The Best Gluten Free Pumpkin Roll Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to rolling a pumpkin roll? ›

Roll the cake while it's hot!

This is the secret to a perfectly-swirled roll cake. While the cake is still hot, use the parchment to transfer the cake from the baking pan onto a clean kitchen towel. Using the towel as a hot mitt, roll the cake into a tight spiral from the narrow side.

How to keep pumpkin roll from cracking: The biggest trick to preventing your cake roll from cracking is to roll the cake up in the parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven. The hot cake will be soft and pliable and should roll up without cracking.

A moist cake has less chance of cracking. Overbaking could also be the culprit. The thin layer of cake batter in the typical 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan takes only about 10 to 15 minutes to bake. Check your cake after 8 or 9 minutes and watch closely until it tests done.

Pumpkin Roll Ingredients

You likely have most of the ingredients you'll need on hand. If not, here's what to add to your grocery list: For the Cake: eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, all-purpose flour, and baking soda. For the Filling: cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, butter, and vanilla extract.

As the pumpkin roll cools, it has a tendency to form a little bit of condensation on the outside. This can cause it to feel a little wet or sticky. That's where the powdered sugar comes in! Not only does it add a little bit of extra sweetness, but it helps absorb some of that excess moisture.

Spray or grease the parchment paper too. We want an extremely nonstick surface for this cake roll. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt together in a large bowl.

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

The trick is to use a kitchen towel and roll it up right when it comes out of the oven. I always roll mine almost immediately after taking it out of the oven in a tea towel sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Pumpkin rolls keep well in the refrigerator and freezer, so they're the perfect dessert to make ahead of time if you'd like. To store your pumpkin roll, wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap. Then you can either refrigerate it for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

The oven temperature is off: Usually it's running too hot, and the outside looks brown before the center is baked through. But a low oven temperature can fool you too– you think you've baked long enough, but it's actually running 50 degrees too cool.

Do you have to refrigerate a pumpkin roll? ›

Make-Ahead: Once the pumpkin roll is assembled, wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated, it can be stored for up to 2 days before serving. To Freeze: Wrap the pumpkin roll tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil and place in a freezer-safe zip-top resealable bag.

Factors, which may help to avoid splitting, include: 1. Try to grow your pumpkin at an even moderate pace over the entire season. 2. Try avoiding large doses of fertilizer and water at critical phases of the pumpkin growth cycle.

Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are the same thing, and you'll often see the terms used interchangeably in recipes and cookbooks. Unlike pumpkin pie mix, canned pumpkin does not have any spices, sugars, or other additives. In many cases, the only ingredient is pumpkin.

Baking powder is made of baking soda plus cream of tartar and cornstarch. Baking powder can be substituted for baking soda by tripling the amount of baking powder. Baking soda can be substituted for baking powder by dividing the amount of baking powder needed by 4 and adding twice that amount of cream of tartar.

You can lay some strips of parchment paper over the cake before dusting with powdered sugar to create a pattern. A pumpkin roll is a great make ahead dessert! Store in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for three months.

Your cake may crack when you roll it if it's overbaked. A dry cake is more prone to cracking. Waiting too long to roll the cake will lead to cracking as well.

To keep your cake from becoming sticky: Roll cake immediately after baking (make sure it's cool enough to handle, but still warm). Do not put warm cake in the fridge.

To ensure the swiss roll is assembled without a crack make sure to roll the cake sheet when warm. The cake has greater flexibility when warm, so it can easily be moulded to your preferred shape. That way later, when it is layered with cream, it is significantly easier to shape.