Light and airy, this low carb pumpkin cake roll is a delicious fall dessert. With only 3g net carbs per serving, it’s a perfect grain-free, keto treat!
As someone who follows a low carb diet and loves to bake, I go through a lot of eggs. And by a lot of eggs, I really mean a LOT of eggs. Low carb, gluten-free baking typically takes more eggs than conventional recipes do, often two or three times as many. I also have a family of five to feed and we often eat eggs for breakfast. Or dinner. Scrambled, fried, or cooked up in a frittata, they make an easy, healthy meal. We probably go through an average of 3 dozen eggs a week. Given our high egg consumption, I like knowing that I am making choices that are healthier, more ethical and that support small farmers. I also love that their eggs are packed in recycled material. “This package used to be a plastic bottle”. 
This low carb, gluten-free pumpkin roll has been on my to-make list for a while and of course, it takes a number of eggs. I modelled the cake part after conventional pumpkin roll recipes, which have you whip the egg whites and fold them into a batter that doesn’t contain a lot of flour (or almond flour, in my case). This makes it lighter and airier, and a lot less cake-y. It also makes it a bit tricky to work with and prone to cracking, especially in the absence of gluten. I also did away with the heavy cream cheese filling and opted for a lightly sweetened whipped cream with a little coffee flavour. But OH MY, it was divine. It was so light and airy that it was rather like biting into a pumpkin-flavoured cloud. Or maybe a pumpkin latte flavoured cloud.
Pumpkin Roll with Coffee Cream
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener, divided
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling:
- 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
- 1/3 cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- More powdered Swerve Sweetener for dusting
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F and line an 11x17 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the paper very well.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, xanthan gum, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks on high with 1/4 cup of the sweetener, until they become pale yellow and thickened. Beat in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
- In large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add remaining sweetener, beating until stiff peaks form.
- Fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture, then gently fold in the almond almond flour mixture until well combined. Spread into prepared baking pan and bake 15 to 18 minutes, or until cake just springs back when touched.
- Remove and let cool 10 to 15 minutes, then cover with another sheet of parchment and a large cutting board or another large baking sheet. Flip everything upside down and remove the top baking sheet. Very gently peel off the parchment paper on which the cake was baked.
- Keep the cake covered with parchment and a tea towel to keep in moisture as it cools. Let cool but don't leave too long before filling and rolling (should just be barely warm still, to avoid cracking, but too warm and it will melt the filling).
Filling:
- Whip cream with powdered sweetener, instant coffee and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Do not overbeat.
- Spread cake evenly with filling, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Gently roll from a short side, using the bottom parchment to lift the cake to avoid cracking as much as possible.
- Cover and freeze until firm. Remove from freezer 15 minutes prior to serving. Dust with powdered sweetener. Return any leftover cake to the freezer.
Notes
Saturated fatty acids: 8.18g
Total fat: 18.08g
Calories from fat: 162
Cholesterol: 115mg
Carbohydrate: 5.17g
Total dietary fiber: 2.10g
Protein: 5.87g
Sodium: 150mg
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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I have made this twice and it was really yummy both times. It broke when I rolled it, but I just wrapped parchment paper around till serving time and no one noticed! It makes a lot…
Can I freeze slices?
Thanks, Kathy
I made this exactly to the letter of the recipe, and it turned out horrible. Although the ingredients were gently folded, the batter turned out super thick and the cake was dense and flavorless – not really pumpkin at all. The best part was the whipping cream.
Well something went wrong because the batter should not be super thick. I can’t say what went wrong without being in your kitchen but the batter should be spreadable.
I combined this cake recipe with a keto cream cheese filling from another recipe… it was delicious!!!! Mine did break, but I just saw your comment below that says to add some gelatin! Will try that next time! Still so yummy! No guilt in eating this! Thank you!!
What cream cheese filling did you use. I am looking for something without coffee.
Do we roll this in the towel like a regular cake roll?
Do the instructions say to do so? Nope! I would be clear if that was part of it. But with keto cakes, you risk cracking them even more if you roll, unroll, and roll again.
I made this today for our Thanksgiving dessert. It is SO good. I’m not sure whether I prefer the cake or the cream. Thankfully, I don’t have to decide!
This is by far the best low carb dessert that I have made!! So delicious!!
So glad to hear it!
My daughter made this recipe a couple days ago, and oh my goodness… It was amazing! The filling was outstanding! We added brewed coffee instead of instant coffee and it was delicious! It cracked slightly when we rolled it, but nothing major. Needless to say, we will be making this recipe again!
I want to try updating this recipe with a spoonful of gelatin in the dry mixture. In my experience, it can help make things a bit more flexible. I just haven’t had time yet!
Oh my, this is absolutely amazing! I made this for the first time ever and it was a hit. Mine definitely didn’t look like yours …I had a hard time rolling it and it broke. I’m gonna try again. I gotta get it right so I can bring this to gatherings.
I’ve found a new trick that helps! Try adding 1 tablespoon of gelatin into the dry ingredients before you mix in the wet ingredients. It makes it more flexible.
Hi Carolyn!
If I wanted to swap the coffee with a flavored sugar free syrup, would you suggest using the same amount as the coffee or less? Maybe start small and taste test?
I just made your Gingerbread Roll and I was wondering if you have an update to this pumpkin roll recipe that uses gelatin to make it easier to roll? Also this pumpkin roll recipe doesn’t use cream of tartar or salt when whipping egg whites.
I don’t but maybe I will revisit it in the fall!
I made this last night. It tastes wonderful and I LOVE the coffee flavoring. I now have a learning curve for my next one. Thank you for pumpkin rolls!!
Hooray!
This is delicious! I’m actually making another one to take to a get together tonight! Thanks for sharing it!
I am making this now, so I should have asked this question days ago. I will probably figure this out after I make it but I’m going to ask anyway. Your recipe says to use an 11” x 17“ pan. Are you supposed to spread the cake mixture out to the edges? With the amount of product that will be created it seems that will be extremely thin thickness when spread that far. First time ever making a roll of any sort.
You want it to be thin as it will rise. This measurements are correct for that pan size.
LOVE this recipe! Hard to roll, but that doesn’t matter-taste is superb and the cake is great!
I have a question about this pumpkin cake roll. It calls for instant coffee but we are not coffee drinkers so I don’t want to go out and buy it just for this receipe. Is there a good substitute or can I just leave it out? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Just leave it out.
Your recipe calls for “3/4 cup Swerve Sweetener, divided”. What do you mean by ‘Divided’? Is that the same as “Sifted”? I’ve done that with Flour, but not with granulated sweetener, at least net yet.
David
Hi David. No, “divided” means you use some of it in one part of the recipe and some in another. Read the instructions and you will see how the amount of Swerve is divided up.