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

FAQs

What is the secret to the 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.

How to keep pumpkin roll from cracking: The biggest trick to preventing your cake roll from cracking is to roll the cake up in the parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven. The hot cake will be soft and pliable and should roll up without cracking.

Pumpkin rolls keep well in the refrigerator and freezer, so they're the perfect dessert to make ahead of time if you'd like. To store your pumpkin roll, wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap. Then you can either refrigerate it for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

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.

My pumpkin rolls always crack; what am I doing wrong??

You also want to pull the cake from the oven as soon as it is done baking. An over-baked cake is much more likely to crack, even if rolled while it is hot from the oven.

Also, it's crucial that your ingredients are all room temperature so that the cream cheese filling can be nice and sturdy. Otherwise, the filling will be too thin and will ooze out of the pumpkin roll. (If it seems too thin, just add more powdered sugar.) Refrigerate until ready to use.

There's a few reasons why this can happen (it happens to me sometimes too!). If the pumpkin roll is sticking to the kitchen towel that you've rolled the cake in, then it could be because there wasn't enough powdered sugar on the towel. Moisture is another important factor.

Roll the cake while it's warm

Once your cake is out of the oven, leave it for 1-2 minutes, then flip it over onto your clean tea towel that's been dusted with cocoa powder. Generously dust the top of the cake with more cocoa powder, and then very carefully and gently roll her up.

The cake was under-baked: The cake will be very moist and difficult to handle. With the whipped cream it may have too much moisture and will fall apart easily. The cake was over-baked: If over-baked the cake will be a lot drier and more prone to cracks. A crack in your roll can cause the swiss roll to fall apart.

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

How long can cream cheese sit out? ›

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.

Homemade pie that has been left out for longer than two hours should be thrown away. If you left any pumpkin pie out for too long, don't be tempted to roll the dice.

There are a few reasons that the outside of your cake might be sticky or “wet” to the touch. Here's how to avoid that dilemma: Roll the cake while it is still warm from the oven. Letting the cake cool before you roll it the first time is one of the most common reasons for cracks or other issues.

A group of the Class of 1969 had set a goal to collect 69 pumpkins to roll down Grove Hill in one colossal dump. Unknowingly, Steve and Allen Leach became the leaders of this secret undertaking. With the help of many members of the class, pumpkins were summarily stolen and deposited in the Leach's barn on Falls Road.