Low FODMAP pumpkin Swiss roll! How much pumpkin is acceptable for one person to eat in October? Actually, don’t answer that. For I have had as much pumpkin as I can get my hands on. In both savoury and sweet recipes, I can’t get enough of the stuff and I love the dense sweetness it brings to bakes. In this case, it’s folded into the sponge mix, along with a hint of spice and orange zest, baked and then rolled with a silky, velvety, cream cheese filling. So dreamy and so perfect for an autumnal weekend treat.
Swiss rolls are one of those bakes that look so much trickier to make than they are – and once you get them nailed, there’s endless variations you can try. Plus they’re easy to make low FODMAP! Ideal for those of us with more sensitive tums. The cake batter is straightforward – simply whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl until thick, pale and creamy. Add in your pumpkin purée and vanilla. Fold your mixed dry ingredients into the batter along with the orange zest and juice and bake!
With the addition of baking powder and baking soda in the dry ingredients I’ve made sure the recipe gives a bit of a rise safety net (some recipes will whisk the egg whites separately and not use any extra raising agents), however, this way is foolproof and still just as delicious. Cream cheese icing can be a bit temperamental – my top tip – don’t overwork it. Spread the icing on to the sponge, roll up tightly and chill. After an hour (it’s worth the wait), finish with a smattering of icing sugar, slice and enjoy.
Low FODMAP pumpkin Swiss roll recipe notes:
- Tinned pumpkin is low FODMAP up to 75g – so 175g split between 10 is well under the limit
- Ideally you’re after a 10-15 inch jelly roll pan, but something similar will do – you just want a tray that’s big enough to allow you to bake a thin sponge
- Chilling the sponge for an hour before cutting is a vital step! It makes for such a cleaner cut and just sets the filling
- If you don’t need to make the sponge gluten free, you can simply sub in regular plain flour – likewise lactose-full cream cheese instead of lactose-free
Ingredients
100g gluten free plain flour (I used FREEE)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
175g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
3 large eggs
175g pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons orange juice
For the filling:
75g butter, softened
150g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for the top
200g lactose free cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Method
Preheat your oven to 190C, 170C fan, gas 5 and lightly grease and line a shallow baking tray with baking paper. Ideally you’re after a 10×15 inch ‘jelly roll’ pan, but something similar will do – you just want something that will result in a thin sponge.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum (if using), spices and salt.
In a large bowl with an electric whisk, or using a stand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar together until pale and thick (at least 5 minutes). You want them to be about three times the volume and when you lift out the whisk, a trail left on the surface of the rest of the mixture for a few seconds. Gently whisk in the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and start to fold in. With just a few streaks of flour left, add in the orange zest and orange juice and continue to fold until no streaks of flour remain.
Pour the batter onto your baking tray and smooth out with a spatula or the back on a spoon. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until springy to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, but then while the cake is still warm (very important as you need it to have some bend), lay a clean tea towel, dusted with a little caster sugar to help prevent sticking if you like, on your kitchen side. In one quick swoop, flip out the cake onto the tea towel, close to one end, and carefully peel off the baking paper that’s on top of the cake. Gently score an indentation with a small sharp knife 1cm or so in from the edge of one of the shorter sides of the sponge (make sure you don’t cut all the way through), and start to roll up from this side, short end to short end, rolling the tea towel that’s underneath the cake, with the cake. Let cool completely, tightly wrapped on your kitchen counter.
To make the cream cheese filling, whisk together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Fold through the cream cheese and salt until just combined. If cream cheese is overworked it can go runny, and once it’s runny the only way to save it is to add more icing sugar – which you don’t want, as the filling with become too sweet. So it’s really important you go careful on this step! As little working as possible is key, for a thick, spreadable icing. Pop the icing in the fridge until ready to use.
When cool, unroll the cake and spread with the filling, leaving a small gap at the edges. Roll the cake up, peeling back the baking paper as you go. Chill in the fridge for about an hour, then dust with icing sugar, cut into slices with a sharp knife and serve.
Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.
