Classic Pumpkin Spice Cake Roll
This fail-proof pumpkin spice cake roll delivers a soft, crack-free sponge filled with luscious cream cheese frosting. Perfectly spiced and rolled with ease, it's the ultimate autumn showstopper for your dessert table.
Equipment
- jelly roll pan (10x15 inch)
- Electric mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Offset Spatula
- Kitchen Towel clean, for rolling
- Plastic Wrap
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 0.5 tsp ground ginger
- 0.25 tsp ground cloves
- 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg
- 0.25 tsp salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- 0.25 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 0.5 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 10x15 inch jelly roll pan, line with parchment, and grease the paper too.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3–5 minutes.
- Add pumpkin puree, oil, and vanilla to the egg mixture. Mix until combined.
- Gradually mix in the dry ingredients just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly in pan. Use an offset spatula for best results.
- Bake for 12–15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake springs back to touch.
- Immediately invert onto a powdered sugar-coated kitchen towel. Peel off parchment.
- Roll the warm cake in the towel starting from the short end. Let cool completely rolled up (1–2 hours).
- Beat softened cream cheese and butter until creamy.
- Add powdered sugar gradually, then vanilla. Beat until fluffy and smooth.
- Unroll cooled cake and spread cream cheese filling evenly over the surface.
- Re-roll cake without towel. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Chill for at least 2 hours to set the filling before slicing.
- Dust with powdered sugar and slice to serve.
Notes
Use 100% pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling). Rolling the cake while warm prevents cracks, and chilling the finished roll helps set the filling for cleaner slicing. Adjust spices to your taste and don’t skip the parchment + powdered sugar trick!