Pumpkin Roll Recipe

This spiced pumpkin roll recipe makes a soft, moist pumpkin cake is rolled around an easy cream cheese buttercream! A professional pastry chef gives you all the tips for a perfect roll cake every time!

This pumpkin roll recipe is light, tender and perfectly spiced. A pumpkin sponge cake is rolled around the the best cream cheese buttercream. It is way easier than you’d think plus I give you all the professional tips and tricks for the perfect pumpkin roll the first time!

If you aren’t feeling the roulade stress, you could bake my pumpkin layer cake instead. Add a little bourbon to the buttercream like in these pumpkin pecan pie cupcakes or this red velvet cake. It’s Thanksgiving. Pour it up!

How to make a perfect pumpkin roll cake

• Start with a well baked cake. An over-baked cake will be dry and have a tendency to crack. Brush with simple syrup for a quick fix. An underbaked cake is possibly worse because it will be sticky and gooey and it will stick to the towel, to you and to basically everything you don’t want it to stick to. If this happens skip pre-rolling in the towel and allow to cool completely in the pan before rolling.
• Cool the cake in a towel. Cooling the cake in the towel keeps the cake moist and pre-rolling allows it to acclimate to its new rolled shape. It is less likely to crack.   
• Use a serrated knife for the perfect slice. Chill your cake well before slicing and slice with a sharp knife or a serrated knife! Dip the knife in hot water and wipe clean with a towel before each slice for perfect slices!

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Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour has just the right amount of gluten to make a tender pumpkin roll cake that is still flexible enough to roll.
• Sugar: I use granulated sugar in this cake. It is here for the more obvious flavor reasons, but also to aid in leavening, moisture, texture and stability.
• Baking Soda: Do check the freshness of your baking soda and double check that it’s not baking powder! If it’s not fresh, send it to the back of the refrigerator to absorb some odors, or clean your marble countertops with it.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice: I used my pumpkin spice recipe, which features classics like nutmeg and a teaspoon ground cloves. But, you could use store-bought as well.
• Pumpkin Puree: I use Libby’s pumpkin puree because it is consistent and that is what I use to develop all my recipes. Be sure to grab pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie mix, and to grab an extra can for some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!
• Eggs: Large eggs allow you to emulsify all that oil into the batter, resulting in a moist, not greasy, cake. They also help with leavening by trapping air with the sugar.
• Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is the flavor here! My motto for citrus juices is that fresh is always best.
• Powdered Sugar: Dust powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar over the cake prior to rolling. It’s also in the buttercream!
• Cream Cheese: I use original Philadelphia Cream Cheese for all my baked goods including frostings and buttercreams. I also use full fat though reduced fat can be substituted. Just ensure that it is not whipped. Whipped will make the buttercream too soft and it won’t support the layers or stay in the roll.
• Unsalted Butter: In frostings and buttercreams the butter is there for stability. It will firm up when cold, which helps the buttercream stay in the pumpkin roll. I usually stick with the variety without salt!
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla Extract adds a beautiful flavor to the buttercream.

How to Make Pumpkin Rolls

Use these instructions to make the perfect pumpkin roll cake every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Prepare the pumpkin cake:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375° and grease and line a 9×13 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper cut to size. Do use the right sized pan so that your cake is an even thickness.

Step 2: In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs and lemon juice. Pour cake batter into prepared pan and spread the mixture evenly.

Step 3: Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly. You can also use a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake at an angle. The angle gives you more surface area to get an accurate read.

Step 4: Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes. While the cake cools, lay a clean, unscented, lint free towel on the counter. Turn the cake onto the towel leaving only ½ inch of towel exposed at one short end. Start rolling the cake and towel together lengthwise at the end with the smallest overhang. Place the cake rolled in the towel on a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Make the cream cheese filling:

Step 5: In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese, softened butter, vanilla and 1 cup confectioner’s sugar together until smooth.

Assemble the pumpkin roll:

Step 6: When cake has cooled completely on the wire rack, gently unroll cake (don’t remove it from the towel!) and spread the icing with a small offset spatula within a ¼ inch of each side. Carefully re-roll the cake, making sure to tuck filling into the starting curl so that there is filling at the very center of the roll.

Step 7: Whisk together confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon for the topping in a small bowl. Dust over the top of the cake. You can also do this again right before serving.

Step 7: Completely chill the rolled cake. Overnight is best but at least 2 hours. Keep the cake refrigerated and slice right before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed pumpkin recipes or try more of our cake recipes.