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It’s autumn and I have been inspired by my American friends to make a pumpkin roll! It is basically the equivalent of the British Swiss roll, just a pumpkin sponge rather than plain, and filled with cream cheese icing rather than jam! Same same but different, eh? So I trolled through the internet for some inspiration… Many of the recipes are very similar (basically the same), so I have put my spin on this recipe using ingredients available in the UK and metric measurements rather than cups! So here’s my Spiced Pumpkin Roll recipe with an Orange and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing!
What do you need to make this Spiced Pumpkin Roll?
This cake is fairly quick and easy to make and only requires a few ingredients and bits of baking equipment!
INGREDIENTS
The hardest ingredient to find if you are in the UK will be the pumpkin purée. If you are lucky, you can find it between September-November in large supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco or ASDA. I was lucky enough to find some tinned pumpkin purée, but I have also made it myself in the past to make this Spiced Pumpkin Traybake. So check out that recipe to find out how to make your own!
I used granulated sugar in the below recipe, but you can also use caster sugar if you like. To circumvent using pumpkin spice mix, which I so far haven’t been able to find in the UK, I just used my own mix of ground cinnamon, ginger, all spice and cloves.
For the cream cheese icing, I flavoured mine with orange zest and some cinnamon for that added je-ne-sais-quoi! I love the flavour of orange in baking and am a cinnamon addict – so was a big fan of the addition! But you can always just leave the icing plain or flavour it with some vanilla extract.
At the end, I decorated my Spiced Pumpkin Roll with some edible flowers (I bought them from Polly’s Petals UK – would recommend!) and some mini meringues that were left from my Passion Fruit Éclair Bake Off Box recipe! But you can decorate this with anything you like.
EQUIPMENT
This recipe using the whisked method (check out my Baking Basics post on the different Cake Making Methods here), so involves whisking eggs and sugar until they reach the ribbon stage, before folding in the dry ingredients. The eggs are a key raising agent in this method, so it is important to whisk them on high speed for at least 8-10 minutes. Therefore, I would thoroughly recommend using an electric hand-held or free-standing mix (I was able to use my new Kenwood – yay!).
You will also need a 36.5 x 26cm Swiss roll tin or silicone baking mat. I used my brand-new baking mat from the October Bake Off Box! Apart from that, you will need some baking paper and a wire cooling rack (pro tip: you can also use a rack from the oven and turn it upside down so that there is some space below). Some other non-essential but nice to have equipment are a silicone spatula and an angled palette knife.
More Autumn Baking Recipes
I love Christmas baking, but I do also like to not jump ahead too quickly and enjoy making some more autumnal bakes beforehand! October is the perfect month for autumn baking, leading all the way up to Bonfire/Guy Fawkes Night. After that the Christmas baking starts – at least according to my calendar! XD
So if you are still looking for a little autumn baking recipe inspiration, why not check out some of my favourite sweet and savoury options below!
- Spiced Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing
- Plum Crumble Traybake
- Sticky Toffee Cake with Pecan Praline | Bonfire Night Cake
- Salted Caramel and Chocolate Mini Rolls | October Bake Off Box
- Spiced Pumpkin Traybake
- Blackberry and Cinnamon Crumble Cake
- Spiced Pumpkin “Gut” Cake (use up all of your pumpkin guts!)
- Easy Carrot Cake Traybake
- Spiced Almond and Marzipan Cake
- Prue Leith’s Sticky Toffee Pudding | Bake Off Technical Challenge
- Caramelised Red Onion and Balsamic Vinegar Soda Bread
- Pumpkin Seed Sourdough Loaf
- German Laugenbrezeln “Pretzels” | Oktoberfest Recipe
Spiced Pumpkin Roll with Orange Cream Cheese Icing
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE SPONGE
- 3 large eggs
- 200g granulated sugar
- 180g pumpkin purée (use shop-bought or make your own following the instructions here)
- 95g plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground all spice
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- Icing sugar, to roll and decorate
FOR THE CREAM CHEESE ICING
- 85g butter, softened
- 140g icing sugar, sifted
- 225g full-fat soft cheese (I used Philadelphia)
- 1 orange, zest only (optional)
- Ground cinnamon, to taste (optional)
YOU WILL ALSO NEED
- Large mixing bowl
- Electric hand-held or free-standing whisk
- Swiss roll baking tray or silicone baking mat (36.5 x 26cm)
- Silicone spatula
- Wire cooling rack
- Baking paper
- Small angled palette knife
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan and lightly grease the silicone baking mat with vegetable oil. If you are using a baking tray, line it with a piece of baking parchment.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl of a free-standing mixer or a large baking bowl and add the granulated sugar. Whisk for roughly 8-10 minutes until the mixture has increased in volume, is light in colour and frothy. The mix should leave a trail when you lift the whisk (known as the ribbon stage).
- Briefly whisk in the pumpkin purée until just combined, then sift in the flour, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices. Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until everything is combined using a large spatula or metal spoon.
- Carefully pour the cake batter into the prepared tin, trying to knock out as little air as possible, and spread the mixture evenly across the tray and into the corners.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes until firm to the touch.
- In the meantime, place a large piece of baking paper on your work surface and generously dust with sifted icing sugar.
- Once the sponge is baked, immediately remove it from the oven and turn the cake onto the prepared sheet of baking paper. Carefully remove the tin and use a sharp knife to lightly score the cake at one of the shorter ends, around 1 cm from the border.
- From the scored end, roll the sponge up inside the baking paper and then set onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese icing, beat the butter with an electric whisk for 3-4 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add in half of the icing sugar at a time, beating well between each addition. Next, add the cream cheese, orange zest and some ground cinnamon and whisk for a further 2-3 minutes until the frosting is pale and fluffy. Taste, and add a little more cinnamon if necessary. Chill the icing in the fridge until needed.
- To assemble the Spiced Pumpkin Roll, carefully un-roll the cooled sponge. Spoon the cream cheese icing over the top and spread out evenly using an angled palette knife or the back of a metal spoon. Then carefully re-roll the sponge (without the baking paper this time) as tightly as you can to create a nice swirl.
- Wrap the Spiced Pumpkin Roll in some clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours until firm. Trim the edges to create a clean edge and reveal the lovely cream cheese spiral inside. Lightly dust the pumpkin roll with icing sugar and finish with additional decorations of your choosing just before serving.
