place them in a bowl of warm water for 3 minutes.
Sugar and honey - The right amount of sugar is very important, as it makes the sponge moist and elastic. I use white regular sugar and a touch of honey in my pumpkin roll recipe.
Cream cheese - I use original Philadelphia cream cheese.
Heavy whipping cream - It should be very cold to whip well.
Powdered sugar - No need to add too much sugar into your frosting! The sponge is already sweet enough. You will also need powdered sugar to dust the kitchen towel that you'll use to roll the cake right after the baking. Powder sugar will prevent the cake from sticking to the towel.
Vanilla extract - I add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to my easy pumpkin roll, but it's optional. There are other things you can do to add different flavors to the cake roll, which I’ll share with you further in the post.
Cooking tips
Use a kitchen digital scale to measure your ingredients. I won't tire of repeating it, but you need to measure your ingredients correctly to achieve the same, good results every time you bake.
Don't overbake the sponge. If you overbake it, the sponge will become drier and less flexible, so it can break when you roll it. My advice is to open the oven after 13 minutes and gently press a finger in the middle. If the dough is springy and there's no indentation left from your finger, the cake is done baking! If not, leave it in the oven for 1-2 extra minutes.
Work with the sponge cake fast. After baking, you need to hurry up and roll it in the kitchen towel. Once out of the oven, the cake cools down quickly and hardens up a bit, so if you let it sit for too long, it will become more fragile. So, take the cake out from the oven, make sure that the edges are released from the parchment paper, and flip the whole thing on top of the kitchen towel dusted with powdered sugar. The towel will protect your hands while rolling.
Let the cake cool down. Do not apply cream cheese filling on a warm sponge, it will melt! So, be patient and let your cake sit on the counter at room temperature. Usually, it takes 1-2 hours for the cake to cool down completely.
Step by step directions
For the cake
1. Preheat the oven to 190C or 375F and line a 10”x15” jelly roll pan (25x38 cm) with parchment paper, so the sides stick up enough for you to lift the cake after baking.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a bowl and a hand mixer, or do it by hand with a whisk), add the sugar, honey, and eggs. Whip for 2 minutes or until foamy and the sugar has partially melted. Add the purée and whip again until well combined.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix with a rubber spatula until no dry ingredients are left.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and spread it in an even layer across the surface.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until no wet spots are visible on the surface and it’s springy to the touch.
7. Meanwhile, place a kitchen towel on your working surface and sprinkle it with powdered sugar.
8. Remove the cake from the oven and check if the sides are stacked on the parchment paper. If yes, carefully unstack them without breaking the cake. Help with a small knife if needed.
9. Then lift the cake from the pan, holding onto the sticking parts of paper, and flip it onto the towel dusted with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off the parchment paper.
10. Roll pumpkin cake together with the towel and let it cool down like that on a cooling rack.
For the cream cheese filling
1. Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a bowl and a hand mixer) and whip on medium for 30 seconds until everything is well combined and starts becoming thicker.
2. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl and whip on medium-high to stiff peaks. Do not overwhip!
Assembling the cake
1. Unroll the fully-cooled sponge. Place the cream cheese mixture on top and spread evenly across the surface.
2. Roll it back up, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Decoration variations
Powdered sugar - Right before serving your pumpkin cream cheese roll, dust it with some powdered sugar. Such a small touch will make your cake look more appetizing.
Simple icing - You can always apply some sugar icing on top of the roll. Before it sets, decorate it with crushed nuts or freeze-dried berries that will stick to the icing.
Chocolate - Melt your favorite chocolate in the microwave just until no solid parts are left and then drizzle it on top of the pumpkin roll. You can also use my Chocolate ganache recipe (just make a smaller portion) if you want to cover the roll completely in chocolate.
Flavor variations
Nuts - I would avoid adding nuts to the cake batter, as they can make the sponge more prone to breaking apart, but you can add crushed nuts to your freshly-whipped cream cheese frosting.
Salted caramel - You can always drizzle some caramel (don't overdo it or your roll will be too sweet) on top of the filling and roll the cake back up. The salted caramel flavor compliments pumpkin so well.
Jam - Spread a thin layer of orange jam (or any other jam you think fits here) on top of the cream cheese filling before rolling the cake back up.
FAQ
Wrap the pumpkin roll in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Made with cream cheese frosting with heavy cream, this pumpkin roll is not suitable for freezing.
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Recipe card
Pumpkin roll
Equipment
- 10x15 inch (25x38 cm) jelly roll pan
- Stand mixer or hand mixer and a large mixing bowl
Ingredients
For the cake
- 120 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 150 g white granulated sugar
- 25 g honey
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 150 g pumpkin puree at room temperature
For the filling
- 200 g cream cheese cold
- 150 ml heavy whipping cream cold
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the cake
- Preheat the oven to 190C or 375F and line a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan (25x38 cm) with parchment paper, so the sides stick up enough for you to lift the cake after baking. If you don’t have a jelly roll pan (like me), you can make a box of the same size from parchment paper and place it on a baking sheet. It will be enough to stop the batter from running away during baking.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a bowl and a hand mixer, or do it by hand with a whisk), add the sugar, honey, and eggs. Whip for 2 minutes or until foamy and the sugar has partially melted. Add the purée and whip again until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix with a rubber spatula until no dry ingredients are left.
- Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and spread it in an even layer across the surface.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until no wet spots are visible on the surface and it’s springy to the touch.
- Meanwhile, place a kitchen towel on your working surface and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. The size of the towel should be enough to roll the cake into it.
- Remove the cake from the oven and check if the sides are stacked on the parchment paper. If yes, carefully unstack them without breaking the cake. Help with a small knife if needed.
- Then lift the cake from the pan, holding onto the sticking parts of paper, and flip it onto the towel dusted with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off the parchment paper.
- Roll the cake together with the towel and let it cool down like that on a cooling rack.
For the filling
- Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a bowl and a hand mixer) and whip on medium for 30 seconds until everything is well combined and starts becoming thicker.
- Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl and whip on medium-high to stiff peaks. Do not overwhip!
Assembling the cake
- Unroll the fully-cooled sponge. Place all cream on top and spread evenly across the surface.
- Roll it back up, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
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