Not a great picture, but this is what it looks like baked in a jelly roll pan.
My sister-in-law gave me this recipe years ago. She used to make pumpkin rolls to sell. I’ve been doing some baking for one of my neighbors. He asked me if I could make a pumpkin roll for some of his friends so I hunted up my recipe and tried it out today. It was much easier and quicker to make than I thought it would be. On my first try, I used a regular cookie sheet which was a size bigger than the size mentioned. It didn’t look quite as nice but it still tasted great.
3 large eggs
2/3 cups plain pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cups flour
Use canned plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) or if you have a home grown pumpkin, bake it in the oven first* then measure and blend with the other ingredients.
Mix flour, spices and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside. Measure cooked pumpkin, and place in blender along with eggs and sugar. Blend well. Add dry ingredients. Blend again until well mixed. Spray an 11 1/2″ X by 15 1/2″ X 1 ” Jelly Roll Pan with Pam or grease with Crisco. Line it with wax paper (or you can use a cookie sheet with sides if you don’t have a jelly roll pan). Then spray the waxed paper with Pam or grease with Crisco then dust with flour. Trim off any excess waxed paper so it won’t smoke in the oven. Pour the blended cake batter into the lined jelly roll pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 325-350. I used a lower shelf so it would not get too brown. Watch cake carefully because it suddenly puffs up when done. I had to poke mine with a toothpick to deflate it.
While cake is baking, prepare a clean tea towel spread out flat on the counter. Sprinkle it with confectioner’s sugar, covering an area the size of your pan. I use a flour sifter to distribute it evenly onto the towel.
When the cake is done, remove from oven. Carefully pick up the cake by the two corners of the waxed paper (on the longest side). With the waxed paper facing you, carefully flop the cake face down onto the towel. Peel off the waxed paper. Roll up the tea towel along with the cake starting from the short side, making it fatter rather than long. Let cool over an hour on a wire rack. When cooled, unroll it and top with cream cheese icing then roll it up again, being careful to roll it tight enough so there are no air pockets. I added a bit more confectioner’s sugar to the top with the flour sifter as a final touch.
Icing
Mix icing in mixer.
1 8 oz pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup confectioners sugar
Spread icing evenly then roll up again, this time without the towel. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze.
*To bake a pumpkin, cut in half, remove seeds and place on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan with some water in the bottom. Bake at 350 for a half hour till tender.
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November 10, 2009 at 5:12 am
Laura K
Wow, that sound really good. I made pumpkin bread this weekend and we just had some with cream cheese slathered on top for dessert tonight.
Can you really roll and unroll and roll a cake like this, though?! It just seems too good to be true. I am the worst when it comes to delicate baking tasks like that. I follow the directions exactly and it ends up on the floor after my temper flares. (I’ve never really thrown anything on the floor, though I’ve felt like doing it *often* when I’ve attempted baking projects beyond the basics.) :D
November 10, 2009 at 7:33 pm
jessi
I am having a huge craving for something baked, but have no pumpkin (nor any real desire to actually do the baking at the moment–having a baby due in four weeks is my excuse for both my craving and lack of motivation), so this post is basically making me covet thy neighbor’s…neighbor?
November 10, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Laura K
If it weren’t perishable I’d gladly make one and mail it to you, Jessi. From my aforementioned lead touch it would already be in shambles anyway, so no worries about rough treatment from the post.
November 10, 2009 at 7:50 pm
virginiasusan
Laura,
It was only about 1/2 inch thick so it was pretty easy to roll up. It was still warm so that made it easier to roll. If I’d used the right sized pan it would be a little thicker, but not much.
Jessi, maybe you could find someone at your church who does a lot of baking who would make you one? I’m wondering what to charge for it. The only expensive ingredient is the cream cheese.
November 10, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Heidi
Susan it *sounds* beautiful: I am hoping to figure out how to get into my pumpkin over the weekend so if I manage to reduce it to its primary ingredients I will have to try this.
Laura I can’t imagine you losing your temper and throwing anything :-). (when you said that my eyes got VERY BIG and I almost hiccuped, but then you took it back :-P)
Jessi, I didn’t realise it was only four weeks for you! How exciting :-)
November 11, 2009 at 2:13 pm
mengmom
Thanks so much for posting this! I was actually going to look up a recipe for a pumpkin roll. I love all of the delicious pumpkin recipe’s this time of year!
December 17, 2009 at 2:59 pm
mengmom
Susan, I made your pumkin roll recipe a few weeks ago and thought it was great! I’ve been meaning to upload this picture for you for awhile now. I’m sure yours turn out a lot nicer, but at least anyone reading this will get a general idea of what there supposed to look like. :-)
December 17, 2009 at 10:48 pm
virginiasusan
I’m so glad it turned out well for you, Denise. Thanks for posting the picture!
I still have a pile of pumpkins to do something with. I’m making a couple pumpkin rolls for Christmas gifts. My mother in law gave me a jelly roll pan so my next one will look more like the real thing.
December 18, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Heidi
What a pretty picture — it’s nice to know that the recipe also *looks* so yummy.