Recipe: Easy Pumpkin Roll

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'Tis the season for all-things-pumpkin (we're not quite yet to the all-things-peppermint stage yet). Of course my family and I enjoyed pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, but we had bought several cans of pureed pumpkin, so there was plenty more where that came from. I made a pumpkin roll with a friend several years ago (here's that recipe), and I thought I'd give it another go, this time with this recipe from the Cookies & Cups blog. 

Ingredients:

·         3 large eggs

·         2/3 cup pumpkin puree (like Libby’s)

·         1 cup light brown sugar

·         2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 teaspoon baking soda

·         1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

·         3/4 cup all purpose flour

Filling

·         6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

·         1/4 cup butter, room temperature

·         1 2/3 cup powdered sugar

·         1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make the Pumpkin Cake

Prepare oven and tools: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 10×15- inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper, leaving about an inch of extra parchment at the ends, for easy removal. Very lightly coat the parchment with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Combine wet ingredients: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add in the eggs and mix on medium until lightly beaten. Add in the pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and mix for 1 minute until smooth.

Add dry ingredients: Turn mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing for 30 seconds, or until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Bake: Spread the batter into the prepared pan evenly. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean. As soon as the cake comes out, while hot, lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper and place on a heat safe surface.

Roll: Leaving the parchment paper on the cake, roll it up carefully starting with the narrow end, placing it on a wire rack seam-side down to cool completely.

Make the Pumpkin Roll Filling

While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese and butter together for 1 minute on medium speed until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix for another minute until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Assemble the Pumpkin Roll

Unroll cake & add filling: When your cake is cooled, carefully unroll it. Using an offset spatula, spread your cream cheese filling evenly onto the cake, leaving 1- inch around the edges.

Roll cake back up: Now carefully roll the cake back up tightly, but pull the parchment paper away from the cake as you do so. Once you have it rolled up, place it on a baking sheet or serving dish, cover airtight and place in to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or until ready to serve.

We had run out of brown sugar when we made our pumpkin pie, so for this recipe I just used regular granulated sugar. But it certainly didn't impact the taste! I did have some issues with cracking in the cake (see pictures below), but your stomach and taste-buds don't know the difference! I would call this a success!