let me see that pumpkin roll

THANK GOD FOR CHRISTMAS VACATION. 'Nuff said. Really, though, it's amazing to have no classes, no exams, no studying. Just sleeping, hanging with the fam and friends, applying to ridiculous amounts of grad schools, and......BAKING. All while watching Food Network. Oh yes. Life is good.

So tonight is our annual family Christmas party...where there will be over 110 of my extended Italian relatives from my Papa's side all in a room with loads of food. Basically, it's a lot of talking, eating, and reuniting. Oh, and Santa comes, too! What a guy, right? To come to our humble family Christmas party. :)

Anyway, my tiny household's responsibility was to bring two desserts to tonight's big bash. For some reason, my mom was sold on me making this pumpkin roll (recipe conveniently on the back of a can of Libby's Pumpkin Puree, found at your local grocery store). Why she did not desire me to whip up something chocolate, I do not know. Oh well, though. One cannot live on chocolate alone, I guess, though I definitely beg to differ. But anyway, once the whirlwind that is unpacking-my-life-from-college was over, I went to work making this roll.

So as I whipped together the ingredients, this batter was not looking a bit like cake batter. More like...really thick pumpkin pie batter. "What could be wrong???" I kept asking myself, as I checked and rechecked and...triple checked the ingredients I had added to the Kitchen Aid Mixer Of Amazingness. Everything seeming correct, I shrugged my shoulders and continued on with the baking process.

Oh, and if you do decide to make this roll, please flour your pan. I know, it's an annoying additional step, but it's just one of those things you gotta do. Whether you like it or not. Moral of the story? Flour your pan, and be happy.

Yep. Something was most definitely wrong here...but what? I'm telling you, I know cake batter when I see it. And this was most definitely not cake batter. Cake batter on steroids? Mayhaps. But that's not what we were going for here. However, into the oven it went.

As the pumpkin batter on steroids baked in the oven. I got to work making the cream cheese filling. Oh, and is this stuff delicious. Like, I had wicked urges to grab the nearest spoon and dig in right there with no shame at all. But...I suppressed my urges. And I think this filling would be delicious doused over a cake as a topping, also.

So...as cream cheese filling-making was a turning out to be a success, pumpkin cake-baking was not. 15 minutes later, the "batter" was still ooey gooey. And this was not delicious ooey gooey, but more like I'm-not-at-all-baked-yet ooey gooey. Eep. What to do what to do? Bake it longer, of course. And longer. And....looooonger. Like, 20 minutes longer than the directions indicated.

This was my cue to quadruple check the recipe. And, lo and behold, I discovered my mistake: the recipe called for 2/3 cup pumpkin puree, NOT the entire 29 oz. can. Whoops... :)

Anyway, to make a long story short, my baked pumpkin pie-in-a-jelly-roll pan concoction ended up being thrown out (by forces beyond my control, mind you), and the cake was prepared the right way.

Ohhh, I cannot wait to nom nom nom this tonight. And that big box o' secret ingredients in the background...that, my friends, holds the source of the next blog post to come in time.

Umm. And I guess my dog, Vino, enjoyed cream cheese residue left on the plastic wrap. :)


Pumpkin Roll

For cake:
powdered sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree

For filling:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan with nonstick cooking spray. Flour pan to prevent stickage. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in mixing bowl until think. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

Prepare filling. Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in mixing bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake, remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.