As fiddleheads are to spring so are pumpkins to autumn. We decorate with them, we blitz them into soups and spiced lattes, we bake pies, and we still end up with leftover pumpkin pureé. Recently we came across a wonderful recipe for a pumpkin roll that is so good you will want go out of your way to make sure you save enough pumpkin for it; it may just become a family fall tradition.
spread the batter evenly in the pan
This recipe works beautifully with fresh or canned pumpkin purée and, like jelly rolls or the classic bûche de noël, is actually quite fun to make. The trick to a successful roll cake is to roll it up while it is still quite warm, and let it cool completely while it is still wrapped and rolled.
Remove from pan while still warm
To fill it, simply unroll the cake, apply the filling, and re-roll. Parchment paper is also a must, and the right sized pan helps a lot too, in the case we used a 10×15 jelly roll pan which was a perfect fit, but a rimmed baking sheet of similar size would do the trick too.
roll it up!
And who knew that pumpkin goes so well with cream cheese? I guess it just goes to show you that in the fall, pumpkin really does go with everything!
After cooling and unrolling, spread cream cheese on cake, then roll it up again
Spiced Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Log
Cake:
3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon each: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Bring butter and cheese to room temperature and cream together with the icing sugar and vanilla. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 10 x 15 jelly roll pan or rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, letting a little hang over the edges.
In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. Add the sugar, pumpkin purée, eggs, vanilla and apple cider. Mix well and pour into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Lay a clean tea towel on the table. Using the parchment overhang, gently lift the cake out of the pan and onto the tea towel. While the cake is still warm, roll up the cake and the parchment from a width end, ( ten inch side of the rectangle.) Roll snugly but don’t squash it; cover with the tea towel and let the cake totally cool, about 45 min. When the cake is totally cool, unroll it and spread the cream cheese filling over the inside of the cake, leaving about half an inch around the perimeter. Re-roll the cake. You can use the parchment paper to help you start the rolling and then wrap the rolled cake in the paper and or the tea towel. Place it the fridge for about an hour to firm up the filling.
To serve, sprinkle a little icing sugar on the cake and serve a couple slices with whipped cream.