Step 1

Lightly grease a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, with an overhang along the short edges of the pan (to make it easy to remove the cake from the pan). Butter and dust the exposed edges with flour. Set aside.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Step 3

Melt the butter, and add the pumpkin puree. Heat over medium heat until the pumpkin is warm as well. Add the vanilla extract and stir to combine. Set aside in a medium bowl.

Step 4

Sift the dry ingredients (flour, spices, and baking powder) into a separate small bowl.

Step 5

Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan.

Step 6

Place the eggs in a metal mixing bowl that can fit over the saucepan. Add the sugar and salt, and whisk to combine.

Step 7

Place the bowl over simmering water (not touching the water) and whisk continuously for about 2 - 4 minutes until the egg mixture is warm to the touch or until the eggs reach a temperature of about 110 - 120°F.

Step 8

Remove the egg mixture from the heat. And remove the saucepan from the heat.

Step 9

Place the mixing bowl in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed for about 5 - 6 minutes. The eggs should at least triple in size.

Step 10

To check if the egg mixture is at the right consistency, take some of the egg mixture with your whisk attachment and create some ribbons on the surface. The ribbons should remain on the surface and not immediately disappear.

Step 11

Sift the dry ingredients evenly over the surface of the egg mixture. Make sure it's sifted evenly, so that the flour doesn't collect at one spot and sink to the bottom.

Step 12

Using a wide spatula (or the largest spatula you own), fold the flour into the egg mixture. Rotate the bowl after every fold to make sure all the flour is well incorporated, and there are no dry spots in the batter or the bottom of the bowl. Be careful not to deflate the mixture by overmixing – this should not take more than 15 folds.

Step 13

Now it's time to mix in the pumpkin butter mixture, which should be warm before being mixed in. If it’s not, microwave for a few seconds to warm it up.

Step 14

Add roughly 1 cup of the cake batter (using your spatula) to the pumpkin butter mix. Mix well to incorporate the butter and cake batter until emulsified.

Step 15

Gently spoon the pumpkin butter batter mix evenly over the surface of the rest of the cake batter in the mixing bowl. I use the flat side of my spatula to break the flow of the butter mixture as I do this, so that it doesn’t sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Step 16

Fold the butter mixture into the rest of the cake batter. Do this gently with as fewer folds as possible so as not to deflate the cake batter. No more than 8 folds. The cake batter can easily deflate at this point, so be careful.

Step 17

Pour all the cake batter into the prepared cake tray. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter into the corners of the tray and make sure it's distributed as evenly as possible.

Step 18

Knock the tray on a firm surface (kitchen counter) about 3 – 4 times to get rid of any large air bubbles trapped in the batter. Give the tray a little shake to evenly distribute the batter again.

Step 19

Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 10 - 15 minutes (12 minutes in my conventional oven), rotating halfway through the baking process if needed.

Step 20

The cake is done when the surface is springy to the touch, or when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 21

Remove the cake from the oven. Let it cool for about 1 minute.

Step 22

The bottom side of the cake will be the presentation side for the swiss roll (see pictures in the post for reference). You can use the parchment paper you baked the cake in to roll up the swiss roll for convenience. If you prefer to use a new parchment paper, you can do that too. See recipe notes for directions.

Step 23

Run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake in the cake pan to loosen it from the pan. Gently lift the cake from the baking tray and place it on your work surface (slip a cake lifter or flexible cutting board underneath for support if needed).

Step 24

Sift confectioner's sugar over the surface of the cake.

Step 25

OPTIONAL STEP ONE – Along one of the short ends of the cake, make a diagonal cut as shown in the pictures in the post. This helps create a neat seal when the cake is rolled up, as described below.

Step 26

OPTIONAL STEP TWO – On the opposite short end of the cake, make two shallow cuts (2 mm deep), parallel to the short edge. The first cut is 1 inch from the edge, and the second is 1 inch from the first cut. DO NOT cut all the way through! See pictures in the post for reference. This step helps maintain an even thickness as the cake is rolled up.

Step 27

Fold about 1 inch of parchment paper overhang over the short edge with the shallow cuts, and start rolling up the cake into a spiral. Make sure the spiral is tight, but not too tight that it crushes the cake. Keep rolling until the cake is completely wrapped in parchment paper. Use another parchment paper or cloth napkin to wrap the swiss roll further to help keep its shape. This will prevent unravelling. Make sure the cake is stored with the seam side down. Let it cool completely to room temperature.

Step 28

Once the cake is cooled, gently unravel the cake.

Step 29

Spread a thin layer of cream cheese whipped cream, about ½ - 1 cm (¼ - ½ inch) thick over the surface. Leave about a 2 - 2.5 cm (1 inch) margin at the short edge with the diagonal cut.

Step 30

Now roll up the cake again, but make sure to loosen the parchment paper from the cake as you go. Make sure the cake is firmly rolled up, while maintaining its shape, and the filling isn't squeezed out much. Wrap the cake well with parchment paper and/or a cloth napkin so that the cake doesn't lose its shape. You can use the parchment paper to shape the cake if the roll seems loose.

Step 31

Refrigerate for a few hours until the cake and filling have firmed up.

Step 32

Slice off the ends of the cake with a warm serrated knife so that the swiss roll cake looks neat.

Step 33

Serve with a dusting of confectioner's sugar on top.

Step 34

Make this while the cake is cooling to room temperature.

Step 35

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and whisk until creamy and fluffy. Scrape out the cream cheese into a separate small bowl.

Step 36

In the same large bowl, place the chilled whipping cream, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla.

Step 37

Whisk on low speed to combine. Then increase the speed to medium and whisk until you have soft peaks.

Step 38

Add the creamed cream cheese back into the large bowl and whisk until it’s all mixed through. Keep whisking until you have stiff peaks. Take care not to over-whisk, as this could lead to the whipped cream splitting.

Step 39

The whipped cream cheese filling is now ready to be used.