Homemade Pumpkin Roll Recipe -A Delicious Sweet Treat This Time Of Year

I will never forget when I made my first Homemade Pumpkin Roll.

I was so thrilled and excited that I made a beautiful and tasty dessert that required a little more effort than just putting it in the oven.

Every year around Thanksgiving, a friend would give me a homemade pumpkin roll that he made. This was his way of showing his appreciation to his family and friends around the holiday.

I always looked forward to his gift and would reciprocate by giving him a few jars of our salsa, strawberry honey jam and hot pepper mustard.

See the recipes below:

Salsa Recipe

Strawberry Honey Jam Recipe

Hot Pepper Mustard Recipe

However, about 10 years ago he decided to quit making the pumpkin rolls. Instead, he makes homemade pies for his friends and family for Thanksgiving.

We now enjoy his homemade pecan pie and pumpkin pie just as much as we enjoyed his homemade pumpkin roll.

After he stopped making them, I thought it would be too much effort to make my own so I purchased one at our local grocery store.

After all, they looked very similar to the ones he made.

But boy, was the taste different!  In fact, the only thing I could taste was bitter sweet icing. The actual pumpkin cake had little to no flavor at all.

I was so disappointed that I knew that I would have to make my own!

I convinced my friend to share his recipe with me and I have been making them ever since!

Keys To The Perfect Pumpkin Roll

There are a couple key steps in making your pumpkin roll turn out perfect every time.

First, you must pre-roll your cooked pumpkin cake while it is still warm. If you don’t, your cake will split apart, leaving you will a mess!

Once the cake has been removed from the oven, flip it on a tea towel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. The sugar will help the cake from sticking completely onto the towel.

A tea towel is the perfect avenue to roll your homemade pumpkin roll.  The cloth is made from threads with simple woven weaves and not looped terry.

And standard tea towels are larger than most jelly roll pans which allows plenty of room for your cake.

To roll the cake you will start at the short end and begin to roll the warm cake, along with the tea towel, as tightly as you can without forcing it too much.

Let It Cool

The second important point is to make sure that you let it cool completely before unrolling.

The cake has now been ‘trained’ to be flexible and after the icing has been spread on top, it can easily be rolled for the final time. This time, of course, you roll it without the tea towel!

Homemade Pumpkin Rolls can be eaten right away and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (if it lasts that long). Or can be frozen for up to 6 months.

When freezing, wrap wax paper around the pumpkin roll and then in a layer of aluminum foil. Then place it in an air-tight container and your roll is adequately protected.

Homemade Pumpkin Roll Recipe

*Complete recipe instructions including specific measurements, cook temperatures and times are located in a printable recipe card at the bottom of this article. However, be sure to keep reading for helpful tips and tricks when making this recipe.

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup flour

2/3 cup pure pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

FILLING INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. block cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp. butter, softened

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

1. Mix the cake ingredients together until well blended.

2. On a standard rimmed cookie sheet or jelly roll pan, place wax paper over the entire pan. Spray the wax paper with non-stick cooking spray on the bottom and the sides, making sure to cover the whole surface area.

3. Pour the cake batter mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

4. In the mean-time, mix ingredients for the filling until creamy and set aside.

5. Open a tea towel and sprinkle powdered sugar onto the surface and set aside.

6. Remove the cake from the oven, and carefully flip the pan on top of the tea towel, so that the cake is now laying with the wax paper facing upward.

7. Carefully remove the wax paper from the warm cake. Roll the cake and tea towel starting at the short end and roll until the other end has been reached.

8. Let the cake cool in the rolled position for 15-20 minutes.

9. Unroll & spread the filling on top of the cake. Spread the filling about an inch from the edges of the cake.

10. Carefully re-roll the cake and filling to make your pumpkin roll.

Let cool completely before eating.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

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