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Cinnamon Cake Roll

By Manali Singh

Sep 25, 2015, Updated May 07, 2023

Cinnamon Cake roll filled with creamy caramel apple frosting makes the perfect fall dessert!

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Cinnamon Cake Roll filled with a creamy caramel apple frosting is the perfect fall dessert. Make this cake and impress your friends and family this fall!

Happy Friday everyone! I know how much we all look forward to and love Fridays. It always means that it’s time to relax and slow down a bit. This weekend I would be travelling with hubby and in-laws and I am really looking forward to our trip. Sometimes it’s nice to unwind and just disconnect from the virtual world and spend time with family. Isn’t it?

Anyway fall is here and yesterday was the first official day of fall. To celebrate my favorite season, I am sharing an awesome recipe with you today! And that’s not all there’s also a great sweepstakes (more information on that below). The trees around my house have started to change color. It looks so pretty outside. The days are getting shorter and cooler and I can’t seem to get enough of fall baking. My mind is constantly thinking about all the amazing fall desserts that I can make to entertain friends and family this year. Few days back  while grocery shopping, I spotted the new M&M’s® Pecan Pie at Walmart and I instantly knew that I need to make a stunning fall dessert with this!

But which dessert was the question? So after thinking and going through 8790643572 ideas I finally came up with this Cinnamon Cake Roll. Isn’t it so pretty? This cake made me super happy because it looks so perfect for fall 🙂

What makes this cake so perfect for fall?

1. M&M’s® Pecan Pie. I have always been crazy about M&M’s® and this one actually tastes like pecan pie! So perfect for fall.

2. Pillsbury™ Supreme Creamy® Caramel Apple Frosting . This frosting is dangerously addictive. I couldn’t stop eating it and I would have finished the entire jar if I had to not use it in the recipe.

I also got hold of Mott’s® Apple Sauce to use in the recipe. And while I was there, I also picked up Snapple® Apple Single. The plan was to make the cake and eat it while sipping on Snapple® Apple Single. Sounds perfect isn’t it?  I found all these products at my local Walmart.

I drew some pattern on this cake roll before baking it but that’s totally optional. If you don’t care about the pattern, just skip the first step and follow rest of the steps as it is. If you have not made cake roll before I would recommend reading this post for some tips and tricks to get it right. I think the most important thing is to use the same size of pan as mentioned in the recipe and to not over-bake the cake.

If you are looking for a stunning dessert this fall, then look no further! This cinnamon cake roll not only looks like fall but also tastes like one in every bite. I followed my recipe of the patterned swiss roll cake and just replaced water with Mott’s® Apple Sauce. The cake turned out really soft and spongy! Here’s how you make it.

Method

Make the pattern

To make the pattern, mix together 1 egg white with sugar. Add flour, and room temperature butter and whisk to a smooth paste. You can add little water if you think the mixture is too thick. I ended up adding around 1/2 tablespoon of water. Also add few drops of orange food color and mix.

Take the baking sheet [I used this 18 x 13 inch pan] and line it with parchment paper. Take your pattern sheet and place it beneath the parchment paper. Pipe the mixture into a piping bag and trace the pattern over the parchment paper. I used wilton tip 2, you can use a smaller or a bigger tip as per your wish. You can also use a ziplock bag here. Once you have made the pattern, remove the pattern sheet and place the tray in the freezer for around 30 minutes. This will give the pattern enough time to set.

Make the cake

Now start working on the cake better. Sift together flour, cinnamon powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Separate the eggs while they are cold. However for the recipe you need eggs (especially egg whites) at room temperature. So take the eggs out of the fridge separate them and then let them sit at room temperature for around 30-40 minutes. The egg whites need to be at room temperature for the meringue. To the egg yolks add sugar, Mott’s® Apple Sauce, vanilla extract and oil and beat till thoroughly combined.

Beat till the mixture turns pale. This takes around 6-7 minutes with a hand mixer. Set aside.

Start beating the egg whites using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer. Add cream of tartar when the egg whites start foaming.

Continue to beat till they become more foamy.

Beat till the egg whites form “medium peaks”. They should hold their own form but not point straight up. They should appear like a crooked finger.

Take the egg yolk mixture and add the flour mixture to it in 2 parts. Mix to form a smooth batter.

Start adding the egg whites, gently mixing them with the batter. Add the egg whites in 3 parts but be very gentle while folding them in the batter else you will deflate them.

Once all the egg whites are combined your cake batter is ready.

Take out the baking sheet from the freezer and pour the batter over it.

Using a spatula spread the batter evenly through the pan. Smooth the top using a spatula and bake the cake at 400 F degrees for 8-9 minutes or till it springs back on poking. You don’t want to overbake it. Mine was done in 8 minutes.

Place a clean tea towel on your counter-top and dust it with powdered sugar [around 1/4 cup]. Make sure it’s entirely covered with powdered/confectioners sugar else the cake will stick to it. Take out the cake from the oven and immediately flip it on the towel with the pattern side facing up. Remove the parchment paper immediately. Be careful not to break the cake as you peel the parchment paper. [PS: my parchment had weird design on it and hence the cake also has that print in the picture. Use a plain parchment paper]

Take another parchment paper and place in on top of cake and flip it again so that the pattern now faces downward. Start rolling the cake.

Roll the cake with the towel and let it sit for around 30-40 minutes. By rolling the cake with the towel, it gets it desired shape. So when you unroll the cake, you won’t have any difficulty in rolling it back again.

Unroll the cake fill it with Pillsbury™ Supreme Creamy® Caramel Apple Frosting.

Start rolling the cake with the help of the towel, peeling away the towel as you roll. Try to roll as tightly as you can but at the same time be careful not to break it.

Place the cake roll in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours before slicing into pieces. Once the cake is chilled, take it out of the refrigerator and spray with green and yellow food color spray. Top the cinnamon cake roll with M&M’s® Pecan Pie, slice and serve!

* It is not essential to add cream of tartar but it gives stability to the egg whites.

* Do not overfill the cake else you will have problems in rolling the cake.

* Don’t forget to chill the cake before slicing it.

* It’s okay if you get few cracks in your cake. You are going to cover the top anyway so you shouldn’t worry much about it.

I found all required ingredients for this recipe at Walmart!

And guys if you love baking as much as I do, don’t forget to enter MARS Bake In The Fun Sweepstakes. You can win a Kitchenaid Mixer! I know I can’t live without mine so this is one sweepstakes which you must enter. Simply enter using the widget below #bakeinthefunsweepstakes! And also tell me about your favorite fall desserts? I would love to hear about your fall favorites!

MARS Bake In The Fun Sweepstakes

Cinnamon Cake Roll

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By Manali Singh

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 9 minutes mins

Total: 39 minutes mins

Servings: 8

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Cinnamon Cake roll filled with creamy caramel apple frosting makes the perfect fall dessert!

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

Pattern

• ▢ 1 egg white
• ▢ 2 tablespoons sugar
• ▢ 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
• ▢ 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• ▢ ½ tablespoon water optional
• ▢ orange food color few drops

Cake

• ▢ ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ▢ 5 large eggs separated
• ▢ ½ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
• ▢ 3 tablespoons canola oil
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 cup Mott's® Apple Sauce
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ▢ ¼ cup confectioners sugar for dusting the tea towel

Filling

• ▢ Caramel apple frosting [I used Pillsbury™ Supreme Creamy® Caramel Apple Frosting]

M&M's® Pecan Pie, to decorate

Green and Yellow Food Color Spray, to decorate

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Instructions 

Make the pattern

• To make the pattern, mix together 1 egg white with sugar.
• Add flour, and room temperature butter and whisk to a smooth paste Also add orange food color. You can add little water if you think the mixture is too thick. I ended up adding around 1/2 tablespoon of water.
• Take the baking sheet [I used this 18 x 13 inch pan] and line it with parchment paper.
• Take your pattern sheet and place it beneath the parchment paper.
• Pipe the mixture into a piping bag and trace the pattern over the parchment paper. I used wilton tip 2, you can also use a ziplock bag here.
• Once you have made the pattern, remove the pattern sheet and place the tray in the freezer for around 30 minutes. This will give the pattern enough time to set.

Make the cake

• Sift together flour, cinnamon powder, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
• Separate the eggs. To the egg yolks add sugar, Mott's® Apple Sauce, vanilla extract and oil and beat till thoroughly combined.
• Beat till the mixture turns pale. This takes around 6-7 minutes with a hand mixer. Set aside.
• Start beating the egg whites using the wire whisk attachment of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer. Add cream of tartar when the egg whites start foaming.
• Continue to beat till the egg whites form "medium peaks". They should hold their own form but not point straight up. They should appear like a crooked finger.
• Take the egg yolk mixture and add the flour mixture to it in 2 parts. Mix to form a smooth batter.
• Start adding the egg whites, gently mixing them with the batter. Add the egg whites in 3 parts but be very gentle while folding them in the batter else you will deflate them.
• Once all the egg whites are combined your cake batter is ready.
• Take out the baking sheet from the freezer and pour the batter over it.
• Using a spatula spread the batter evenly through the pan.
• Smooth the top using a spatula and bake the cake at 400 F degrees for 8-9 minutes or till it springs back on poking. You don't want to overbake it. Mine was done in 8 minutes.
• Place a clean tea towel on your counter-top and dust it with powdered sugar [around 1/4 cup]. Take out the cake from the oven and immediately flip it on the towel with the pattern side facing up. Remove the parchment paper immediately.
• Take another parchment paper and place in on top of cake and flip it again so that the pattern now faces downward. Start rolling the cake.
• Roll the cake with the towel and let it sit for around 30-40 minutes. By rolling the cake with the towel, it gets it desired shape. So when you unroll the cake, you won't have any difficulty in rolling it back again.
• Unroll the cake fill it with Pillsbury™ Supreme Creamy® Caramel Apple Frosting.
• Start rolling the cake with the help of the towel, peeling away the towel as you roll. Try to roll as tightly as you can but at the same time be careful not to break it.
• Place the cake roll in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours before slicing into pieces.
• Once the cake is chilled, take it out of the refrigerator and spray with green and yellow food color spray.
• Top the cinnamon cake roll with M&M’s® Pecan Pie, slice and serve!

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Baking, Sweet

Cuisine: Continental, World

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 Cinnamon Cake Roll