Pumpkin Cake Roll with Toffee Cream Cheese Filling is a gorgeous, delicious alternative if you want something other than pie after Thanksgiving dinner. Or just make it anytime this fall!
Want something other than pie for Thanksgiving this year? Wait! Who doesn’t want pie for Thanksgiving? So, if you want something ALONG with your pie for Thanksgiving, this is the dessert for you.
The molasses spice swirls on this beautiful pumpkin cake roll are baked right in. It's so easy to make! The swirls are piped, frozen, and then covered with cake batter before it goes in the oven.
Indulge in more fall desserts with this Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.
If you’ve never made a cake roll before, don’t worry. All you need it a “jelly roll” pan (that’s a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet, pretty easy to find through this link), and a clean cotton tea towel. The warm cake gets rolled in the tea towel to cool and it forms the round shape. Gently unroll it to fill and then roll up again.
Take a look at these how-to images, feel your confidence build, and then bake! A layer of parchment on the bottom of the pan gets cut to perfectly fit inside the rim. You want it to layer very flat. You can pipe the swirls in any design you want.
1- With the thicker molasses batter, pipe designs onto the parchment. I like swirls, but you could do any design.
2- Freeze the pan with the swirls. After the design has been frozen, quickly spread pumpkin batter evenly in the pan, right over the swirls.
3- Bake the cake, then roll the warm cake in a clean towel. As it cools, it will hold the spiral shape.
4. When the cake is cool, unroll and spread with the Toffee Cream Cheese Filling and gently roll back up. Set on serving platter, seam-side down.
Tip:
Let’s talk about the most important thing you should remember when making this cake. When you turn it out and roll it in the towel, the design should be facing down on the towel! This ensures the swirls show up on the outside of the cake when you serve it.
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Cake Roll With Toffee Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon molasses
Filling
- 6 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter (softened)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup Heath Bits or other toffee (finely chopped)
- ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
Instructions
Make the cake
- Heat oven to 375ºF with rack in the top third. Cut parchment to fit on the bottom of a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan and lightly grease the parchment and sides of pan; set aside. Whisk together 1 cup flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and salt; set aside.
- In a mixer beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until fluffy, 4 min. Sir in the pumpkin puree and lemon juice, then the flour mixture, scraping the bowl to incorporate completely.
- Place ¼ cup of the batter in a small bowl and stir in molasses and the 3 tablespoon flour. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a #3 plain tip. Pipe swirl designs onto the parchment in the pan. Freeze until solid, about 20 min. Spread remaining pumpkin batter over frozen designs, smoothing the surface. Work quickly so the swirls don’t get warm.
- Bake until cake springs back when touched, 16 to 17 min. Run a knife around the edges and turn cake onto a wire rack. Gently remove parchment, then turn cake onto a tea towel, design side facing down. Dust the top of the cake with extra flour to prevent sticking. Starting at the short end, roll the cake to form a log, wrapping with the towel as you roll. Allow to cool in the towel.
Make the filling
- In a mixer beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioners’ sugar and mix. Gently stir in toffee bits and pecans. In a separate bowl whip the cream until firm peaks form. Fold cream cheese frosting into the whipped cream until completely mixed.
- Gently unroll cooled cake, remove from towel and spread with filling. Re-roll and place seam-side down on a serving platter. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 1 hr or until ready to serve.
Notes
Let’s talk about the most important thing you should remember when making this cake. When you turn it out and roll it in the towel, the design should be facing down on the towel! This ensures the swirls show up on the outside of the cake when you serve it.
Nutrition
Fall Side Dishes
Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Recipe by Tara Bench. Originally published in Ladies’ Home Journal Nov 2013. Photography David Malosh. Food Styling Christine Albano. Prop Stylist Jen Everett.
juliemason5 says
I love this idea!! So cute!
tarateaspoon says
Thank you! 🙂
The Silver Teaspoon says
Wow, amazing!! Love the molasses scrolls - such a cool idea for decorating.
tarateaspoon says
Thanks! You can do your own designs too!
Kennedy Thorley says
Tara! I'll be making this for a huge family thanksgiving this year! Never made a rolled cake, and never wanted to until now! Fingers crossed!
Tara says
Kennedy you'll rock it! There are a lot of steps, but it's easier than it looks. The huge group will love it!
Natalie says
This looks amazing! I'm excited to try! I've made log cakes 3 times now and two of those times it's cracked. Do you have any tips to avoid that? I was gentle and followed recipe.
Tara says
I emailed you! I hope this one turns out perfectly for you!
Lorelei says
I'd love to get those tips as well. I'm making this for Thanksgiving this year!
Tara says
I just posted under Heather's comment!!
Heather says
Could you email me as well some of mine have cracked.
Tara says
Heather, here is the note I sent about cake rolls! -- Log or roll cakes can be tricky for sure. Some cake recipes just aren't right for turning into a cake roll. Geniose-type cakes (a fancy French type of cake) is more spongy and lends itself well to cake rolls. I made this pumpkin cake based on this type of cake recipe so it would be less likely to crack.
Working with cake rolls just takes a gentle touch. Make sure you're clean, dusted kitchen towel is ready when the cake comes out of the oven so you can place the cake right on it. No need to make the roll super tight, you just need the shape. So just gently roll the cake into the towel, being sure not to squeeze it. There shouldn't be any cracks if you do this while it's hot.
Once it's cool, here's where cracks sometimes happen. Gently unroll the cake, spread on the filling and gently roll up again. Use the towel to lift the cake into the final roll again.
Mary Bench says
This is just as tasty as it is beautiful!
Brittany Smart says
Looking at the pictures it amazes me that they have swirls, but you make it look so easy!
Eithne Kilroy says
This looks absolutely delish! Definitely giving this a go. Just out of curiosity, how did you make the molasses swirls Tara? Thanks.
Eithne says
Oops! Never mind, just answered my own question. Thanks anyways.
Ashley says
This looks amazing, I’m going to try it next week for thanksgiving. If I don’t have a jelly roll pan, could I use a different size? Like a 9x13?
Tara Teaspoon says
Ashley, so excited to hear if you enjoy it as much as I do. A 9x13 pan will result in a cake that is too thick and won't roll correctly. A jelly roll pan is just bit bigger and the perfect size for creating a rolled cake. Here is my affiliate link to my favorite jelly roll pan, but any 10x15 inch rimmed baking sheet should work. If you are ordering it off of Amazon or Walmart, it should reach you by Thanksgiving. Tara
Marie says
Pumpkin Cake roll. Toffee cream cheese filling. Cute molasses scrolls. Definitely a crowd pleaser! The cake was so moist and tasty! I love this as an alternative to pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Also, I am not much of a crafty person, but the molasses scrolls were so easy to make!
Hairstyles says
I'm still learning from you, as I'm making my way to the top as well. I certainly liked reading everything that is written on your site.Keep the stories coming. I loved it!
Mary E says
So my bottom burned 😔. How do you prevent this. This was also my test run for Thanksgiving so I do have time to perfect this.
Tara says
Hi Mary,
Oh I'm so sorry that happened. There are definately a few things you can try, or look into: First, if you don't have one, grab an oven thermometer and make sure you adjust your oven to the correct temp. Most ovens are off by 25º or more and that can certainly make a difference. Next, you can try baking the cake one rack higher in the oven so it's not so close to the bottom of the oven, or even try convection if your oven has that setting. And lastly, since you had that experience, you know now to adjust the cooking time, or check the cake for doneness several minutes early. The cake may be cooked through and done faster than the recipe suggests and checking early on can help you cook it perfectly for where you are. The difference in cooking time can be affected by the altitude you live at, the type of pan you use, etc. I hope this helps. Do let me know if I can troubleshoot anything else.
Sue says
Do you mean powdered sugar when you say to "dust the cake with extra flour" before rolling it up?
Tara says
You can use flour or confectioners' sugar.
Tara says
You can use flour or confectioners' sugar. Both with work.
Beth Satterfield says
Most cake rolls require you to turn the roll on to a tea towel dusted with powdered sugar. I do not see this step listed. Should my tea towel be dusted with powdered sugar before rolling this cake?
Beth says
Most cake rolls require you to turn the roll on to a tea towel dusted with powdered sugar. I do not see this step listed. Should my tea towel be dusted with powdered sugar before rolling this cake?
Tara Teaspoon says
Hi Beth, true. This one however has a design that we want to show. There's one more flip than other cake rolls. Turn the cake roll onto a wire rack, remove the parchment on the designed bottom, THEN turn it onto a clean towel. It won't stick because it's the bottom, not the sticky top. Dust the sticky top of the cake (not facing up) with flour (not sugar as that makes it more sticky) and roll it up. This way your design will be free from sugar or flour dusting and will be on the outside of the roll.
Beth Satterfield says
Tara. thank you for explaining about the additional flip and the sticky side of the roll, it makes more sense now. I plan on making this soon, hopefully next weekend.
Laura says
I would love to make this for Christmas. Could I make it a couple of days before and store it in the fridge? Thanks for all the tips!