New member ISO Help with Pumpkin Rolls

[tjsmom1]

Hello all,

My name is Denise and I'm hoping to get some help with a baking problem. I make pumpkin rolls and on occasion, my "cake" splits when I unroll it to load the filling. I will admit, tonite I did not let the cakes cool as long as I usually do (I put them in the refrigerator for about an hour).
Any hints to avoid this happening would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Addie]

Hello all,

My name is Denise and I'm hoping to get some help with a baking problem. I make pumpkin rolls and on occasion, my "cake" splits when I unroll it to load the filling. I will admit, tonite I did not let the cakes cool as long as I usually do (I put them in the refrigerator for about an hour).
Any hints to avoid this happening would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Denise, your post is a bit confusing. You state "pumpkin rolls' and then call it cake. One is made with yeast (rolls) and the other with baking powder (cakes). Which is it? Perhaps if you give us the recipe, we can be of better help to you.

 

[chopper]

A pumpkin roll is a rolled cake with a filling.

 

[Addie]

A pumpkin roll is a rolled cake with a filling.

A jelly roll cake. That was simple.

 

[bakechef]

Sounds like maybe your cake is too dry. Are you measuring the flour accurately? By that I mean are you fluffing up the flour in the container and then lightly scooping it into the cup and then leveling off? I know that if you just scoop the flour out of the container without fluffing it up, you could end up with more flour than you need.

Also if we could see the recipe, we could troubleshoot. If you have made changes to the recipe, it would be helpful to know those as well, as even the slightest change can alter a baking recipe producing poor results.

 

[CWS4322]

Welcome to DC, Denise. In addition to the thoughts the others have shared, I was wondering if putting it in the fridge to cool might have caused it to cool too rapidly from the center, hence resulting in the cracking? If you can, share the recipe (or at least the ingredients). If it is published in a cookbook and copyrighted, the ingredient list should be enough information and no worries about violating copyright.

 

[GLC]

And I will add that if common or all-purpose flour was used, and if the batter was a bit overworked, gluten may have become a bread-like matrix that would toughen the final result, making it less flexible. A softer flour, cake flour, may help. Or simply not overworking the batter.

When all-purpose flour is substituted for cake flour, each cup of APF should be reduced by about 2 tablespoons. That's another thing that could make the jelly roll dry, if the difference in flours is not accounted for.

 

[Oldvine]

Do you you a cloth to help roll it so you can stop and start the rolling to allow the cake to adjust if it starts to crack?