Spiced Pumpkin Roll with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling

Perfectly spiced, extra pumpkin-y, and SO. GOOD. This Spiced Pumpkin Roll with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling is the simple dessert you’ve been searching for this holiday season. A simple cake made from flour, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, salt, eggs, vegetable oil, sugar, and, of course, plenty of pumpkin! Every bite is light, tender, fluffy, and full of flavor. Though, the best part is that show-stopping filling! A simplified cream cheese frosting made with only 3(!!!) ingredients. Cream cheese, white chocolate, and a bit of powdered sugar. So easy! Beaten until fluffy and then spread on the cooled cake, rolled tightly, and served with a little extra sprinkling of powdered sugar. If you’re a pumpkin-lover, this is the perfect dessert for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and every day in-between!

→ This post is also available as a Web Story: Pumpkin Roll

About The Recipe

Who doesn’t love a good swiss roll? Especially when it’s the holiday season and there’s pumpkin and white chocolate involved!

I’ll admit, we were inspired to make this after watching the new season of The Great British Baking Show (aka one of our absolute favorite things to watch), and we thought it would be such a fun addition to our blog! So, the very next day, my mom wrote a recipe and we got to work.

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And, work it was. This recipe is thoroughly tested! We have made about 7 or 8 rolls…just trying to get it right!

The thing was, we had tried making genoise, we tried fatless sponges…the works! Our roll kept cracking and just wasn’t what we wanted. Turns out, adding a little cornstarch and vegetable oil solved ALL of our problems. With the cake bit that is.

The frosting was a little more difficult than normal. It kept coming out too soft. It just wanted spill out the edges! So, we tweaked it a little bit and… just like the cake, we now have two perfect components!

The next thing we had to figure out was our timing. The thing we learned with swiss rolls is that, while sponge and fillings are important, your timing is too. Like, really important.

A minute too long of anything could be disastrous! Trust me, we learned this the hard way! A moment too long in the oven will lead to an over-baked cake, a minute too long chilling makes the cake un-rollable… So much could go wrong! Thankfully, we have worked out ever single problem during all these test bakes to ensure you have the perfect dessert every time.

Just remember that, with this recipe, timing is everything!

Equipment Needed

• A Mixer
• Mixing Bowl
• Whisk
• Parchment Paper
• Rubber Spatulas
• Cake Tester
• Hand Mixer
• Piping Bags
• Offset Spatula

Ingredients

For The Cake:

• All-Purpose Flour
• Corn Starch
• Pumpkin Pie Spice
• Salt
• Eggs
• Sugar
• Pumpkin Puree

For The Frosting:

• Cream Cheese
• White Chocolate
• Powdered Sugar

Instructions

Whisk together dry ingredients. Set aside.

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Whip the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, about 10 minutes.

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Stir in the pumpkin.

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Sift in the dry ingredients. (Do not mind the change of bowl in the photo! Sift the dry ingredients into your mixer.)

Spoon out about 1/3 of the mixture into a mixing bowl. Whisk in the vegetable oil. Pour the mixture slowly back into the rest of the batter.

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Pour the mixture into a lined and greased jelly roll pan. Spread evenly and tap out excess air bubbles. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes, or until just done.

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While the cake is still hot, dust with powdered sugar. Lay another piece of parchment paper over the top, along with a towel, and place a cooling rack on top. Carefully, invert the pan onto the cooling rack. Take off the parchment that the cake was baked on.

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Quickly, but carefully, roll the cake up with the parchment. Let cool for 20 minutes.

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While the cake cools, make the frosting! Melt the white chocolate over a bain-maire. Set aside.

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With a hand mixer, whip the cream cheese until completely smooth.

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Mix in the white chocolate.

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Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Set in the fridge until needed.

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After the 20 minutes is up, unroll the care carefully. The cake should still be a little warm. Let the cake finish cooling. About 10-15 minutes. Place your frosting in a piping bag and cut the end off.

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Pipe the cream cheese frosting around the cooled cake. Spread with an offset spatula. Be sure to leave about 1/2-1/4 inch of space on the sides of the cake.

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Now, very carefully, roll the cake as tightly as you can.

If you’re ready to serve, slice off the ends, dust with powdered sugar and serve!

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How To Store

The best part about this pumpkin roll is that it can be refrigerated or frozen! Just be sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to help hold it’s shape, and place it in the fridge for 5-7 days, or in the freezer for a couple of months! If you choose to freeze this recipe, remember to place it in the fridge a day or so before you need it to allow time to thaw.

Do not put this roll in the microwave or oven!

Expert Tips

• Make sure you have pumpkin purée NOT pumpkin pie filling.
• When you’re baking this sponge, do NOT over bake. Over baking results in a cake that cracks and becomes unroll-able. Take the cake out when it is JUST baked.
• Do not allow to cool completely before unrolling! If it’s too cold when you try to unroll, the cake will crack because, once it’s cold, the cake forms into that roll shape and is no longer flexible.
• Be sure to roll when the cake is just cool enough to not melt the filling.
• Do not roll parchment up into filled cake!
• When melting the white chocolate, be careful to not overheat it.
• The flowers I used for decoration are not meant to be eaten. I used them strictly for the purpose of a pretty picture! Use frosting to decorate or even edible flowers to decorate your roll.

When you make this Spiced Pumpkin Roll with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.