Listen, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so let’s get right down to brass tacks. No time to mess around. We’ve got business to attend to. There’s nothing magical about … more
Listen, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so let’s get right down to brass tacks. No time to mess around. We’ve got business to attend to.
There’s nothing magical about this here recipe. I bet many of you have one very similar to it floating around in your family’s lore. I’m just here to tell you one thing:
You can make a crazy-good gee eff Pumpkin Cake Roll for Thanksgiving, and I have the photographic evidence to prove it.
Grease a jelly roll pan (this one’s about 10 x 15 inches – that works), then line it with wax paper (I don’t know why it doesn’t burn the house down on this one rare occasion — it just doesn’t) or parchment, grease it again, then sprinkle it with gee eff flour and tap the flour around.
Blend the cake ingredients, and then pour them into the prepared pan — spreading it around and shaking it from side to side. Then smack it **smack** on the counter to pop any air bubbles. Just do it!
Bake until it’s browned. I baked it a bit too much, so you’ll see that the bottom is a little toasty. But I’d rather overbake than underbake. If you underbake, it’s going to be a sticky mess.
Then liberally dust a tea towel (it’s a kitchen towel, but flat and not fluffy, so it has no lint) with powdered sugar. ‘Cause it’s delicious. And ’cause it will keep the cake from sticking.
Turn the cake — hot out of the oven — over onto the towel and peel off the paper. Then fold an edge of the towel over the cake on a short end.
Come on. Watch.
And start to roll. Don’t roll too tightly at first, or that edge will crack worse than it’s going to crack anyhow. Just go with it.
Keep rolling until it’s all rolled up. Then let it cool completely on a wire rack. I didn’t show you a photo of that. ‘Cause I know you’re nobody’s fool, and you can imagine that one in your mind’s eye, no problem.
Once it’s completely cool to the touch (just palm the whole towel-covered thing, see if it gives off any heat), unroll it completely. It’ll be kinda bendy. The cake now knows what to do. Better than we do. It knows, like an elder statesman. It’s been there, and it’s done that, and it knows where to go back once it has its filling.
So spread the filling evenly over the whole cake surface, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border clean. Then carefully reroll.
The very inside edge? The one that we said would crack? It kinda did, but not all the way through. And it’s a cake, not a yoga mat, so it’s going to crack a bit. Don’t sweat it.
Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and chill for at least an hour or up to a few days. Dust with powdered sugar, slice thickly and serve.
For the love of all things family, print out this recipe and go make a pumpkin roll. Then chill it and leave it in the refrig until Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow – a list ditch attempt at a Thanksgiving classic: pumpkin cheesecake with chocolate swirls. And a graham cracker (page 214 of my My Cookbook) or Nilla Wafer crust. Get your crunchy cookies and a whole mess of cream cheese ready.
- ¾ cup high quality all-purpose gluten-free flour
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum (omit if using your blend already contains it)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
- ⅔ cup pure pumpkin
- ¼ cup powdered sugar, for sprinkling
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Line it with wax or parchment paper, then grease again. Sprinkle some extra flour on the greased paper, and tap it around to evenly distribute it. Set the pan aside.
- In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, salt and sugar, and whisk to combine. Add the eggs and pumpkin, and beat until well-blended. The batter will be relatively thin. Pour it into the prepared pan, and spread it evenly around. Smack on the counter to break any trapped bubbles.
- Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until top of cake springs back when touched. While the cake is baking, sprinkle the separate ¼ cup powdered sugar on the towel. Once the cake is done, turn it immediately onto the prepared towel.
- Carefully peel off the paper, then place a short edge of the towel over the edge of the cake. Then roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Transfer the rolled cake and towel onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, beat the cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract and cinnamon in small bowl until smooth.
- Once the cake is cool, carefully unroll it. Remove towel, and spread the filling over cake leaving a 1½ inch clean border all around. Carefully reroll the cake. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least one hour, or up to a few days.
- Dust lightly with some more powdered sugar before serving. Slice thick.
Love,
Me
P.S. I you haven’t yet, please pick up a copy of My Cookbooks! I can’t keep the blog going without your support!
