Pumpkin Roll

If you’re a pumpkin fan, you’ll love this homemade pumpkin roll featuring a soft, moist cake and fluffy cream cheese filling with a hint of orange flavor.

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Pumpkin recipes give me all the fall feels. In our area we don’t have a colorful fall, the leaves mostly just turn brown instead of bright oranges and reds. So my favorite things about fall are mostly food related. 😆 I love all the pumpkin spice goodies, comforting soups, and cuddling up in my cozy blanket with a cup of hot tea on cold mornings. Although, I must confess I also appreciate the smell of fall in the breeze and getting to wear cozy sweaters.

Now let’s talk about this pumpkin roll recipe

Pumpkin cake

We start with a soft and fluffy pumpkin cake base. You’ll notice the recipe doesn’t call for oil and that’s because the cake needs to be spongy and pliable. Another factor that makes this cake spongy is beating the egg whites to incorporate more air. Start by separating the egg whites from the yolks, then beat the egg whites until they’re frothy. Stream in the granulated sugar and keep beating until the egg whites form stiff, shiny peaks; set aside.

Next, beat the egg yolks with the brown sugar until the mixture is thick and fluffy. Mix in the pumpkin puree and vanilla, followed by the dry ingredients. Then it’s time to fold in the beaten egg whites. It’s important that you gently fold in the egg whites so you don’t deflate the air you just incorporated into them. I explain the folding process in more detail in my No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie recipe.

Spread the cake batter evenly in a 10×15-inch baking sheet lined with greased parchment paper. I’ve tried making this cake roll without greasing the parchment paper and ended up with broken cake when I peeled the parchment paper off, so don’t skip the greasing part.

Because this is such a thin layer of cake, it only takes around 10 minutes to bake. Yay!

How to keep the pumpkin cake roll from cracking

While the cake is baking, spread out a clean, lint-free towel and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, gently flip it onto the towel and peel off the parchment paper. Then, starting with a short side, roll the cake up with the towel. Rolling the cake while it’s still warm helps it adjust to the rolled shape without cracking.

Let the cake cool completely before spreading it with the cream cheese filling.

The cream cheese filling

Is there anyone else who feels like cream cheese fillings tend to be overly sweet? Because same! My mom would sometimes just decrease the amount of filling, but I think cake rolls are prettier if they have a thick layer of filling. So here’s what I came up with: Add whipped cream to the cream cheese filling; it stabilizes and thickens the filling while also resulting in a light and fluffy filling that pairs perfectly with the melt-in-your-mouth cake layer.

My cream cheese filling recipe also calls for grated orange zest because I love the hint of orange flavor, but if you’re not into the orange flavor, feel free to skip it.

Finally, transfer the cake roll to the fridge for an hour to let the filling set. Just before serving, decorate with extra whipped cream and cinnamon or give it a dusting of powdered sugar. Either way, be prepared for rave reviews from your friends and family when you serve it!

Looking for more pumpkin goodies?

Try my Pumpkin Chai Donuts or The Best Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies.

What you’ll need to make this recipe

• Jelly Roll Pan (15×10-inch baking sheet)
• Electric mixer
• Parchment paper

Happy baking, friends!

Pumpkin Cake Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

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Prep Time: 1 hour Cooking Time: 10 minutes 10 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• For the cake:
• 3 eggs, separated
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup powdered sugar for sprinkling on the towel
• For the filling:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest, optional
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream*
• Additional whipped cream for decorative topping, if desired

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 10x15-inch baking sheet with parchment paper, then spray the parchment paper with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks start to form. Slowly stream in the granulated sugar, beating all the while; keep beating until the sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks have formed; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the brown sugar until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon; mix until combined.
4. Add half of the beaten egg whites to the cake mixture and gently fold in until no white streaks remain; repeat with the remaining egg whites.
5. Pour the batter into the parchment-lined pan and spread evenly. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched.
6. In the meantime, spread out a clean towel and sprinkle with the ¼ cup of powdered sugar.
7. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, flip it onto the towel and peel off the parchment paper. Then roll the cake up with the towel. Let it cool completely.
8. For the filling, cream the powdered sugar and cream cheese until fluffy, 1-2 minutes; mix in the orange zest (if using) and vanilla extract.
9. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
10. Unroll the cake and spread evenly with the filling. Roll it back up. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour to let the filling set. 
11. Decorate with additional whipped cream (I piped stars on the top, then sprinkled it with cinnamon), or simply sprinkle with additional powdered sugar just before serving.

 

Notes

*I always use sweetened cream so I decrease the amount of powdered sugar to ¾ cup. The cake roll can be stored, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.