Pumpkin Roll

A pumpkin roll for me is a must bake during fall. Ever since I can remember, my grandma always made a pumpkin roll for my siblings and I whenever we went to visit.

This year, I attempted to make a pumpkin roll myself for the first time ever! Anddd I’'ll be honest, the first attempt was pretty ugly. But it’s okay because I learned what not to do when making a pumpkin roll. Now, I can share my failures with you so your pumpkin roll can be a success the first time around!

Pumpkin roll do's and don't's

DONT’S: Here’s What Went Wrong

• The cake was too thick. I baked the cake in the wrong pan the first time. It was too small, resulting in a thicker cake which meant it was way more likely to break when rolling. When you make your pumpkin roll, make sure you bake the cake in a 10x15in pan.
• I used parchment paper to roll the cake in. I know this probably works for a lot of people, but it didn’t for me! So just to be safe, I’d advise against rolling the cake in the parchment. After my first pumpkin roll failure, I emailed my grandma to ask how she makes hers. Her answer? “dumb luck” for one, but she also said she uses a kitchen towel covered in powdered sugar. I used her method and it worked out perfectly! To be safe, as I rolled the cake in the towel, I also powdered the bottom side of the towel.
• I refrigerated it overnight. After rolling it the first time, I left it overnight in the fridge and was planning on adding the filling in the morning. When I went to unroll it, it completely fell apart and stuck to the parchment paper. A disaster.

DO’S:

• Bake the cake in a 10x15 in pan.
• Roll the cake in a powdered sugar dusted kitchen towel. Dust the non-powdered bottom side of the towel with powdered sugar as you roll.
• Let the cake cool for about 25-30 minutes rolled up in the towel. Cool it on a wire rack with the seam side down.

Steps to making a pumpkin roll

For such a pretty and intricate looking dessert, the recipe and steps are surprisingly simple! The pumpkin cake and cream cheese filling are each only a few ingredients and so easy to throw together. For the cake, mix together the wet ingredients and dry ingredients in separate bowls. Then add the dry mixture (flour and baking soda) to the wet and combine. Lastly, pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet.

The cinnamon cream cheese filling for the pumpkin roll can all be made in one bowl. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and combine with a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth and creamy! Make sure the cream cheese is room temperature.

What kind of pan should I use?

Any kind of baking sheet/pan that measures 10x15 inches, and has at least 1 inch tall sides. Any smaller and your cake will be too thick to roll up!

Every single recipe out there for a pumpkin roll specifies to use a “jelly roll pan” THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE RECIPES because I still have no idea what that is. I even went to Target to buy what I thought was a “jelly roll pan” but it was actually just a pan for making sheet cakes. I’m not mad about it. But I had the perfect pan all along- my trusty 10x15 in baking sheet with 1 inch raised sides. You don’t need to go out and buy anything fancy to make this!

Preparing the pan:

Spray the pan with cooking spray, making sure to get the sides as well. Then cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the pan and stick it on there. we are not taking any chances here

How to roll up the pumpkin cake

First, prepare your towel. Make sure it’s big enough for your cake to be rolled up in! Lay the towel on your surface so its flat, and then sift powdered sugar on top of the towel so it is thoroughly covered. The powdered sugar will prevent the cake from sticking to the towel.

You want to roll up the cake while it’s still pretty hot, because this will prevent the cake from cracking and falling apart.

Once the cake is finished baking, remove it from the oven and loosen the cake from the pan by running a knife around the edges, if needed. Using oven mitts if you have to in order to handle the pan, quickly flip the cake onto the towel. Peel off the parchment paper, and then roll up the cake with the towel (so the towel is rolled inside the cake). As you roll, dust the bottom un-powdered side of the towel with powdered sugar, just to be safe.

This is how you roll it up! Except with a dish towel. See where my thumb is in the first pic? That’s where you’ll be powdering as you roll up the cake!

Move the rolled up cake to a wire rack and let it cool completely, with the seam side down.

Once the cake is cooled, unroll it and spread on your cinnamon cream cheese filling, making sure to leave a bit of a border around the edges so it doesn’t seep out when you’re rolling the cake back up.

Once the cinnamon cream cheese is spread on nice and thick, roll up the cake again, this time without the towel.

Wrap the roll in plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for around 30 minutes, so it can set up. When it comes out, drown it in powdered sugar!

Pumpkin spice

This recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t want to go out and buy a jar, I have my own recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice here.

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you would leave a rating and a comment down below! You can also share on Instagram and tag me @lalaskitchentable- I love to see what you make!

Pumpkin Roll

This Pumpkin Roll has a decadent cinnamon cream cheese filling, and is my personal number-one favorite fall dessert! The combination of pumpkin and cream cheese is unbeatable, and with cinnamon thrown into the mix it’s absolutely heavenly! This dessert is simple to make and absolutely gorgeous to look at.

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling:

• 6 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature (1 package))
• 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray and line a 10x15 jelly roll pan- or baking sheet with raised sides- with nonstick spray and parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin. In a separate bowl, mix together flour and baking soda. Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until smooth. Evenly spread the mixture over the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
4. When it’s ready, remove the cake from the oven. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and prepare your kitchen towel by dusting it with a generous amount of powdered sugar. Using oven mitts, flip the cake from the pan onto the prepared towel. Peel off the parchment paper and begin rolling the cake along with the towel, so it’s inside. To be safe, I dusted powdered sugar on the bottom side of the towel as I rolled it up. Place the rolled cake seam side down on a wire rack and let it cool.
5. Meanwhile, make the cinnamon cream cheese filling. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Transfer to the fridge while the cake is cooling.
6. Once cooled, Unroll the cake and spread with cream cheese filling, leaving a 1/2 inch border not covered in the cinnamon cream cheese.
7. Roll up the cake again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow it to set up in the fridge, until ready to serve. Sprinkle with a healthy dusting of powdered sugar, slice, and enjoy!

Dessert

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