Pumpkin Roll Troubleshooting: Tips for Unrolling & Re-Rolling

[KristyH]

I want to make a Pumpkin Roll and when I've made it in the past, I seem to have trouble. My cake usually doesn't 'unroll' and 're-roll' very well. Does anyone have any tips??? I wonder if I'm doing something wrong!! Can I use the Large Bar Pan instead of a Jelly roll pan? Any help is appreciated! Thank you!!

 

[chefann]

The large bar pan is a jelly roll pan - they're the same size as each other.

 

[lisa717]

Do you cook it on waxed paper? Sometimes mine are perfect other times I have issues....not alot of help here...i think it is a touchy recipe!

 

[KristyH]

Hehe! I guess that was a silly question about the bar pan!

I did use wax paper when I have tried it in the past. Maybe it's all about the cooling times?? I found a recipe that has specific cooling times, and the one I've used in the past didn't have that.

 

[sklay723]

I have made these two years running for Thanksgiving (as a way of completely winning over the father-in-law, who would probably PAY for a homemade one each year!). The first year I totally didn't know what I was doing and the rolling/re-rolling was tough, but last year I figured out that parchment paper is my friend. Bake it on parchment paper and then use the paper to help you roll it the first time and let it cool almost all the way before you unroll, spread the frosting on and re-roll. And the flour/sugar shaker is perfect for powdered sugar to sprinkle on top!

 

[KristyH]

sklay723...do you just use the parchment paper to roll it or do you still use the towel with powdered sugar on it?

 

[chefann]

Do you cook it on waxed paper? Sometimes mine are perfect other times I have issues....not alot of help here...i think it is a touchy recipe!

You shouldn't bake on waxed paper, you should use parchment. Waxed paper is similar, but the wax has a lower melting point and will actually get on your food when you bake with it. The silicone that's used in parchment won't melt.

 

[MishaaE]

sklay723...do you just use the parchment paper to roll it or do you still use the towel with powdered sugar on it?

I'd love to hear the answer to this as well. I did the traditional recipe with rolling it on a powdered towel and it didn't roll up very tight and when I unrolled it, it cracked almost all the way through in two spots. Re-rolling was a nightmare.

It certainly would make it easier to just roll it in the parchment paper. It shouldn't stick should it?

 

[JAE]

Parchment paper is your friend! I love the roll recipes.

 

[sklay723]

OK, I cheat and use parchment paper to roll it. I bake it in parchment (lining the pan), and then I flip it out onto parchment that is laid across a towel. The towel thing has always messed with my head (lint anyone? mmmm...), and I didn't think the parchment would hurt anything.
As for it breaking up when you roll and unroll, I've just tried to work on getting it unrolled again before it's fully cooled. The icing gets runny that way, but if you ice it and roll it back up again fast enough and put it in the fridge right away to set, usually you can salvage it. When the cake is still a bit warm and moist, that's when it's easier to unroll and roll back up...if you wait til it's fully cooled, you will definitely have trouble with it breaking apart. I'm far from the expert on this, so take it with a grain of salt, but that's what has worked for me.