While I love pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and sweet potato anything, my favorite of all the Fall/Thanksgiving treats is a pumpkin roll. It has all the deliciousness of a cake, but there is frosting in every bite. And I’m a firm believer that most solid food is simply a vehicle for frosting.
I know for a lot of people, pumpkin rolls are intimidating, but if you just fallow a few directions, they are easy to put together.
For this demonstrations, I used Granny Kat’s Pumpkin Roll from allrecipes.com.
Start with the simple cake batter:
Combine:
- 3/4 C all-purpose flour
- 1 C sugar
- 1 t baking soda
- 2 t pumpkin pie spice
Add:
- 1 C pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
Beat this together until combined. Line an 13×18 baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with non-stick spray.
This is a change from the original recipe, which calls for a 9×13 pan. Using a larger pan makes the cake thinner and much easier to roll without breaking; which means I’m much less likely to start screaming at my cake.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
In the mean time, make the filling by beating together:
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- 1/4 C butter
- 2 C powdered sugar (the orignal recipe calls for 1, but I like the consistency better with two)
- 1 t vanilla
Put the filling in the fridge to chill until you need it. The filling will still be soft enough to spread, but chilling it a bit keeps it from seeping out when you try to roll it.
Once the cake is done, let it sit in the pan for about 20 minutes. It needs to be warm when you remove it from the pan, but not burning hot.
Spread a kitchen towel (bigger than the cake) on the counter and top it with a piece of wax paper. Sprinkle the wax paper with about 2 T powdered sugar.
After the cake sits for 20 minutes, carefully invert it onto the wax paper and remove the parchment paper. As you see, I had a small tear in my cake. This is because my oven mitt-clad thumb held the cake in place there. Oops! The cake was still so warm, I put in back in place and didn’t have any more problems. Frosting has solved many of my cake mishaps.
Immediately and slowly roll the cake up, with the wax paper and towel (the towel will actually roll into the cake. I don’t just mean to wrap the towel around the rolled cake. It’s like the towel and paper are the filling). Let this sit on the counter until it’s completely cool (about an hour or so).
Once the cake is cool, carefully unroll it and top it with the filling, spreading it almost to the edges.
Re-roll the cake (without the paper and towel). I actually like t use the wax paper to help me roll. Lifting the wax paper slowly will help the cake naturally roll. Tightly wrap the entire roll in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for several hours.
I love this because it has my favorite flavors and extra frosting. It really doesn’t get much better than that. Plus, it looks really cool when it’s sliced. Slice the roll with a serrated knife ( My bread knife works best). Store it in the fridge.
Enjoy your pumpkin roll!
