Pumpkin Roll Cake
Pumpkin roll cake is a moist, pumpkin cake filled with homemade whipped cream. It’s reminiscent of pumpkin pie, without all the work!
Is there anything more special than a roll cake? They’re incredibly festive and fun, and they always wow the crowd.
This Pumpkin Roll Cake is moist and delicious, with a fresh whipped cream filling. It’s like pumpkin pie in cake form!
I’d always been intimidated to make one before I went to cooking school…somehow I just knew my cake would crack when inverting it or rolling it.
In reality, they’re very easy to make once you get some experience making genoise cakes. It can be a bit tricky at first, but it is easy and it’s literally in the oven in 20 minutes.
This cake is incredibly moist and forgiving thanks to the pumpkin purée, so it will not crack on you. 🙂
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- If you’ve never made a cake roll, this is a fun and easy place to start as the cake is nice and moist. If it doesn’t make your guests eyes light up, I sincerely don’t know what will — it’s like a big pumpkin Ho-Ho!
- This pumpkin cake roll is moist and light, and tastes like pumpkin pie with much less effort.
- The cake batter and pumpkin roll filling are made with basic ingredients you likely have on hand already.
Recipe ingredients
This pumpkin spice roll cake might look fancy, but the ingredients list is actually fairly simple.
Ingredient notes
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs will increase in volume much faster than cold eggs. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes.
- Pumpkin puree. You need 100% pure pumpkin puree for this recipe, NOT canned pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin pie spice. Use your favorite store-bought pumpkin pie spice or make your own.
- Powdered sugar. You need a decent amount of powdered sugar to help shape the pumpkin swiss roll.
- Heavy whipping cream. This is the base of the pumpkin roll filling. Cold heavy whipping cream will whip up the best.
How to make this recipe
So the first thing with a genoise cake is always beating those eggs with the sugar until they’re tripled in volume.
The first photo shows what the mixture looked like before beating, and the middle is what it looked like afterward. The batter is light and airy, and you know it’s done when you dip the whisk attachment into the batter, “draw” a figure 8 with the batter, and it stays for a few seconds.
- I beat the pumpkin in about 1/4 cup at a time, as I felt that one big addition might deflate the airiness of the batter. It worked like a charm.
- In school, I learned to sift the flour 3 times prior to adding it to the batter, then sifting it in 1/3 at a time and folding as gently as possible, so that’s the technique I used here.
- The key is folding nice and gently and as little as possible to keep our batter airy. It sounds temperamental, and it is, but it’s still easy! Trust me.
- I brushed my rimmed baking sheet with a light coating of melted butter, then lined it with parchment paper, cutting down into the corner of the pan so the parchment fit into the corners nice and snugly. Brush more melted butter over the parchment, and gently pour the batter into the pan.
- Use a baby offset spatula to gently spread the batter in an even layer without deflating it.
- The cake is so thin that it bakes up in only 12-15 minutes. When it springs back, it’s done.
- Cool it 5 minutes, then comes the “scary” part…time to turn it out. You’ll want to have a kitchen towel on the counter about the size of the cake, with a very generous coating of powdered sugar all over it.
- The first photo shows my bread towel, but the problem was, I only had a very light coating of powdered sugar on it. Because of that, my cake stuck to the towel quite a bit.
- My advice is to make sure that the powdered sugar is thick enough to completely cover the towel so the cake doesn’t stick.
- The best way to turn the cake out is to hold the top sides of the pan with pot holders, holding onto the overlapping parchment and part of the cake, and just turn out in a quick motion. Peel off the parchment, and roll the cake up immediately and cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, unroll and trim the edges.
- Spread the whipped cream over the cake leaving about a 1/2″ space on the sides, and roll up snugly. If some whipped cream oozes out, you can eat that, too. 😉
- Place on a serving plate and chill for about 2 hours. The longer it sits, the better it gets.
FAQ’s
I recommend storing the pumpkin roll in plastic wrap for best results. It will last up to 3 days in the fridge.
Yes, the cake needs to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before it can be sliced and served. However, it can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance.
What to serve with this recipe
This easy pumpkin roll is the perfect fall dessert. Try serving it alongside one or more of these classic fall recipes:
- Instant Pot vegetable soup
- Pumpkin chili
- Spatchcock turkey
- Cheesy broccoli and rice casserole
- Slow cooker glazed ham
Recipe notes
- Brush both the baking tray and the parchment paper with melted butter to prevent the cake from sticking to it.
- Add a thick dusting of powdered sugar to your towel to make sure the cake doesn’t stick to it either.
- Make sure to use pumpkin puree for this recipe rather than pumpkin pie filling (which is pre-sweetened and spiced).
More pumpkin desserts you’ll love:
- Healthy pumpkin muffins
- Soft pumpkin cookies by Lovely Little Kitchen
- Pumpkin breakfast cookies
- Pumpkin chocolate chip bread
- Pumpkin pie bars
- Pumpkin pie from scratch
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment and rating below, or tag me @flavorthemoments on Instagram!
Pumpkin Roll Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted (for the pan)
- 3 large eggs room temperature*
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- [1/2 teaspoon homemade pumpkin pie spice]
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- large kitchen towel
- powdered sugar for dusting the kitchen towel
For the whipped cream filling:
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare the cake:
- Position the oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Brush half of the butter over a jelly roll pan measuring about 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" x 1"h, and line with parchment paper large enough to provide an overhang over the sides of the pan. Cut a line from the corner of the parchment down into the corner of the pan so the parchment fits snugly. Brush the parchment with the other half of the melted butter and set aside.
- Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Sift the mixture into onto a sheet of waxed paper, then sift once more and set aside.
- Place the eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk to combine. Beat on medium high speed, about 5-8 minutes, or until the mixture has tripled in volume. Dip the whisk into the batter and draw a figure 8 — if it holds for a few seconds, it’s ready. Stir the vanilla into the pumpkin and add it to the egg mixture in about 4 additions, beating on medium high speed until each addition is incorporated.
- Sift 1/3 of the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and gently fold with a rubber scraper until just incorporated, being careful not to deflate the batter. Sift 1/3 more and fold, repeating until the flour has been incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan and gently spread the batter evenly with a baby offset spatula, being careful not to deflate it. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the cake springs back when gently pressed with your finger. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack.
- Lay a kitchen towel large enough for the cake on the counter. Dust the towel with a generous amount of powdered sugar so that the towel is completely covered. Pick up the cake pan with pot holders, holding it upright from the top with the cake facing away from you, making sure the pot holders are around the top of the cake slightly to keep it in place. Hold the cake at an angle over the sugar dusted kitchen towel, remove your hands and turn the cake out quickly onto the kitchen towel. Remove the parchment paper, and roll the cake in the towel, and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Assemble the cake:
- When the cake has cooled completely, unroll it and trim off the outer edges of the cake with a serrated knife. Set aside.
- Place the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium high just until stiff peaks begin to form. Spread onto the cake in an even layer leaving 1/2″ border around the edges. The cream should be spread to about 1/4″ thickness, as if there’s too much it will ooze out of the sides when rolled — you will have some cream left over. Roll the cake from the short end, tucking it in as you go. Place on a serving dish and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- Total time above includes 2 hours for the cake the set in the fridge. The longer the cake sits, the better it is! Store covered with plastic wrap for best results (if you have leftovers).
- *Room temperature eggs will increase in volume much faster than cold eggs. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes.
- You will more than likely have some whipped cream leftover.
- Recipe adapted from Taste of Home .
- Whipped cream filling by Flavor the Moments.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
45 Comments on “Pumpkin Roll Cake”
This looks way too good!
Thank you, Jocelyn! 🙂
Looks delicious Marcie!! I have only done chocolate cake rolls, so this will be fun to try. 🙂
Thank you, Lisa! I love pumpkin ones, too, and can’t wait to do another! 🙂
This pumpkin cake looks amazing, Marcie! I’ve never had a pumpkin kind before, so I’m loving this recipe. Definitely a nice change from the regular spice cakes or bread. Pinning to try out!
Thank you, Gayle! This was my first pumpkin one and really was light and delicious like pie. I hope you can give it a try!
I still have yet to make a cake roll! I keep meaning to put it on my must-make list and it just never happens! This looks awesome – yay for pumpkin! I’m finally starting to get in the mood for all things pumpkins – it’s a good feeling 🙂
Yes to pumpkin, and I know you’ll be cranking out plenty of great pumpkin recipes for me to drool over. haha And you would totally rock a cake roll! 🙂
Pumpkin cake roll is one of my favorites! It was actually the first thing I ever tried made with pumpkin. Of course, I instantly fell in love. That creamy filling looks divine!
I can’t believe I’ve never had one until now! The whipped cream made it nice and light, just like pie! 🙂
Thank you, Meghan! I really love making cake rolls — they’re so fun!
Thank you, Arpita! 🙂
I almost feel like all of my tips will scare people into thinking this is too hard. I know so many people are intimidated by cake rolls, so hopefully the tips help! Thanks for the pin, Lindsey! 🙂
Gorgeous! Love the filling to cake ratio 🙂
Thank you, Medha! 🙂
Oh I love this cake. It reminds me of home, because my mom always made roll cakes. But we never had pumpkin. Can’t wait to try this!
How nice you grew up with roll cakes! The closest I came was Ho-Ho’s! haha This pumpkin one is so light and tasty. 🙂
I love roll cakes, this one looks amazing!!
Thank you, Manali! 🙂
Pumpkin roll is one of my favorites! Yours looks fabulous, Marcie! 🙂
Thank you, Jocelyn! 🙂
So now I know exactly where to come if I want to have a go at a cake roll … which I’d love to!
These are called ‘Swiss rolls’ in the UK – no idea why but it makes the cake sound quite posh, doesn’t it? Yours doesn’t need a posh name to make it posh, though. As you said, any guest would be impressed with this!
I’m sure Swiss rolls are delicious, and they do sound posh. 🙂 Thanks, Helen, and I hope you have a great weekend!
I’ve always wanted to try cake rolls! I am definitely going to have to make time for this recipe over the weekend!
I hope you do, Annie — you won’t regret it! 🙂
This is the prettiest pumpkin roll I have ever seen! Wonderfullllllllllll!
Thank you so much, Ashley! 🙂
Pumpkin roll is one of my favorite desserts, if not my absolute favorite. Yours looks amazing and major yum!
Thank you, Pamela!:)
I’ve always wanted to make a cake roll .. and now I can make a pumpkin one. . because it’s fall and there’s lots of pumpkin love over here too! 🙂 love this cake roll!
Thank you, Alice, and this is a great cake roll to start with…the cake is SO moist. I can’t wait to make another! 🙂
I’ve never had a Swiss roll, but it has to be good! I’d never turned down a cake roll. 🙂
Thank you for stopping by! I will definitely be making another pumpkin roll soon — it was too good and it went too fast. 🙂
gosh this is one delicious looking roll!
Thank you, Ami! 🙂
This looks delicious!!
Thank you, Jess! 🙂
Love your step by step pics on this one! I’ve never made a cake roll, but always wanted to. And the pumpkin in sounding the best! Pinned 🙂
Oh Chelsea, I hope you make one — it will be so easy for an awesome baker like you! Thanks for the pin and happy Sunday! 🙂
Your pumpkin cake roll looks amazing Marcie! I’ve always wanted to make a cake roll and keep getting scared but not I can totally attempt it with your awesome step by step pics 🙂 Love that dreamy cream filling too!
Thank you Kelly, and this cake roll would be nothing for you…I mean, you make macarons like they’re chocolate chip cookies! YOU GOT THIS. haha Can’t wait to see your first one…it will be incredible. 🙂
Oh yes!! I love this pumpkin roll Marcie. Basically if you stuff anything with cream, I am all over it!! 🙂 Pinned!!
I’m with you on the whipped cream thing! It makes everything better!
Such a great treat for Thanksgiving Day! Thanks for linking up with SNF! Pinned to our party board!!
Thank you, Jaren!