Pumpkin Roulade/Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Look at this beauty!  This is how it looks sliced.

The one ingredient that always comes to mind for the holidays is pumpkin.  Legally Sweet's Pumpkin Roulade is easy, quick and delicious.  However, this dessert may look complicated, but trust me when I say it is easier than baking a cake.  Your guests will wonder how you created such a beautiful and delicious dessert.

Roulade originates from the french word "rouler" which means to roll.  Simply put, once the cake is baked, you just roll the cake, not once but twice and then done. To help you out I took pictures of each step.  Parchment paper and any kind of butter spray are your best friends with this cake.

Below is the pumpkin roulade batter in a half sheet pan waiting to get baked.

While the pumpkin roulade is baking, prepare a "flour sack" towel, by sprinkling it with a generous amount of powered sugar, icing sugar and/or 10x sugar.  Do Not Use any other kind of towel or you will have towel fuzz on your cake.  I use these flour sack towels here Flour Sack Towels, but Martha Stewart and Target sell them too. 

When the pumpkin roulade comes out of the oven, turn it immediately upside down onto the towel sprinkled with powered sugar and remove the parchment paper.

Then start to roll it up until it is completely rolled.  You want to roll from the shortest end.  Then, tuck the end of the towels under the roulade and let it completely cool.

This is what it should look like when you are done rolling and it is cooling.

Once the cake is cooled, make the filling and spread all over the cake, leaving a 1" border.  

Roll up like you did when it was cooling, except without the towel.  Wrap the roulade in aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

Let's Get Baking:

INGREDIENTS

For the cake:

*  Preheat oven to 375.

3 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of canned or fresh pumpkin (if using canned, use puree only)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup of Flour

For the cream cheese filling:

1 8oz. package of cream cheese
4 tbs. unsalted softend butter
1 cup of powdered or icing sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
(You can add your nut of choice, it is optional, just make sure the nuts are chopped into small pieces)

PROCESS:


For the cake


*Line a half sheet pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper and spray parchment paper and sides of pan liberally.  

*In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar.  

*Add the pumpkin and mix until incorporated.  

* Add the baking soda, cinnamon and flour.

*Mix until combined, but don't over mix.

* Make sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of your mixing bowl.  

* Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth with an offset spatula

* Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.  

* Sidebar:  Everyone's ovens are different.  I swear by an oven thermometer to check temperature, but even then it can be finicky.  

 Using a half sheet pan, I found that it took my oven approximately 15-20 minutes before the cake was done.  Just keep checking it.  Once the cake springs back and pulls a little away from the sides it  is done.

* While the cake is baking, open your flour sack towel and sprinkle liberally with powdered or icing sugar.

* Immediately remove the cake from the oven and turn it upside down onto the towel.

* Remove the parchment paper and roll the cake up with the towel starting from the shortest end as shown above.

* Let cool completely.


In the meantime.....prepare the filling


for the cream cheese filling:


* In the bowl of your electric mixer add the cream cheese butter, sugar, vanilla  and (nuts if you are using them. Make sure if you are using nuts you have them chopped into small pieces.

* Mix until combined again scraping the sides and bottom of your bowl.

*  Unroll the pumpkin cake from the towel and spread the filling with an offset spatula onto the cake leaving a 1" border.  It is important to leave a border so the filling does not ooze out of the roulade.

*  Now let's start rolling from the shortest end, roll only the cake this time leaving behind the flour sack towel.

* Once it is completely rolled transfer the roulade to a generous piece of aluminum foil and roll it up.

*  Refrigerate overnight.

Serving Suggestions:

* Place the roulade on a decorate plate and sprinkle with some powdered or icing sugar.  I typically cut a couple of slices and position them next to the roulade,  so that my guests can see the inside.