Pumpkin roll is a classic and beautiful fall dessert that always impresses. This homemade pumpkin roll recipe yields a moist spiced pumpkin cake with a thick layer of tightly packed cream cheese frosting inside. We’re demystifying the cake roll-making process with helpful instructions and a video tutorial, plus you can review all of my helpful tips to ensure your pumpkin roll is a success.
One reader, Lari, commented: “This is such a great recipe! I’ve made it a few times. I’m not a pumpkin flavor fan at all (except pie), but this is wonderful. I brought it on a few occasions to holiday dinners—both Thanksgiving and Christmas—and always well received. Don’t be intimidated by the thought of rolling the cake!”
Like pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll is a classic fall dessert. But unlike its pie counterpart, its swirled presentation is particularly show stopping and impressive. While this rolled cake isn’t a difficult recipe, making jelly roll cakes can seem intimidating. After all, cake rolls look complicated. A rolled-up cake…what?
Tell Me About This Pumpkin Roll
- Flavor: This pumpkin roll is full of spiced pumpkin flavor that pairs beautifully with the tangy cream cheese frosting inside.
- Texture: Enjoy a soft and moist cake, plus cool, creamy, silky cream cheese frosting in every single bite. What a pair!
- Ease: Did you know that pumpkin roll is actually rolled… twice? The first time you roll the cake, it must be warm to establish the shape. You can see more on that in “Roll the Cake While It’s Warm” below. Cool the cake in this rolled-up shape, and then unroll, fill with frosting, and then roll back up.
- Time: The batter is fairly quick to prepare, and since this cake is so thin, it has a much shorter bake time than regular pumpkin cake. The shaped roll does need to cool down for a few hours before unrolling, frosting, and rolling back up, so be sure to leave enough time.
A Few Key Ingredients in Pumpkin Roll
- Flour: Because of the thick and wet batter, we use sturdy all-purpose flour instead of cake flour for the base.
- Cinnamon + Pumpkin Pie Spice: These are pumpkin’s favorite spices and you can use homemade pumpkin pie spice here! But instead of prepared pumpkin pie spice, you can use 1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cloves, and ground allspice. Sometimes I use closer to 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
- Pumpkin: We can’t have pumpkin roll without pumpkin! If desired, you can use fresh pumpkin puree, but I really do recommend canned pumpkin puree if it’s available to you. I usually use Libby’s brand in this recipe. You’ll have some pumpkin puree left over in the can, and you can use it up in one of these recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree.
**You’ll notice this pumpkin batter is made without butter or oil. Why? We’re keeping this cake light and spongy so it can easily roll up.
Here’s How You Bake & Shape Pumpkin Roll
The full printable recipe is below, but let’s walk through it so you understand each step before you get started.
- Make the pumpkin cake batter. Spread it into a lined 10×15-inch jelly roll pan, which is the only size pan that works for this recipe. Good news: a quality pan is inexpensive, and you’ll use it again if you bake pumpkin bars.
- Bake. You know it’s done when the cake springs back when you poke it with a finger.
- Prepare the kitchen towel or parchment paper. This is the most important step! While the cake is baking, lay a thin kitchen towel or parchment paper flat on the counter. Sprinkle it with confectioners’ sugar. Once the cake comes out of the oven, immediately invert it onto the towel/parchment. Peel the parchment paper off the warm cake, then, starting with the narrow end, gently roll the cake up with the towel/parchment on the bottom. The cake will be warm, since it just came out of the oven.
- Let the cake cool. Allow the cake to cool completely rolled up in the towel/parchment. I usually stick mine in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to speed it up.
Pumpkin Roll Cake Must Be Shaped While Warm
Let me explain why it’s important to roll the cake with a thin towel or parchment paper while it’s warm.
- We roll the pumpkin roll cake in a towel or piece of parchment to prevent it from sticking to itself.
- Rolling the cake while it’s warm allows it to cool in the rolled shape. That means no cracks, rips, or tears when you roll it up again with the filling inside.
Like many beginner bakers, you can master a pumpkin roll with this recipe. Then you can go on to confidently make other cake rolls, such as this epic vertical cake or even a yule log (Bûche De Noël).
Cream Cheese Frosting
As the rolled-up cake cools, prepare the cream cheese frosting. The recipe is a simple scaled-down version of my regular cream cheese frosting recipe. Now let’s fill the cake:
- Unroll the cooled cake. Take your time with this step. Gently unroll and flatten the cake out, then spread a thick layer of frosting evenly on top, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the cake. Carefully and tightly roll the cake back up, without the towel/parchment this time. Some frosting may spill out the sides, and that’s ok!
- Refrigerate. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Refrigerating the cake for this short amount of time ensures a neater slice and tastier bite.
See Your Pumpkin Rolls:
So many of you have tried this recipe. Feel free to email or share your recipe photos on social media @sallysbakeblog.
More Perfect Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Muffins & Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies & Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Bread
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
- Recipes to Make With Leftover Pumpkin Puree
For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ favorite pumpkin dessert recipes.
PrintDelicious Homemade Pumpkin Roll
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 slices
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
How to make the BEST pumpkin roll! It’s moist, pumpkin spiced, easy, and filled with cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (94g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice*
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (150g) canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- for rolling: 3/4 cup (90g) confectioners’ sugar
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 ounces (170g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp; 56g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Read the instructions through before beginning. Make sure you are prepared for step 7 immediately when that cake comes out!
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Spray a 10×15-inch baking pan with nonstick spray or grease with butter, so the parchment paper sticks. Then line it with parchment paper so the cake seamlessly releases in step 5. Spray or grease the parchment paper too. We want an extremely nonstick surface for this cake roll.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan. Give the pan a shake to make sure the batter is level and reaches the corners. Bake for 17–18 minutes, or until the cake springs back when you poke it with a finger.
- Meanwhile, lay a thin kitchen towel flat on the counter. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar. Once the cake comes out of the oven, immediately invert it onto the towel. Peel off the parchment paper, then, starting with the narrow end, begin rolling the cake up with the towel. Do this slowly and gently. The cake will be warm, as it just came out of the oven.
- Allow the cake to cool completely while rolled up in the towel. I stick mine in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to speed it up.
- Remove the cake roll from the refrigerator and allow to sit on the counter for a few minutes to warm back up a bit as you prepare the frosting.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese for 1 minute on high speed until completely smooth and creamy. Beat in the butter until combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until combined and creamy.
- Gently and slowly unroll the cake. Flatten it out and spread frosting evenly on top, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the cake. Gently and slowly roll the cake back up, without the towel this time. Make sure you’re rolling it tightly. Some frosting may spill out the sides—that’s ok!
- Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes before slicing and serving. Dust with more confectioners’ sugar, if desired.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can prepare the cake through step 7 and chill the rolled up cake/towel in the refrigerator for up to 1 day before continuing with step 8. Prepared cake roll, with frosting, freezes well for up to 2–3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before slicing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 10×15-inch Baking Pan | Parchment Paper | Whisk | Glass Mixing Bowls | Rubber Spatula | Towel | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: You can find pumpkin pie spice in the baking aisle of most grocery stores or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have either and want to use individual spices, use 1/4 teaspoon each: ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground allspice. This is in addition to the 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon—you will still add that.
- Adapted from Libby’s.
Keywords: pumpkin roll, pumpkin cake roll
Love pumpkin roll, make it every fall, usually I do Libby’s and wanted to try yours this year. I follow everything to the T for the recipe and every year the cake breaks when I unroll it slowly from towel and it’s loaded with powdered sugar, this year both rolls busted on the side seams, filling falling out. So delicious though still, but would love to be able to have that perfect roll!
Sally how do you recommend freezing? Do you wrap in plastic wrap and foil?
★★★★
Yes! I usually use Press and Seal and then foil and then place it in a container in the freezer. You can see exactly how I do it in this post (works for a roll cake too!): https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-freeze-cakes/
I’ve never eaten or made a pumpkin roll before so this was a fun challenge. Made it for the June 2019 baking challenge as we don’t like Angel cake. This was so delicious and my cake didn’t crack thanks for your tips!! I might add more cream cheese to the filling next time but it was really good! Thank you Sally!
★★★★★
Made this the other day and it was AWESOME. Is it weird that I get insane satisfaction when I sneak vegetables into my kids? was also thinking of making it again with carrot puree, have you ever tried something like that? do you think it will work?
Hi Yael! Not weird at all. 🙂 I haven’t tried carrot puree, but it should work just the same as pumpkin. Let me know if you try it!
I tried it! I made the carrot puree myself so it wasn’t quite as smooth as store bought pumpkin puree. Also, the cake tore a tiny bit but the presentation was still pretty. Tasted great, and honestly very similar to the pumpkin version. Thinking of experimenting with butternut squash or sweet potato next!
I like my recipe a little better. Nice and fluffy but still holds a perfectly round shape inside is very creamy and not over the top sweet.
Hi Sally! I made this recipe for Friendsgiving and everyone thought it was delicious! My sponge did crack though despite following directions- any more tips to help prevent that? Thanks!
Oh my goodness, this pumpkin cake roll is delicious! So moist and not too sweet with all the spices hitting the right spots! I’m going to make this yearly as a nice fall dessert because it’s so good! Thanks always for sharing.
I made this yesterday for my mother in law and it was delicious and it’s too easy not to make! Love your recipes!!
Hi !
First time finding ur page. Would love to make this for thanksgiving. Am I able to do a test without making whole thing while it’s baking ? So for instance if I put a little to side how long would I bake it to just try the texture. I like to make sure I make it correctly before I serve at someone’s house lol. I k ow it won’t be the roll but at least I can taste ! Thanks !
I’m unsure exactly what you’re asking, I’m sorry! I recommend just trying the recipe. It’s wonderful. Lots of readers have written to me with rave reviews!
I am so happy I found your website! My family is too because they love everything I’ve made so far. I wanted to ask you a question. I made your pumpkin roll recipe and it turned out perfect. I want to make several for Thanksgiving. Can I freeze these? I have always been afraid to freeze baked goods so I never have. Any advice would be appreciated! THanks again for your wonderful website and cookbooks.
Hi Nancy! See my make ahead tip.
First time making a pumpkin roll. It turned out great, thanks to your instructions. We loved how it turned out.
The Pumpkin Roll is at the top of my list. I made it over the weekend for a party and it was gone in about 5 minutes and heard nothing but positive comments, wished I had made a few rolls. I was worried how the roll would come out never having attempted such a recipe, but it was perfect. Thank you so much Sally!
Hi Sally, where I’m from, it’s not possible to buy canned pumpkin puree. Is it ok if I just pureed some fresh pumpkin and use this instead? TIA
I would blot it a little before using. It’s a little thinner than canned pumpkin, so blotting a little moisture out should help.
Hi Sally — the pumpkin roll was absolutely delicious and much simpler to make than expected. I always appreciate how clear your explanations are 🙂
I see instructions for freezing the pumpkin roll, but I was wondering how long it’d last in the fridge if I store it in an airtight container. Thanks!
I’m SO glad you made the pumpkin roll and that you were pleasantly surprised by its ease! A few days stored in the fridge is just fine.
Sally, I made your pumpkin roll yesterday to take to a dinner with friends. And they so enjoyed it. It was so easy to make because of your wonderful instructions.
The taste was phenomenal, better than the Libby’s version!
Thanks Sally
Made your pumpkin roll last night. So good. Making another today to freeze for Thanksgiving.
Hi Sally
I want to make this pumpkin roll. It looks so delicious! Do you use light or dark brown sugar when you make this?
I typically use dark brown sugar, but light brown is great too.
If I want to make a spider web design in black to be baked on, should I use the same sponge batter and add food coloring? Is there a different batter I should use for the design portion? I need to freeze the design prior to adding the rest of the sponge batter, correct? Thanks for you help!
Hi Puneet! I’m sorry, Im unsure how to go about this. It sounds like a beautiful dessert; I’ve just never attempted anything like it.
I made this today and it turned out great! I wouldn’t change a single thing. Your website is my new favorite!
Has anyone ever added some mini chocolate chips to the filling? My inclination is to make brown butter cinnamon cream cheese filling and sprinkle in some mini chocolate chips. I love cinnamon/pumpkin/chocolate together. Is it overkill ???
That sounds SO GOOD!
My house is a chocolate house any season of the year! I decided to make your red velvet roll. I was surprised at how easy it was to roll up after baking. However, once I tried to unroll it, it cracked a bit. Since it’s just my fam, we aren’t complaining too much because it’s delicious but how can I prevent this in the future? Maybe let the chill come off it a bit more?
Hey Stephanie! I’m so glad you tried the red velvet cake roll. I would perhaps let it sit at room temperature for a little bit– that will help avoid some of the cracking.
This is an excellent recipe. My colleagues at work thoroughly enjoyed it.
Hi Sally!
I bought by mistake pumpkin pie filling instead of purée. Do you think I can still use it? And if so, should I use less sugar and spices since it’s already in the pie filling? Thank you! And congratulations on the birth of your baby girl 🙂
Anne
Hi Anne! You’ll need pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The textures are completely different, not to mention the addition of sugars and spices to the pumpkin pie filling. Don’t use the pumpkin pie filling.
I love using this recipe every year for thanksgiving and Christmas. Was wondering can I use this recipe for cupcakes ?
I don’t recommend it– try my pumpkin cupcakes instead.
Hi Sally, I just made your pumpkin cake roll recipe and it was SO DELICIOUS! This was my first cake roll and it was a lot easier than I expected. 🙂 I used parchment paper instead of a thin towel, which still worked very well. I also have to eat dairy-free so I substituted a coconut oil frosting. So excited for this recipe, and I will definitely make it again!
I love pumpkin rolls but the pretty (and delicious) confectioners sugar seems to get soaked up by the cake ???? Any tricks ?
That’s bound to happen since the cake is so moist. Try sifting/dusting a little more on top of the cake once it’s all rolled out and before you serve it.
So you don’t cool the cake at all when it comes out of the oven?
Nope! Must be rolled up immediately after baking.
Sally,
Thanks so much for the helpful video. I know the recipe is adapted from Libby’s, but can you use fresh pumpkin puree? If so, I will be making this…as soon as I find ground clove and ground all spice since there is no pumpkin spice here. However-they put a tiny grater in the whole nutmeg bottle!
Fresh pumpkin puree will work, I do suggest blotting it a little bit as it can be very watery. Let me know how you like it!
To get my homemade pumpkin purée closer to canned pumpkin, I put chunks of warm roasted pumpkin in a tea towel and squeeze out some (not all) of the moisture, before purée. Alternately one can put the pumpkin in a fine mesh Sieve and press with the back of a spoon.