Preheat oven to 375° and grease and line a 9x13 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper cut to size. Do use the right sized pan so that your cake is an even thickness.
In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in pumpkin puree, eggs and lemon juice. Pour mixture into prepared pan and spread the mixture evenly.
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.
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:
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.
For a completely lump free filling, first cream the butter and cream cheese then add the vanilla followed by sifted confectioner’s sugar.
Assemble the pumpkin roll:
When cake has cooled, gently unroll cake 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.
Whisk together the powdered sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Dust the cake with topping. You can reserve some to dust just prior to serving.
Completely chill the rolled cake. Overnight is best but at least 2 hours. Keep the cake refrigerated and slice right before serving.
Video
Notes
Presentation – To keeping a pumpkin roll from cracking properly bake the cake, cool it rolled in a clean, dry kitchen towel, and don’t over-fill it!Variations – Add chopped dried fruits or toasted nuts to the batter, or try adding a tablespoon of your favorite liquor to the buttercream!Storage – Store baked, assembled pumpkin rolls wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. They can also be frozen for up to 2 months, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this because, one thawed, it could be soggy.For the larger sized cake that I made in the video make a 1.5 times of the recipe as written.The 2013 version of this cake was an adaptation of Granny Kat's pumpkin roll from allrecipes.