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Pumpkin Roll Cake

Pumpkin roll cake with a tender orange-spiced sponge rolled around a cinnamon cream cheese filling. You’ll bake the cake in a jelly roll pan, roll it while warm, chill to set, then slice into a tight spiral.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
chilling 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 43 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 360
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Pumpkin cake
  • 0.75 cup all-purpose flour
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 0.67 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 tsp vanilla
Cream cheese filling
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
For dusting
  • 0.25 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 stand mixer

Method
 

Bake the pumpkin sponge
  1. Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 15x10 jelly roll pan, then line it with parchment for easy release.
  2. Beat the eggs and granulated sugar until thick, then mix in the pumpkin puree and vanilla.
  3. Fold in all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt just until no dry streaks remain.
  4. Spread the batter evenly in the pan, then bake for 11-13 minutes until the top springs back when touched.
Roll and cool
  1. Invert the cake onto a powdered sugar-dusted kitchen towel and peel off the parchment.
  2. Roll the cake up from the short end while warm, then cool completely.
Fill, chill, and slice
  1. Beat the cream cheese filling ingredients—cream cheese, powdered sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla, and cinnamon—until smooth.
  2. Unroll the cooled cake and spread the filling evenly over the surface.
  3. Re-roll without the towel, then refrigerate for 1 hour to set the spiral.
  4. Dust with powdered sugar, then slice and serve.

Notes

Pro tip: roll the cake while it’s still warm and flexible to prevent cracking, and re-roll gently after filling for a clean spiral. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 4 days; freezing is not recommended because the sponge can soften after thawing. For a lighter option, use reduced-fat cream cheese in the filling.