This pumpkin cake is a favorite you’ll make year after year. It’s easy to freeze and serve, or perfect for holiday neighbor gifts.
As if the world needed yet another Pumpkin Roll recipe.
But in this case, it really, truly does.
This is the second recipe that made me fall in love with pumpkin-flavored everything. The first of course being the classic pumpkin pie. I mean, what 8 year old doesn’t love pumpkin pie?
(*Note to self: Share pumpkin pie recipe on bloggity blog. Because yes, the world does need another pumpkin pie recipe, too.)
My mom always made this recipe to welcome in fall and it was a popular neighbor gift for the holidays. As soon as we could smell the combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin wafting from the oven, we knew the leaves would soon begin falling from the trees.
My mother in law recently gave this recipe a try, too. She baked it without nuts (and you can too) and as you hope when mother in laws try anything of yours, she gave it her stamp of approval as well.
But then I knew she would. Because the world DOES need another pumpkin roll recipe.
About the Recipe
Assembling the pumpkin roll can be a bit finicky but with a few tricks up your sleeve you should have no trouble creating this tubular stunner.
Prepare your baking sheet with a layer of parchment paper. Don’t skip the parchment paper! It will make transferring this thin sheet cake a whole lot easier to manage. I like parchment paper like this that’s precut so I don’t have to leave anything to guess work.
There’s a trick to baking the pumpkin roll that I forgot about until my mother in law remade this recipe. It’s one that didn’t need to be addressed when my mom made the recipe for us a kids. See, my mom uses really flat baking sheets with no sides to them. The kind you could find in pretty much any grocery store. I however use high sided baking sheets. If you’re like me and use high sided baking sheets, the secret is when spreading the batter, leave a gap between the batter and the edge of the baking sheet so that as it bakes, the expanding cake doesn’t touch and glue to the sides of the pan. This will make it so much easier to lift from the pan.
You can make this recipe with or without nuts as I did for this post. My in-process photos show it without, the final photos show it with. If you like nuts, you’ll want to sprinkle them on top of the batter before baking and lay the nut side of the cooked cake onto the powder sugared towel as described below.
The next trick is to transfer the sheet cake while still warm to a light flour sack kitchen towel (one without any nap) generously sprinkled with powdered sugar. The key here is you don’t want the cake to stick to the towel but you do want the cake to cool into that tubular shape when you roll it into itself. The towel will act like the cream cheese filling at this stage.
Once the cake has cooled, gently unroll it and spread with the best part of this dessert: The cream cheese frosting. I use an offset spatula to make it smooth. It’s one of my favorite kitchen tools.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅔ cup canned pumpkin
- ½ small lemon, juiced
- ¾ cup flour, siften
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- Cream Cheese Spread
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 4 tablespoons soft butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs for 5 minutes, then gradually add sugar. Stir in the pumpkin and lemon juice until well blended.
- In a medium size bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Fold into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Take care not to over mix the batter so it stays light. Spread the mixture onto a 10 X 15 baking sheet or jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper, leaving a ½ inch space from the sides of the pan. Top the pumpkin mixture with the chopped nuts if desired.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes. Meanwhile, generously sift powdered sugar on a clean, fine napped dish cloth or flour sack. After removing the pumpkin cake from the oven, immediately invert onto the powdered sugar covered dish cloth. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar and roll the cake up in the dish towel. Allow to cool completely.
- Unroll the cake. Mix the powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a small bowl until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the cake. Roll up again and chill. Slice into pieces and serve or freeze.
#EatSeasonal November
As we have for more than a year, Becky of Vintage Mixer has amassed a group of food bloggers who are posting #eatseasonal recipes today. Some are some are sweet, some are savory and they’re all in season now with their links shared below.
Follow the #eatseasonal hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to discover more seasonal eats. Visit my recipe archives for more of my favorite November eats.
Butternut Squash Apple Soup with Sage Parmesan Croutons by Well Plated
Whole Wheat Pancakes with Balsamic Caramel Apples by Climbing Grier Mountain
Portuguese Kale and Potato Soup by Letty’s Kitchen
Easy Cranberry, Apple & Pomegranate Sauce by Cookin’ Canuck
Beet, Goat Cheese and Hazelnut Galette by Vintage Mixer
Endive Salad Bites with Pears, Blue Cheese, & Pecans by Flavor the Moments
Butternut Squash Burrito Bowls by Mountain Mama Cooks
Slow Cooker Creamy Turkey and Butternut Squash Chili by Bless this Mess
Butternut Squash and Rosemary Biscuits by Completely Delicious
Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes with Sage Browned Butter by Floating Kitchen
Honey Roasted Beets and Kale by Food for My Family
Homemade Cinnamon Apple Pop-Tarts by From Gate to Plate
Thank you Becky for gathering us all around this virtual table.
Enjoy everyone, and get into the kitchen and make something good!
As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.
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What a gorgeous pumpkin roll. I make one every year for Thanksgiving, but still have yet to post a recipe. Haha!! Your tips and tricks are fantastic 🙂
Why thank you Aimee! I’d love to see your recipe for a pumpkin roll, there’s always room to learn from master bakers like you!
Thank you for giving us the pumpkin roll we all needed. And that cream cheese filling? Match made in heaven.
Thanks Sarah! My mom used to make it all the time, and my mother-in-law gave it her seal of approval too. Next time I may have to try a chocolate version. Wouldn’t that be decadent!
Ok, I think these might be my favorite pictures of any roll cake EVER! They are just stunning. I could stare at them all day! Gorgeous recipe Heidi and great tips. I haven’t made a roll cake in years. I think I need to attempt one this Holiday season!
Aw thanks Liz! You TOTALLY need to give this one a try. It’s a winner!
There are never too many pumpkin roll recipes in the world, especially when they look this good! I love making cake rolls and your tips here are great! I will definitely keep them in mind for next time. 🙂
Yum! Another delicious pumpkin recipe is always welcome in my book. This looks so fun to make too!
So long as you follow some of the tips I gave, it’s really easy to pull together. Or roll together. Thanks Madeline!
Long live the pumpkin roll!!! How did you know this is my all time favorite pumpkin dessert but I’ve never made it. I feel like you just made it attainable and they my friend is very dangerous knowledge. And gorgeous pictures as always!
Isn’t that funny Melissa? Some of my favorite desserts I’ve always left to others to make for me too. Don’t miss out on this one!
Made the pumpkin roll…thank you soooo much for the step by step and pics….have always wanted to make. First time ever. It is easier than it seems.
Love me a good pumpkin roll. I especially like the nuts and the texture they bring to the finished roll. I always drool over your photos and try to glean styling and lighting tips. You rock!
Aw, Letty! Thanks. And your Portugese soup? Perfect for fall, can’t wait to add it to my international flavored recipe files.
So… I’m sitting here all by myself… trying to catch up on my emails… and I find this delicious looking pumpkin roll…. and I say out loud to myself… “Damn – THAT LOOKS GOOD!!” Pinning this baby immediately.
Ha! Sometimes we need a little diversion from the e-mail chain. Glad this one caught your eye!
The world definitely needs more pumpkin rolls especially if it’s your recipe. Rolled cakes always scare me but this might just convince me to try one!
This may be the prettiest pumpkin roll I’ve ever seen!
Absolutely gorgeous pumpkin roll, I love your styling on this!
yeeees! the world does need another pumpkin roll, thanks for obliging 😉
This is officially the prettiest pumpkin roll cake that I’ve ever seen! These photos!!!! <3
Yum! Nothing says fall quite like a pumpkin roll. Gorgeous photos and it looks like it tastes like a dream 🙂
This pumpkin roll looks gorgeous, Heidi. I love the nut topping on these rolls, too!
I have found that if generously dust my cake with powdered sugar first then lay the towel over it, I can then avoid the powdered sugar dust cloud by covering the towel with a platter and then inverting it (so much less mess to clean-up). Remove the parchment, this way when you roll your cake/towel you can just leave it on that platter to cool, with no transfer necessary you eliminate the risk of breaking your roll during the transfer. Cool it, unroll it, frost it, re-roll it all on the same platter. Give it a half twist, viola, ready for presentation/service.
Great tips on the rolling. It’s certainly the one part of this that takes a little practice. Thank you!
Could sweet potato be substituted for the pumpkin
I make this exact recipe frequently and I love it! Do you have any special tips on turning the cake onto the powder sugar coated towel? I must say I do get it done, but am always nervous about that technique.
Sprinkle the towel with the powdered sugar then place the towel sugar side down on top of the cake. Top that with a cooling rack and then flip! You’ll then have the cooling rack on the bottom and the inverted cake. From there, roll as I’ve shared above. Good luck!
Hi! The moment I took first read I decide I gonna bake it. So I deed (now it’s cooling in the fridge. Only down side lots of brakes during rolling with cream cheese feeling. Not sure what have I done wrong… Sugared towel – checked. Roll up and let it cool – check… Any suggestions for next try? Thank you.
I made this today and included the optional pecans. Delicious! I was nervous about flipping it but my husband had no trouble and said the trick is to do it quickly. Definitely a keeper!
I’ve made this twice now and everyone loves it. Even my wife, who’s not a pumpkin fan, loved it (that’s why I ended up making it again ). Quick question though, how do you keep it from cracking? I roll it in the towel and let it cool, frost it, and roll it back up but it always cracks down the side during the final roll. Any tips?
Can’t wait to try the reciepes.
Just made this and can’t wait to try it! My roll has one major crack along the length of it, but I probably caused it in the process of flipping it. I definitely should have finished reading through the comments section. The is my first roll ever and it turned out better than I thought it would. Thanks for the recipe, Heidi! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
YOU mentioned cream cheese spread. HOW much? is it whipped kind? thanks.
Never mind. I see it is not spaced properly. Sorry.
Hi! I just tried this–the cream cheese icing was delicious, however my cake was a little chewy. Any suggestions on how to fix this for next time?
*I?d have to check with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
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