Pumpkin Roll Cake

This Easy Pumpkin Roll Recipe is a classic fall dessert. Spiced pumpkin cake is rolled up with the best cream cheese frosting inside. It’s beautiful, delicious, and easy to make. It will be the star of the show for Christmas dessert!

Pumpkin Roll Cake Recipe

Happy fall, everyone! In honor of officially starting a new season, I wanted to share my favorite fall dessert recipe! 

Yep, I’m talkin’ about this totally irresistible, pumpkin roll cake! It’s the ultimate fall dessert that is perfect for any upcoming holiday gathering.

Scrumptious spiced pumpkin cake rolled around a cream filling, then sprinkled with powdered sugar, this simple fall dessert is always a crowd pleaser.

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Pumpkin Roll Ingredients:

(FULL RECIPE WITH EXACT MEASURMENTS ARE AT THE END OF THIS POST)

• Dry ingredients: granulated sugar, salt, flour, baking powder, baking soda.
• Pumpkin pie spice: I used ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. 
• Eggs: at room temperature.
• Vanilla extract: for extra flavor.
• Pumpkin puree: I used 100% pure pumpkin purée can, because it saves so much time and tastes great. If canned pumpkin isn’t available where you live, or you’d just prefer to use fresh, that’s not a problem.  For baking, the most flavorful pumpkins are smaller than those typically associated with Jack-O-Lanterns.  They’re usually in the 4 to 8-pound range and are referred to as sugar, cooking, or pie pumpkins. You will need 2/3 of a cup of pumpkin puree, use a 1/3 of a cup and fill it twice if you don’t own a 2/3 of measuring cup.
• Cream cheese frosting ingredients: powdered sugar, butter and vanilla. Pure indulgence! 😉 I used the same cream cheese frosting recipe, I used in my carrot cake. 

You will also need:

• 10 x 15 jelly roll pan: you have to use a 10 x 15 inch pan so the pumpkin cake comes out thin and easy to roll.  
• Non-stick Parchment paper 

The final result, a perfect Pumpkin Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling!

How to Make Pumpkin Roll Cake: 

Making a pumpkin roll cake sounds intimidating to make, but it’s really quite easy and straightforward, there are just a few critical steps that cannot be tampered with to ensure optimal results. (You can bypass all the photos and instruction by scrolling to the end for a printable written instructions and exact measurements, if you prefer!)

• Whisk dry ingredients: one of the most important steps in this recipe is to whisk the dry ingredients together (except the sugar) . 
• Beat eggs, sugar, & vanilla together: beat these wet ingredients together until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
• Beat in pumpkin puree: until incorporated. 
• Add wet ingredients: pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients. Fold using a rubber spatula. 

• Bake: spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan lined with parchment paper (leaving an extra 1-inch of parchment sticking up on both 15-inch sides of the pan so that you can easily lift the cake out after baking). Give the pan a quick shake to make sure the batter is leveled and smooth in the pan. Bake for only around 10-12 minutes only.

• Remove the warm cake: This part needs to move quickly, so be ready. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, run a knife around the edges of the pan (if needed) to loosen the cake. Carefully lift the parchment paper and cake out onto a flat (and heat-safe) surface.

• Roll and cool: gently start the rolling process from the narrow end to the narrow end and let cool completely in the rolled up shape on a wire wrack. This step will help the roll hold a shape before assembling with cream cheese frosting. 

• Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin roll filling.
• Carefully unroll the cake: it might crack a little, that’s ok, you can always hide the cracks with extra sprinkles of powdered sugar on top later.
• Assemble: spread cream cheese frosting then roll back up.

• Refrigerate: for about an hour.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar: before serving, if you like. 

Tips for Making the Best Pumpkin Roll Recipe:

• Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake that will yield a dry and dense cake. 
• The eggs should be at room temperature to ensure they incorporate into your batter evenly. If you forgot to take your egg out of the fridge ahead of time, you could quickly bring it to room temperature by placing it in a large bowl and covering it with warm tap water for 5 minutes.
• For optimal results, use a 15×10-inch Jelly Roll pan. Jelly Roll pans look similar to baking sheets, but have unique dimensions specific to making sponge and sheet cakes in order to stay together after filling and rolling. If you don’t have one and don’t want to buy one, you might be able to get away with using a baking sheet, but don’t go bigger than a 15×12 or the batter will spread too thin.
• Line your jelly roll pan with parchment paper and leave an extra inch sticking up on all sides. This will allow you to grab the parchment and not the hot baked cake, making it easier to roll.
• Don’t over bake it, mine was done at 10 minutes. It’s important to work quickly once the cake comes out of the oven. You want to get it rolled while it’s still hot to prevent any cracking. 

• Roll the cake immediately after it’s done baking (be careful, it’ll be hot!) The cake will be more pliable when it’s warm, and will lead to a crack-free cake.
• Let the rolled cake cool until it is completely room temperature (usually a few hours.) As it cools, it will be “trained” to hold its shape when you fill it and re-roll, and also ensures that your filling won’t melt and ooze out the sides.
• Wrap it and refrigerate. After you’ve filled it and re-rolled it, you can serve right away, but I recommend wrapping it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerating for at least an hour to allow the filling to firm up a bit so you get solid slices.

Pumpkin Roll Cake Variations:

• You can use crushed walnuts or pecans for a topping to decorate and add an extra crunch. Or, you can keep it simple with a light dusting of powdered sugar. 
• You can also swirl the nuts into the cream cheese filling. It give a great contrast in texture between the layers of frosting.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why Did my Pumpkin Roll Crack?

You should always roll the cake into a towel or parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven. When the cake is rolled while warm, it much more pliable and the heat and moisture will help lead to a crack free cake.

It’s also possible that you may have overbaked the cake. Just bake until the top is dry and springy to the touch. An overbaked cake will be dry and that may cause cracking.

How to Store Pumpkin Roll Cake:

Store this pumpkin roll in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

You can also freeze the whole pumpkin roll by wrapping it tightly, it will keep well for up to 3 months.

Additionally, you can cut slices of the cake and freeze them individually wrapped. Freeze for up to 3 months. 

If serving from frozen, just let the cake thaw at room temperature for 15-20 minutes prior to serving.

How to Serve Pumpkin Roll Cake:

It’s best to slice the rolled cake, when you’re ready to eat. Remove the cake from the fridge and cut the ends off with a sharp serrated knife. 

Clean the knife with a warm, damp towel. Cut the cake into slices about 1″ in thickness, cleaning the knife in between cuts. 

Other Classic Fall Recipes, You’ll love:

Apple Caramel Cake

Carrot Cake

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Kibbeh Balls

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

This Pumpkin Cake Roll recipe is perfectly moist and brimming with lots of those sweet autumn spices. It has a tender crumb and so much flavor in every bite. No one can resist a roll!

I hope you love this easy Pumpkin roll recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Salt & Sweet on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

Happy baking and happy Fall!