Pumpkin Roll Cake Recipe - Fun, Festive Fall Dessert (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to rolling a pumpkin roll? ›

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.

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.

Why is my pumpkin roll sticky? More than likely it is from the condensation that formed on the outside of the roll as it cooled. Dusting some powdered sugar on the roll will easily solve that issue! Also, if your pumpkin roll is sticking to the towel while rolling, you need to add more powdered sugar to the towel.

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.

Below are more easy tips for making a perfect pumpkin roll: Don't overmix the cake batter. Only mix the ingredients until they're just combined. Otherwise you'll end up with flat, dense cake that's not easy to roll.

Sticky cake and cupcake tops are from a reaction with sugar and water. Sugars are hygroscopic, meaning they attract water. Within baked goods, sugars help maintain a moist and tender crumb. Sugar on the exposed tops, however, will grab water from humid air, creating a wet or sticky top.

The main culprits of cakes that crack are: problems with the recipe, overhandling or incorrect rolling techniques. First, not all cake recipes are meant for rolling into a cake roll.

If you find that your pumpkin cake is too moist, isn't holding it's shape and is gummy in certain areas, it's usually caused by too much liquid in your recipe.

Overbeating, Overmixing, or Undermixing Your Cake Batter

Too much air and your cake will collapse because it simply can't hold onto all that air. Overbeating can add too much additional air and/or large air bubbles which the cake can't support, causing it to collapse in the oven.

Is canned pumpkin the same as pie filling? ›

They are the same product. Both canned pumpkin puree and pie filling are useful, shelf-stable ingredients that can help speed up your kitchen prep time. Just remember that puree is unsweetened, while pie filling contains sugar and spices. This will help you choose the right pumpkin product for your recipes.

Make-Ahead: Once the pumpkin roll is assembled, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated, it can be stored for up to 2 days before serving.

Starting at the shorter edge of the cake, roll the cake and greaseproof paper up together, making sure that it is especially tight at the beginning. It's important that the cake is warm so it can set in the right shape. If it's too cold, it won't roll properly. Once rolled, leave it to cool completely.

Make sure you roll up the cake when it's hot out of the oven. If you let it cool much at all, it will risk cracking when rolling or unrolling. I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour as it's the most accurate method and will prevent you from ending up with a dense cake.