Patterned Pumpkin Roll

The light and moist pumpkin cake pairs perfectly with the rich cream cheese frosting swirl! Add some fun fall decoration and you will certainly impress your Thanksgiving guests.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Rest Time 1

Total Time 2 20

Ingredients

For the pattern batter

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup unsalted butter softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup milk

For the pumpkin cake

¾ cup all-purpose flour sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 eggs room temperature
5.5 ounces pumpkin puree (⅔ cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar for rolling the cake

For the cream cheese filling

8 ounces cream cheese softened
½ cup unsalted butter softened
3 cups powdered sugar add additional to get desired consistency
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

To make the pattern batter

Add your leaf pattern to parchment paper by tracing the leaves on the back of the paper. Grease the jelly roll pan and lay your parchment paper with tracings down. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugar for 1-2 minutes.
Add the egg, vanilla extract and milk. Beat for an additional 2 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder).
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
Spoon the batter into 3-4 separate bowls and add food coloring to each to make the leaf colors (red, yellow, orange, brown, etc.).
Spoon the colored batters into separate piping bags and cut very small tips on the end of each.
Fill in the leaf patterns as desired, freezing for 15-20 minutes after each color addition to prevent the colors from bleeding (see above for more detail).
Once finished, place the pan back in the freezer as you prepare your pumpkin cake batter.

To make the cream cheese filling

Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until you have reached your desired frosting consistency. (I usually use 3-4 total cups)
Add the pumpkin pie spice, mix until combined. Set aside, but leave at room temperature so that the frosting will spread easily on to the cake roll.

To make the pumpkin cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat sugar, brown sugar and eggs together for 2-3 minutes, or until the mixture is light and foamy.
Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.
Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt).
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix on low speed until combined, then scrape down the bowl.
Spread the pumpkin cake batter directly on top of the piped pattern. Smooth it until it is evenly spread over the entire jelly roll pan.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cake begins to brown along the edges and it springs back to the touch.
While the cake is baking, place a long piece of parchment paper on top of an upside down cookie sheet. You will be turning out your cake on to this, so make sure that the cookie sheet is large enough to fit the entire cake. Also make sure that you have a clean tea towel and powdered sugar at the ready.
Once the cake is out of the oven, run a knife around the edges and immediately turn out on to your prepared parchment paper and cookie sheet.
Peel off the parchment paper to reveal your leaf designs, then sprinkle a generous layer of powdered sugar on top of the cake.
Next, place your tea towel over the sugared cake, followed by the jelly roll pan that you used to bake the cake. Flip the cake back over.
Peel the parchment paper off of the cake and generously sprinkle powdered sugar over this side of the cake as well.
Lastly, use the tea towel to roll the cake up (the towel will remain inside of the cake). Set it on a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperature.

To fill the cake roll

Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, you can unroll it.
Spread the cream cheese frosting evenly over the cake, leaving 1 inch empty on each side of the cake.
Re-roll the cake, this time without the tea towel.
Brush away any excess powdered sugar, then let the cake rest in the refrigerator overnight. Most of the powdered sugar will soak into the cake then, but any leftover sugar can be brushed away with some water so that you can make sure to showcase all of your leaf design!