This pumpkin roll recipe is a simple pumpkin cake recipe filled with a homemade cream cheese frosting and rolled into a perfect spiral. This pumpkin roll cake with cream cheese frosting swirl is the perfect fall dessert and great for the holidays.
This pumpkin roll with cream cheese frosting filling is a classic, delicious fall dessert made with simple ingredients for a flavorful fall dessert. We love to serve this pumpkin dessert as a fun fall treat and it is also great for a Thanksgiving dessert.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy Fall Dessert
- Kid-Friendly
- Great for Holidays
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Flour - Unbleached all-purpose flour works great in this cake recipe. You can use a gluten-free flour blend to make a gluten-free pumpkin roll cake.
- Cane Sugar - Cane sugar or white sugar adds sweetness to the cake.
- Cinnamon - Cinnamon gives the roll its classic fall flavor.
- Baking Soda - Baking soda helps to slightly leaven the cake.
- Salt - Salt enhances the flavors of the cake.
- Eggs - Eggs provide structure to the cake.
- Pumpkin Puree - Canned pumpkin puree or fresh pumpkin give this cake its classic pumpkin flavor.
- Powdered Sugar - Powdered sugar is sprinkled over the tea towel to keep the cake from sticking when it is rolled up to cool before frosting.
- Cream Cheese Frosting - You can use store-bought cream cheese frosting or make your own homemade cream cheese filling with cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts is located on the recipe card below.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Mixing Bowl - A mixing bowl is necessary for mixing both the cake batter and frosting.
- Whisk - A whisk helps to mix the cake batter until smooth.
- Sheet Pan - A quarter sheet pan is the perfect size pan to bake this cake in.
- Parchment Paper - We recommend lining the pan with parchment paper to make it easier to remove the baked cake.
- Tea Towel - A tea towel helps to easily roll the cake up when waiting for it to cool.
- Hand Mixer - A hand mixer helps to make the frosting.
- Frosting Spatula - A frosting spatula helps to spread the frosting onto the cake before rolling it up.
How to Make a Pumpkin Roll
Step 1. Mix the dry ingredients together.
Step 2. Add the eggs and pumpkin puree and whisk until smooth and creamy.
Step 3. Pour the cake batter into a lined pan.
Step 4. Bake the cake in the oven.
Step 5. Roll the cake up in a tea towel and allow to cool, then unroll and frost.
Step 6. Roll the cake up then chill before cutting into slices to serve.
Recipe Serving Suggestions
This recipe makes one pumpkin roll that can be cut into 10 servings. We love to serve this pumpkin rolls during the fall and for holiday parties and dinners.
If you like this recipe, you will love our other crowd-pleasing dessert recipes.
Expert Tips & Variations
- Grease the sheet pan and parchment paper. This helps the cake to not stick after baking.
- Don't under-bake or overbake the cake. The baking time in the recipe is 12-15 minutes, but I recommend keeping a close eye on the cake and pulling it out as soon as a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Under-baking would result in a gooey cake that will not roll well. An overbaked cake will dry out and possibly crack when rolling.
- Liberally sprinkle powdered sugar on the tea towel. This helps the cake to not stick to the tea towel as it is rolled up and cooling.
- Allow the rolled cake to cool completely. The key to a good roll is allowing the cake to cool completely before frosting and rolling up. This is important because if the cake is still warm, the cream cheese filling will melt. and the cake will not hold its roll shape.
- Chill the cake before serving. Chilling the cake with the frosting swirl in the fridge for at least an hour before serving allows the cream cheese frosting and the cake to set.
How to Store the Pumpkin Roll
- Refrigerator - in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freezer - in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.
Recipe FAQ
You can make this recipe gluten-free by replacing the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
More Dessert Recipes
Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting Swirl
This pumpkin roll recipe is a simple pumpkin cake recipe filled with a homemade cream cheese frosting and rolled into a perfect spiral. This pumpkin roll cake with cream cheese frosting swirl is the perfect fall dessert and great for the holidays.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Cake
- ¾ cup flour
- 1 cup cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 3 eggs
- ⅔ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup powdered sugar for rolling
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tablespoon butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2.5 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon to a medium-size bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Add the eggs and pumpkin puree into the bowl with the flour mixture and whisk together until it creates a smooth cake batter.
- Pour the cake batter onto the lined sheet pan and spread it out evenly with a silicone spatula.
- Place the sheet pan with the cake batter in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven when a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake.
- Lay a tea towel on the countertop and sprinkle powdered sugar over the towel. Immediately after removing the pan from the oven, turn the cake onto the tea towel.
- Remove the parchment paper from the the back side of the cake.
- Starting at the short edge of the cake, roll the cake up in the tea towel into a roll.
- Allow the rolled cake to cool completely.
- While the cake roll is cooling, prepare the filling. Add the cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl and use a hand mixer to cream the cream cheese and butter together. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and continue to beat together into a light and creamy frosting texture.
- When the cake has cooled completely, unroll it from the towel.
- Spread the cream cheese filling in an even layer over the cake.
- Roll the cake with the cream cheese filling up into a spiral.
- Wrap the cake with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool for an hour to allow the cake and frosting to set.
- When the cake has chilled, remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
- Cut the pumpkin cake into 10 slices to serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 339Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 327mgCarbohydrates: 60gFiber: 1gSugar: 51gProtein: 4g
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