Chocolate Pumpkin Cake Roll for the home table
This Chocolate Pumpkin Cake Roll recipe gives you a rich chocolate cake layered with a pumpkin cream cheese filling and a whipped topping, finished with warm chocolate ganache! It's a twist on the familiar swiss roll that your guests will love!
How it comes together
There are three essential parts to making this chocolate pumpkin cake roll recipe. The chocolate cake, the pumpkin cream cheese filling, and the chocolate ganache you'll pour over the top!
The whipped topping layer added after the pumpkin cream cheese filling is optional. It was store-bought, so I did not include it below.
Chocolate Cake
This first part of the easy and flavorful recipe is the chocolate cake, and it mixes together and bakes quickly! For the chocolate cake, you'll need the following ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Domino Golden Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs
- Unsalted Butter
- Vanilla Extract
After mixing everything together until just combined, pour the chocolate cake batter into your prepared 15″ x 10″ x 1″ jelly roll pan. Spread it evenly to each corner of the pan using an offset spatula. Then pop it in the oven to bake at 350ºF for 15-18 minutes or until the cake springs back when you touch it.
When the cake has finished baking, roll it up immediately. Then allow it to cool completely in this shape on a wire cooling rack. This will help keep the roll's shape later when you add the pumpkin cream cheese filling. You can use a kitchen towel to help get the roll started, but be careful not to roll it up with the cake!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling
The next part of this method is making the pumpkin cream cheese filling, which you can make while the chocolate cake is baking (and then cooling). When finished, tightly cover the top with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for about an hour, but longer is fine as well. For the pumpkin cream cheese filling, you'll need the following ingredients:
- Full-Fat Cream Cheese
- Unsalted Butter
- Domino Confectioners Sugar
- Canned Pureed Pumpkin
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
There truly isn't much to this part of the method, but it is worth noting to make sure that your cream cheese and butter are at room temperature, and your powdered sugar is sifted. And because you'll only need 1/8 cup of the canned pumpkin puree, you can store the leftovers in a tightly sealed storage container and place it in the fridge for up to a week.
Chocolate Ganache
The final part to this chocolate pumpkin cake roll recipe is the chocolate ganache! It comes together quickly and is easy to pour over the top of the chilled cake roll. Make sure the cake roll is sitting on top of a wire rack with a jelly roll pan underneath to catch the chocolate ganache that runs off. For this part of the method, you'll need the following ingredients:
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate (bar or chocolate chips)
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Light Corn Syrup
When it comes to pouring the ganache, you can do so straight down the center of the cake roll. Or you can do a small side-to-side pour. Just remember, it doesn't have to be perfect! You can always go back with an offset spatula to smooth out some of the ganache.
And I have to mention that, while Enjoy adding this chocolate ganache to the top of the cake roll, it is totally not required. In fact, you can do a simple dusting of powdered sugar over top and be done. It's totally up to you! But I must say that ganache is reaaaaallly good!
Cake Roll Troubleshooting
Assembling the chocolate pumpkin cake roll is fairly easy. What can leave people frustrated (including myself) is the very first part—unrolling the cake, leaving a sea of cracks. And while having some cracks in your cake isn't the end of the world, I've included some reasons below why they might appear.
- Make sure your cake batter is mixed until just combined. This means mixing ingredients together until you can no longer see them in the mixing bowl. Over-mixing cakes can leave you with a denser texture, which, for this method, can impact the rolling.
- Underbaking and overbaking. If your chocolate cake was underbaked or even overbaked, it can leave you with cracks as you unroll it. The recommended bake time for this chocolate cake roll recipe is 15-18 minutes. For my oven, the 18-minute mark worked truly well, leaving me with no cracks. Every oven is different, however, so make sure to begin checking your cake at the earlier noted time.
- Completely cooling the rolled up cake. Not allowing your rolled-up chocolate cake to cool completely on a wire rack before you unroll it can also cause cracks.
Keeping and freezing
After you've assembled the chocolate pumpkin roll, wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Allow it to chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to let the filling set.
You can also refrigerate the chocolate pumpkin roll for 3-5 days, or freeze it for 1-2 months. My preference is to freeze them because they're much easier to cut later.
When ready to serve, remove from either the refrigerator or freezer (allow it to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes beforehand) and either cover with the warm chocolate ganache or powdered sugar.
Baker notes
- Line your 15″ x 10″ x 1″ jelly roll pan with a pre-cut sheet of parchment paper, then spray it heavily with a flour-based baking spray. This is an important step when baking the chocolate cake. Do not miss this one!
- Roll up your chocolate cake immediately after it's done baking, then allow it to cool in this shape on a wire rack. Doing so will make it much easier to roll up again later after you've added the pumpkin cream cheese filling, whipped topping, and chocolate ganache!
- Once the cake is done, pull back the parchment paper along the sides, then slide it out onto a clean, dry surface or a clean kitchen towel to roll it up. The kitchen towel is helpful when getting the roll started, but just make sure not to roll the towel up with the cake!
- There are other recipes that have you use the kitchen towel and powdered sugar method to roll up the chocolate cake, but we won't be doing that with this method. I've tested this chocolate pumpkin cake roll more than 5 times, and using the parchment paper and flour-based baking spray was perfect!
- Because you'll only need 1/8 cup of pumpkin puree when making the pumpkin cream cheese filling, you can store the leftovers in a tightly sealed plastic or glass storage container and place it in the fridge for up to a week.
- The pumpkin cream cheese filling should be just a little on the thick side, but still spreadable. If your filling is on the thin side, add a little bit of powdered sugar until it thickens.
- When adding the pumpkin cream cheese filling and (optional) whipped topping, leave about a 1/2″ border of cake. As you roll it up, it will push out a little.
- For a nicer presentation and a cleaner look, you can cut off the ends of the cake roll before serving.
Necessary Baking Tools
Here are the 3 baking tools that were instrumental in making this chocolate pumpkin cake roll recipe:
- 15″ x 10″ x 1″ Jelly Roll Pan – this is the perfect size pan for this method! Any bigger and your cake will be super thin!
- Parchment Paper Sheets – You can use these because they're pre-cut and, for this method, they're slightly bigger than the jelly roll pan, allowing the paper to go up each side. I crease the paper so the sides stay upright.
- Flour-Based Baking Spray – helpful when removing the parchment paper later as you roll up the chocolate cake a 2nd time. I only spray the top part of the parchment paper, and I do so generously!
This method post was previously sponsored by Domino Sugar. The notes here are independent. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make Sovuh possible!
- Yield 10 servings
- Prep 1 hour
- Cook 45 minutes
- Total 1 hour 45 minutes
- Calories 515
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs, room temperature
- 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz Full-Fat Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1/8 cup Canned Pureed Pumpkin
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
Chocolate Ganache Topping (optional)
- 4 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate, bar or chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, cold
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Light Corn Syrup
Tools
- Jelly Roll Pan, (10-inch x 15-inch x 1-inch)
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Spray
- Mixing Bowls
- Spatulas
- Whisks
Method
Chocolate Cake
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line a 15" x 10" x 1" jelly roll pan with parchment paper, then generously spray the top and sides of the paper with a flour-based baking spray. The parchment paper should be big enough to come up the sides of the pan. I creased the paper so it helped it stand upright.
- In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Hold to the side.
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the granulated sugar, eggs, melted unsalted butter, and vanilla extract together on medium-high speed until well combined.
- Switch the mixer speed to low and gradually add in the whisked dry mixture, mixing until the cake batter is just combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the chocolate cake roll batter onto the prepared jelly roll pan. Using a small offset spatula, smooth and level out the batter. Give the jelly roll pan a few light taps to remove any air bubbles, then place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes at 350ºF, or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. If you'd like, you can use the back of a spoon to do this because the cake will be hot.
- Remove the chocolate cake from the oven and immediately loosen the parchment paper sides away from the cake. You can do this carefully with just your hands, but you can use a small knife if it helps.
- Slide the chocolate cake (with the parchment paper still attached) from the jelly roll pan onto a clean, dry surface and roll it up while it is still hot. You can use a clean kitchen towel to help get the roll started. Just remember not to roll up the towel with the cake.
- Place the rolled up chocolate cake on a wire cooling rack (the end of the chocolate cake roll should be on the bottom). Allow the cake to cool completely in this shape.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling
- Using your hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the cream cheese and unsalted butter on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined.
- Add in the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg, mixing until evenly mixed.
- Switch the mixer speed to low and add in the powdered sugar until it all comes together.
- Stop the mixer, then scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl. Turn the mixer speed to medium-high to beat for another minute.
- Cover the top tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill while you wait for the cake to cool.
Chocolate Ganache Topping (optional)
- Place the semi-sweet chocolate into a medium-size mixing bowl. Hold to the side.
- Using a microwave-safe bowl or glass measuring cup, heat the heavy whipping cream for 1 minute at full power. Pour it over the chocolate, then let it sit covered (with aluminum foil) for 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the cover, add in the vanilla extract and light corn syrup, then stir until completely melted and smooth. The ganache should be the consistency of thin glue and should be easy to pour over the top of the chilled chocolate pumpkin cake roll. If you still find the ganache too thick, you can whisk in a small amount of heated heavy cream to the mixture.
Assembling the Chocolate Pumpkin Roll
- Carefully unroll the chocolate cake onto a clean, dry surface or a baking sheet.
- Using a small offset spatula, spoon the chilled pumpkin cream cheese frosting to the center of the cake and spread all over, leaving about a 1/2" border of cake.
- Again using the offset spatula, you can add a thin layer of store-bought whipped topping to the top leaving a 1/2 border.
- Slowly roll the cake roll up, removing the parchment paper as you go.
- Tightly wrap the chocolate pumpkin cake roll in plastic wrap and aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours to let the filling set. The cake roll can also be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days or in the freezer for 1-2 months.
- When ready to serve, remove from the refrigerator or freezer (let it sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes beforehand), then top with warm chocolate ganache or a dusting of powdered sugar.
Baker notes
Line your 15" x 10" x 1" jelly roll pan with a pre-cut sheet of parchment paper, then spray it heavily with a flour-based baking spray. This is an important step when baking the chocolate cake.
Roll up your chocolate cake immediately after it's done baking, then allow it to cool in this shape on a wire rack. Doing so will make it much easier to roll up again later after you've added the pumpkin cream cheese filling, whipped topping, and chocolate ganache!
Once the cake is done, pull back the parchment paper along the sides, then slide it out onto a clean, dry surface or a clean kitchen towel to roll it up. The kitchen towel is helpful when getting the roll started, but just make sure not to roll the towel up with the cake!
There are other recipes that have you use the kitchen towel and powdered sugar method to roll up the chocolate cake, but we won't be doing that with this method. I've tested this chocolate pumpkin cake roll more than 5 times, and using the parchment paper and flour-based baking spray was perfect!
Because you'll only need 1/8 cup of pumpkin puree when making the pumpkin cream cheese filling, you can store the leftovers in a tightly sealed plastic or glass storage container and place it in the fridge for up to a week.
The pumpkin cream cheese filling should be just a little on the thick side, but still spreadable. If your filling is on the thin side, add a little bit of powdered sugar until it thickens.
When adding the pumpkin cream cheese filling and (optional) whipped topping, leave about a 1/2" border of cake. As you roll it up, it will push out a little.
For a nicer presentation and a cleaner look, you can cut off the ends of the cake roll before serving.
