Soft Pumpkin Roll Recipe
When I tell you this pumpkin roll literally melts in your mouth, I honestly mean it! It is so incredible soft and moist, wonderfully spiced and is filled with a not-too-sweet cream cheese buttercream. Best part is, it's easy to make!
Ingredients
- ½ cup flour (plain, all purpose)
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon (see note 1 if you want to use pumpkin spice seasoning instead of the listed spices)
- ½ tsp ground ginger powder
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp all spice
- ⅛ tsp ground cloves
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree (I use Libby's 100% pure canned pumpkin (room temp). See note 2 for homemade pumpkin puree.)
- 2 tsp unflavoured vegetable oil (I use canola oil)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ⅓ cup icing sugar (also known as powdered sugar, for dusting on the kitchen towel)
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup icing sugar (also known as powdered or confectioners sugar)
- 1 cup cream cheese (should be cold, and use a firm/block type if possible)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
Directions
- 1
Preheat oven to 170 °C (340°F) with the fan on/convection mode (see note 3 if you don't have a fan function) and line an 18x13 inch (half-sheet) baking tray. You only need to line the tray longways, and I like to lightly grease my pan before lining it so that the baking/parchment paper doesn't move around.
- 2
Next lay out a clean dry kitchen towel. Dust the 1/3 cup of icing sugar evenly over the towel. You can use your hands to spread out the icing sugar if it feels like the kitchen towel isn't evenly covered. Set the towel aside for now.
- 3
Next is the cake batter. In a bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside for now.
- 4
In a large bowl combine the sugar and eggs, and using a hand or stand mixer on a medium high speed, whip that for 4 minutes until it's thick and fluffy (see note 4). Then turn your mixer down to the lowest speed, and mix for a further minute to get rid of any large air bubbles and stabilise the batter. Get all the batter off of the attachments and the rest of the mixing will be done by hand.
- 5
Add in the pumpkin puree, oil and vanilla, and using a spatula, gently fold that in until almost combined.
- 6
Add in the presifted dry ingredients from earlier and gently fold that in until just combined. Do not overmix the batter, so only mix until you can't see anymore pockets of unmixed flour.
- 7
Evenly distribute the batter in the sheet pan. I like to use an offset spatula to spread it out. Once done, give the pan a little shake to level out the batter and then drop it lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. I like to also tap the bottom of the tray a few times.
- 8
Bake for 12 minutes, or until the top of the cake is set, and slowly bounces back when you touch it.
- 9
While the cake is still hot, run a thin knife along the long edges of the cake pan to release the cake, and then immediately invert it onto the prepared kitchen towel (see video for demonstration).
- 10
Roll up the cake in the kitchen towel while it's still warm, and allow it come to room temperature, which should take about an hour or so.
- 11
Once the cake is cool, prepare the cream cheese frosting. In a bowl combine the unsalted butter and icing sugar, and using a hand or stand mixer on the lowest speed, mix until everything is combined, and then turn up the speed to a medium/high and whip for 2 minutes until it's lighter in colour.
- 12
Unroll the cake and then evenly spread out an even layer of the cream cheese frosting, leaving a small section at the end of the cake roll unfrosted (about 1 inch). This will ensure that none of the frosting seeps out the end of the roll.