Pumpkin Cream Cheese Rollup Recipe

Just in time for the Thanksgiving dessert table, I thought I’d share my annual pumpkin cream cheese rollup recipe! I’ve made this exact recipe for several years now, even gifting one to each of my neighbors, followed by a mini cheesecake for Christmas… although this year, it will probably be a dessert box full of hot cocoa bombs. I made a tutorial last week and I can’t wait to share it with you all soon!

Because this recipe needs to freeze well before cutting to get that nice, perfect spiral slice, you may as well go ahead and make it now, and save it for Thanksgiving. I’m all in on something that can be made ahead, especially a dessert that is perfect for the occasion.

They sell these pumpkin cream cheese rolls at our local Fresh Market bakery and they are amazing! Knowing me though, I can’t show up at a holiday get together (pre-pandemic) with something store bought, so I was on a mission to find a good homemade recipe. The first time I made this pumpkin cream cheese rollup, my husband, who isn’t a big fan of pumpkin desserts, thought this was not only really good, but better than Fresh Market’s! I’ll take that as a compliment!

I’ve been baking with my 5 year old daughter for years now, and it’s so fun to watch her grow in the kitchen. She’s so much more in control of the utensils and ingredients now. Although I didn’t mind her destroying the kitchen before, she’s becoming so much more independent and we love spending time together baking. My son is 7 and will read the recipe to us, so it’s a full on family moment. Lots of good bonding on weekends, baking treats and then enjoying them together.

I have some tips for you!

• Use a bit extra of wax paper so that it doesn’t fit in the pan properly. You need those extra edges to grab so that when it’s upside down on the cloth, you can easily pop the cake out of the pan without burning yourself.
• Don’t use a porous dish rag like I did in this pics. It’s best to use one with a tighter weave, a more smooth surface, so that it doesn’t soak up the powdered sugar. Otherwise, your cake will stick to the cloth pretty badly.
• Also, wait for it to cool complete before unrolling out of the cloth. If it’s warm, it will easily crack when unrolling.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Rollup Recipe

food.com

It's best to make this at least a day before and freeze overnight, but it can be made early morning, ready for dessert that evening. The recipe is pretty quick and easy to make, but needs to cool between steps.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Resting 8 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

Cake:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 cup flour

Filling:

• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 10 x 15″ jelly roll pan. Line pan with waxed paper, then grease and lightly flour the waxed paper.
• In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Beat in remaining cake ingredients. Pour batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 15 minutes. Cake cooks fast so watch carefully to avoid burning the edges.
• While cake is baking, sprinkle powdered sugar heavily over the kitchen towel, using a sieve or sifter. Turn hot cake onto the towel. Remove waxed paper. Trim off burnt or crusty edges. Sprinkle more powdered sugar over the hot cake and quickly roll up with towel inside. Let cake cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare filling by beating together all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Unroll cooled cake and spread with the filling mixture. Roll up cake with filling on the inside. Wrap in waxed paper and then foil. Refrigerate or freeze. To serve, slice cake about 1/3 inch thick and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cake cuts best when still slightly frozen. Thaw the single slices on a serving dish.
• This recipe was easier than I thought it’d be, even though the cake flipping and rolling made me nervous. The bread split when I was rolling up the cream cheese, but I was able to mend it back together in the final step when I wrapped the roll in wax paper tightly before freezing and slicing.

Keyword dessert, thanksgiving