This pumpkin roll recipe is a soft, moist pumpkin cake filled with warm spices, wrapped around creamy mascarpone whipped cream filling. I’ll show you how to bake, fill, and roll a pumpkin cake roll easily, following step-by-step instructions. Plus, I include all of my best tips and tricks for perfect results.
Craving more pumpkin treats to make this fall? Check out my fluffy homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls and this festive pumpkin bundt cake.
If there’s one classic dessert that rivals homemade pumpkin pie at our holiday table, it’s today’s pumpkin cake roll. This swirled cake is a bit lighter than my classic pumpkin cake, filled with cozy spices and rich, creamy mascarpone filling. While a rolled cake looks impressive, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how easy this jelly roll cake recipe really is!
About This Easy Pumpkin Cake Roll
- Ready to roll. I’ll show you how to roll this cake twice. Once, while it’s warm to hold the shape, and then how to roll it with the filling. Both steps are covered in detail below. If you’re familiar with my vanilla cake roll, the same process applies here!
- Soft, spongy cake. There’s plenty of rich pumpkin flavor and spice in the cake, paired with a delicious, soft texture and light, fluffy mascarpone frosting.
- Perfect blend of flavors. Pumpkin and mascarpone are two of my favorites to pair together. The mascarpone has a subtle flavor, but allows the pumpkin spices to shine. It also adds body to the whipped cream to thicken it. You could also fill this cake with my whipped cream cheese frosting if mascarpone isn’t available, but the flavor is much stronger.
Ingredient Notes
This cake recipe skips the butter and oil, keeping the texture of the pumpkin cake spongy and light, so it’s easy to roll. Below are my notes on the key ingredients. Scroll down to the recipe card after the post for the full, printable recipe with ingredient amounts.
- Flour – Be sure to measure your flour using the spoon and level method to avoid overmeasuring.
- Spices – Ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice give the cake its signature fall flavor. You could also replace the individual spices with pumpkin pie spice (or apple pie spice, which is similar).
- Pumpkin Purée – I recommend canned pumpkin purée over fresh. I used Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin purée. Make sure it’s not pumpkin pie filling! You can use any leftover pumpkin from the can in a batch of pumpkin sugar cookies.
- Mascarpone – Mascarpone is a smooth, buttery Italian cream cheese. It’s a bit milder and less tangy than cream cheese; however, cream cheese is a good substitute if needed, but the flavor is much strong. Bring the cheese to room temperature so it’s easier to mix. You can find this in the grocery store with the fancy cheeses.
- Heavy Whipping Cream – This should be cold from the fridge. For the silkiest filling, use full-fat heavy cream.
How to Make a Pumpkin Cake Roll
To make a perfect cake roll, I recommend baking it in a jelly roll pan (10×15 inches). If you use a smaller pan, make sure it has a high rim and consider adding less batter so that your cake doesn’t come out too thick to roll.
First, Bake the Cake
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. Meanwhile, whisk the flour with baking powder, spices, and salt. In a larger bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar for a minute until foamy. Then, mix in the pumpkin purée and vanilla extract.
- Prepare for baking. While the oven preheats to 350ºF, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper so it hangs over the side. You can very lightly grease the pan to help the parchment paper stick.
- Combine. Now, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they’re just combined. The cake batter will be a bit thin, similar to pancake batter.
- Fill the pan. Pour the pumpkin cake batter into your lined pan. Giving the pan a few gentle taps against the countertop helps the batter spread out evenly.
- Bake the cake. Bake at 350ºF for 12 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. The cake should be light and springy.
Troubleshooting Tips: How to Prevent the Cake from Cracking
The pumpkin cake in this recipe is incredibly moist. Following the instructions and taking your time when removing the cake from the pan and rolling your cake roll is key.
- Even out the cake batter. Make sure the cake batter is even and level when you pour it into the pan. This way, it’ll rise evenly.
- Don’t roll right away. Some cake roll recipes insist that the cake should be rolled up immediately from the oven. However, I’ve found that giving the cake a few minutes to cool before rolling helps further avoid tears and cracks. Follow the time suggested.
- Let the cake cool slightly before adding the powdered sugar. Otherwise, the warm cake will absorb all the powdered sugar if it’s rolled too quickly.
Therefore allowing the cake to breath for 5 minutes after flipping over allow the cake to cool a bit more, thus allowing the powdered sugar to stick.
- After rolling, don’t let the cake rest too long on the cooling rack. You want the rolled cake to be room temperature, not cold, or it will be tricky to unroll without cracking.
Shape the Cake Roll While It’s Warm
It’s important to roll a pumpkin cake roll inside a tea towel while it’s still warm from the oven. We do this for a couple of reasons! First, rolling the warm cake makes it less likely to crack and allows it to cool into a rolled shape. This is an easy technique that you can repeat for a chocolate cake roll or a yule log at Christmas.
- Prepare a tea towel. While the cake is baking, lay out a clean tea towel. Dust it generously with powdered sugar.
- Invert the cake. Once the cake has cooled in the pan for a minute or two, loosen the edges and invert the cake onto the tea towel. Remove the parchment paper liner from the cake, and let it rest for 5 minutes before sprinkling the top with powdered sugar.
- Roll. Starting from a shorter end, roll the pumpkin cake up around the tea towel. Afterward, allow the cake to cool for 30-35 minutes.
Mascarpone Filling
While the cake cools inside the towel, prepare your mascarpone whipped cream frosting.
- Make the filling. Beat the room-temperature mascarpone until it’s smooth, add the vanilla, and gradually add the heavy whipping cream. When it looks liquid, beat until the cream cheese forms soft peaks. Then, add the powdered sugar and whip the frosting until it’s thickened.
- Unroll the cake roll. Now, carefully unroll the pumpkin cake on a flat surface. Spread a thick layer of mascarpone filling over the cake, adding slightly more in what will be the center of the roll. Leave a ½ inch border around the outside edges. Lastly, slowly roll the cake back up around the filling, this time without the towel.
- Refrigerate. Wrap the cake roll tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. If you’d like, dust the top of the cake lightly with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream or salted caramel sauce.
Storing a Pumpkin Roll
- Refrigerate. Keep your pumpkin roll refrigerated until it’s time to serve, and refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap. This cake roll lasts up to 3 days in the fridge, after which it might get a bit soggy.
- Freeze. You can freeze the finished pumpkin cake roll for up to 2 months. Thaw the cake in the fridge and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
More Pumpkin Recipes
Pumpkin Cake Roll
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy pumpkin roll recipe is a soft, spiced pumpkin cake with creamy mascarpone filling. Learn how to bake and shape a perfect pumpkin roll following these tips and tricks!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- ¾ cup (90 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (144 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup (155 grams) pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
For the filling:
- 4 ounces (57 g) mascarpone cheese, cold
- 1 cup (236ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- ½ teaspoon pure anilla extract
- ½ cup (65 grams) powdered sugar, plus more for dusting the cake roll
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10×15 jelly roll pan with parchment paper, letting it hang over the edges. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, all the spices, and salt together in a small bowl until well combined. Set the bowl aside.
- In a medium or large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and eggs together for one minute. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract, and beat until just mixed.
- Mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. The batter should be somewhat thin, like pancake batter.
- Pour the batter onto the parchment-lined jelly roll pan and spread it out evenly. I like to shake the pan gently and tap it lightly on the counter to make sure it’s spread nicely and evenly.
- Bake the cake for 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly.
- While the cake is baking, lay out a tea towel and generously cover it with powdered sugar.
- Let the cake rest for just 2 minutes in the pan, and gently run a knife around the outside edge of the pan. Invert the cake onto the tea towel, remove the parchment paper, and let it rest for 5 minutes, then gently dust the top with powdered sugar.
- From one of the shorter sides, roll the cake with the tea towel inside, being careful not to let the cake crack. Rest the roll on a cooling rack for 30-35 minutes (do not rest for too long), make sure it doesn’t get too cool or it may crack when you unroll it.
For the filling:
- Beat the mascarpone in a small bowl until smooth. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Gradually add 6 tablespoons of the heavy whipping cream to the mascarpone until it starts to get thinner and more liquid. Add the remaining heavy whipping cream and beat at medium speed until it reaches soft peaks. Add the powdered sugar, mix on medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated. Then, increase the speed to high and whip until the filling is stiff and spreadable.
How to Assemble:
- Carefully unroll the cake on a flat surface. Fill the cake with more filling in what will be the center of the roll. Spread the rest of the filling evenly over the cake, leaving about ½ an inch of room from the outside edges. This will keep the filling from being squeezed out as it’s rolled.
- Roll up the cake carefully, and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Dust with powdered sugar or serve with additional whipped cream or caramel and crushed nuts.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
- Mascarpone Whipped Cream- If you’ve never made this before, I recommend reading through my full tutorial, which talks more in depth about the different stages of preparation. It must be properly whipped to stuff peaks or it will wilt and be runny.
Troubleshooting Tips For Rolling
- Don’t roll right away. Some cake roll recipes insist that the cake should be rolled up immediately from the oven. However, I’ve found that giving the cake a few minutes to cool before rolling helps further avoid tears and cracks. Follow the time suggested.
- Let the cake cool slightly before adding the powdered sugar. Otherwise, the warm cake will absorb all the powdered sugar if it’s rolled too quickly. Therefore allowing the cake to breath for 5 minutes after flipping over allow the cake to cool a bit more, thus allowing the powdered sugar to stick.
- After rolling, don’t let the cake rest too long on the cooling rack. You want the rolled cake to be room temperature, not cold, or it will be tricky to unroll without cracking
Storage:
Cover the cake roll with plastic wrap or store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The cake may be too soggy after that, and you may notice the filling starts to wilt.
Substitutions:
- Pumpkin puree- make sure it’s 100% pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling
- Mascarpone- Can be substituted with cream cheese, but the flavor profiles are different. Mascarpone is much milder.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 335
- Sugar: 28.3 g
- Sodium: 227.4 mg
- Fat: 17.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.7 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 5.5 g
- Cholesterol: 117.7 mg
