Tender, moist and flavourful Paleo Pumpkin Roll – a light and fluffy almond based cake filled with a simple cashew cream! | Gluten Free + Dairy Free
Happy almost Halloween!
Any fun plans lined up?
Since Halloween falls on a Tuesday this year we’ll be spending this weekend binge watching the new season of Stranger Things, carving pumpkins, and maybe making some more Harry Potter pumpkin juice to go along with this paleo pumpkin roll. If we’ve got time I’m also thinking another viewing of Hocus Pocus is in order for little holiday cheese. Good times!
But first things first – gotta make that pumpkin roll!
Pumpkin roll – whether they are paleo or not can sometimes be a little intimidating to master. Really though, with just a a little bit of patience and a gentle touch you’ll see that it’s really not as difficult as it looks.
And while the ingredient list here might look a little long it’s mostly made up of things you’ll already have on hand in your paleo kitchen: eggs, vanilla, coconut oil, sugar etc.
So deep breath….and let’s get into it!
How to Make: Paleo Pumpkin Roll
The base recipe here is actually based off of my pumpkin spice donuts I shared a few years back. Instead of baking these in donut tray you’ll need to spread this out evenly in a 10 x 15 inch jelly roll pan (affiliate link) so that this is flat and easy to roll up.
When it comes to your pan – size matters. I was able to snag my pan at a TK Maxx here in the UK but I noticed a lot of the pans I found onlinewere 10.25 x 15.25 inch. This size should still be alright to use but I wouldn’t recommend using any other sizes because I can’t guarantee it will come out as expected.
Preparing the cake itself is pretty straight forward. Just mix up your batter in one bowl and spread it out evenly onto your parchment lined jelly roll pan.
The tricky part comes after your cake comes out of the oven. After your pull it out of the oven you’ll need to roll up the cake while it’s still warm like you can see in the picture just above. Rolling up the cake while it’s still warm means that the cake will be able to cool down in the shape it will eventually be filled and rolled in which means it’s less likely to tear or break later. Once you’ve got it rolled up the first time it’s pretty easy going forward.
The filling comes together in minutes – just blend up your cashew cream ingredients together until it forms a thick, smooth cream. After your rolled up cake has completely cooled you can unroll and spread out your filling. Then just roll it back up and place it in the fridge to firm up for another hour.
While the total time to make this is over three hours the actual hands on prep time is really only about 20 or 30 minutes. You’ll need a little patience but it’s all worth it in the end when you can sit down with a slice of roll and a cup of coffee to enjoy along with it.
Worth it!
![Paleo Pumpkin Roll on a chopping board](https://www.asaucykitchen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Paleo-Pumpkin-Roll--e1554197518354.jpeg)
Paleo Pumpkin Roll
Tender, moist and flavourful Paleo Pumpkin Roll - a light and fluffy almond based cake filled with a simple cashew cream! | Gluten Free + Dairy Free
Ingredients
The pumpkin cake
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour (145g)
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour (30g)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (95g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree (175g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons | 30 ml coconut oil, melted
Cashew Cream Cheese Filling
- 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight in water (250g)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (60g)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (30 ml)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (15ml)
Instructions
Pumpkin Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F, 190° C.
- Grease 10 x 15 inch jelly-roll pan and line it with parchment. Grease the parchment paper. Make sure to leave excess parchment hanging over the edges - this will make it easier to remove from the pan later. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and the eggs until combined.
- Add the almond flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and the spices to the bowl and stir until everything is fully incorporated. Stir in the melted coconut oil.
- Spread the batter evenly into the lined pan. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until top of cake springs back when touched.
- While the cake is still warm, carefully lift the parchment paper and place onto a clean, flat surface. Leave the parchment paper on and carefully roll the cake from the short end to the short end until it is rolled up. Transfer the rolled up cake to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
- Once the cake has cooled completely unroll and carefully spread the cashew filling over the top of the - leave a 1/2 inch border around the cake so that the filling doesn't spill out of the sides. Carefully roll the cake back up without the paper. Wrap up in plastic wrap to help it hold shape and place in the fridge for another hour to firm up before slicing and serving.
Cashew Cream Cheese Filling
- Add cashews, maple syrup, vanilla extract, coconut oil & lemon juice to a high powered blender and blitz until it becomes a thick, smooth consistency. Place in the fridge until you're ready to use.
Notes
Prep time includes cooling & firming up in the fridge after. Actual hands on prep time is closer to 20 minutes.
Cia says
I followed the recipe to make the pumpkin part perfect but it came out very dry. What am i doing wrong? Looks likeni need more liquid of some sort, please help.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Cia! Is it possible that your oven temperature/cook time might have been a little too high or too long? Different ovens can sometimes require a little more or less time with baking things. I would have thought that the pumpkin and eggs would be enough to keep the cake part moist. My best guess is that it might have dried out in the final 2-3 minutes a bit too much.
Brenna says
Amazing! The cake was tender and moist, but structured enough for a perfect roll. Added more lemon, some Himalayan salt, and grated ginger into the frosting and OMG. Ridiculously good.
Sarah Nevins says
Yay! So glad to hear you enjoyed it – thanks Brenda!
Melinda says
Can I use eryrithritol (Lankato Monkfruit) in place of the coconut sugar?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Melinda! I’m afraid I’m not too sure without testing this first myself – I haven’t had the change to play around with erythritol too much so I’m not sure how it would change the recipe
MG says
Can this be frozen? Either before or after the cream is added? Thanks
Sarah says
I haven’t tried freezing this myself so I can’t say for sure but I don’t think that it would freeze well – especially not with the cream.
Kris Illg says
Hi this was very easy to follow and make other than it did solit a bit when rolling after filling but I was a bit impatient and it was s little warm yet. 🙂 It’s in the fridge now… can hardly wait to try it..! Thank you!
Sarah Nevins says
Hope you love it!
Patricia Jemente says
This recipe looks so good. Looking forward to trying it! I just ordered the jelly roll pan you recommended and love that it is offered on Amazon Prime! I hope you get a commission off of it, ’cause you deserve it! : )
Sarah says
Thanks Patrica! I really hope you love this as much as we do 🙂
Angie says
Can you use coconut flour instead of almond flour?
Sarah says
Hi Angie! I wouldn’t recommend using coconut flour here – it’s a much more absorbent flour that behaves very differently from almond flour and I don’t see it working too well here
Justine says
I’m hoping to make this but live at high altitude (which means my baking turns out about…50% of the time). Suggestions for making this successful??? 😉
Sarah says
I wish I could help but I’m pretty inexperienced with high altitude baking. I hope it works out!
Val says
What can you use for the tapioca flour? Can it be just left out?
Sarah says
You could also use arrowroot starch (and possibly corn starch or potato with varied results). I wouldn’t recommend leaving out the starch though – it helps with the binding and texture of the cake here which would effect that end result
Jennifer says
Can you make this without eggs?
Sarah says
I’m afraid I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know.