Pumpkin Roll Cake Recipe (with Cream Cheese Filling) (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to rolling a pumpkin roll? ›

Roll the cake while it's hot!

This is the secret to a perfectly-swirled roll cake. While the cake is still hot, use the parchment to transfer the cake from the baking pan onto a clean kitchen towel. Using the towel as a hot mitt, roll the cake into a tight spiral from the narrow side.

Pumpkin Roll Ingredients

You likely have most of the ingredients you'll need on hand. If not, here's what to add to your grocery list: For the Cake: eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, all-purpose flour, and baking soda. For the Filling: cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, butter, and vanilla extract.

Does a pumpkin roll need to be refrigerated? Yes, store it in the refrigerator. Once you have spread the cream cheese filling and rolled the pumpkin roll back into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving!

Rolling Up a Pumpkin Roll

Rolling up a hot cake will theoretically keep it from cracking and ensures that it's pliable and can be unrolled, slathered with filling, then rolled back up.

Overworking the flour into the egg mixture will activate the gluten and make the pumpkin sheet cake tough and harder to roll. Roll the cake as soon as it is removed from the oven. The best way to prevent the cake roll from cracking is to roll the cake up in the kitchen towel as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Pumpkin pie filling is a mixture of cooked, mashed winter squash that is blended with sweetener and spices. It's a convenient ingredient to use if you're planning to make a pumpkin pie and you're short on time.

Although they both come in cans and the packaging looks almost identical, they can't be used interchangeably. Pumpkin puree doesn't have anything added to it, but pumpkin pie filling comes with pumpkin spice and sugar already mixed in.

If you let the cake cool before you roll it, then it will just break. If you roll while it's too hot, the powdered sugar will melt and it will be sticky.

If you find that your pumpkin cake is too moist, isn't holding it's shape and is gummy in certain areas, it's usually caused by too much liquid in your recipe.

The main culprits of cakes that crack are: problems with the recipe, overhandling or incorrect rolling techniques.

Why did my pumpkin cake sink in the middle? ›

Overbeating, Overmixing, or Undermixing Your Cake Batter

Too much air and your cake will collapse because it simply can't hold onto all that air. Overbeating can add too much additional air and/or large air bubbles which the cake can't support, causing it to collapse in the oven.

Cream cheese should not be left out longer than two hours at room temp (or higher than 40 degrees F) because it then becomes a playground for nasty bacteria like salmonella. No one wants a trip to the emergency room over the carrot cake. If it's been out for longer than two hours, toss it—better safe than sorry.

Sticky cake and cupcake tops are from a reaction with sugar and water. Sugars are hygroscopic, meaning they attract water. Within baked goods, sugars help maintain a moist and tender crumb. Sugar on the exposed tops, however, will grab water from humid air, creating a wet or sticky top.

Make sure you roll up the cake when it's hot out of the oven. If you let it cool much at all, it will risk cracking when rolling or unrolling. I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour as it's the most accurate method and will prevent you from ending up with a dense cake.