Pumpkin Roll

A few years ago, we spent Thanksgiving in Florida where most of Marcel’s family lives. At that time, we just came back from an extended trip to Europe and sorely missed the food. However, as soon as Marcel’s mom whipped up this recipe, we forgot all about the pain au chocolats, the dulce de leches, and the gelatos. I was hooked. That same year, we spent Christmas at my family’s home in Dallas where I introduced this recipe. They loved it too! Soon after, my mom and I went into full production. Every Christmas party we were invited to, we took one with us. Everyone wanted the recipe. Just before we left Dallas, we made 3 more rolls to keep in the freezer for future occasions. Since then, this has become one of our favorite holiday desserts.

Pumpkin Roll
A family recipe

Notes:
1. I reduced the sugar in both the cake and filling from 1 cup to 3/4 cup like I always do. I find that it is sweet enough and even brings out the pumpkin flavor more.
2. Refrigerate for at least an hour before consuming. Even better the next day and you can even freeze it if desired.
3. This is not a secret recipe as google will tell you. Feel free to tailor it (carefully) according to your taste.

Cake:
3 eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Cover an 11″ x 15″ jelly roll pan with wax paper. Trim excess wax paper.

Cake:
Beat eggs, pumpkin puree and sugar together. Mix flour, baking soda and cinnamon in another bowl. Add the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mix. Beat until smooth.
Pour the mixture on the prepared pan. Spread over the entire pan using a spatula. Sprinke chopped pecans on top. Bake 12-15 minutes or until done.

Once the cake is done, cover it with a clean tea towel then turn upside down. The cake should now be on the tea towel. Carefully remove the wax paper. Roll the cake with the tea towel in it all the way to the end.

Filling:
Beat all ingredients together. Unroll cooled cake, removing the tea towel. Spread filling evenly on the entire cake. Roll the cake carefully into a log.

Sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar just before serving.

Trader Joe's Giant Chocolate Bar

It is 30 degrees F (feels like 20) outside right now which is unseasonably cold for Portland but here I am making ice cream. Perhaps it is the sunny days or maybe the holidays. Ever since I purchased my ice cream maker, I have made several batches of avocado gelato and a few others but avocado is my all-time  favorite. To most people including Marcel, this is a very strange thing to make so he keeps asking when I can make something that he can eat, say chocolate. For some reason, I do not like baked or cooked chocolate. Cookies, brownies, and cakes made with chocolate do not appeal to me. I eat them from time to time but I’d rather eat a chocolate bar, usually with at least 70% cacao, sometimes with almonds or hazelnuts. Good quality hot chocolate warms my heart as well.

This recipe was taken from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. This time, I followed exactly what it said. It took a lot of self-control for me to stick to the formula. Actually, I did make one minor change. He suggested Dutch-processed cocoa but I used my favorite brand Dagoba which is technically not Dutch-processed but this is one of the best out there, in my opinion. They are from Ashland, OR and as you know, I love supporting  my “local” purveyors. For the chocolate bar, I used Trader Joe’s. Not the best but certainly better than most mass-produced chocolate. Valrhona would have been my first choice but I didn’t have any in my pantry. This resulted in a chocolate ice cream worthy of this statement from Marcel – “We can start an ice cream business”. The man knows his chocolate.

You can buy the book from Amazon.com for a reasonable price, borrow it from the library, or even better preview it on google books.

Combining the chocolate mixture with the custard

When freshly churned, it resembles soft-serve ice cream

Frozen ice cream

To keep things simple this year, we combined homemade and store-bought dishes. We roasted a whole turkey, made some mashed potatoes, and candied yams. Everything else was purchased from Whole Foods Market.

Golden Roasted Turkey. Recipe adapted from Whole Foods Market
Wine: 2008 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

Maple-Glazed Yams with Pecan Topping. Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes

Mulder enjoyed his dinner as well – plain versions of everthing including canned pumpkin, mashed potatoes, and boiled peas/carrots. It is not healthy for dogs to have too much salt, fat, or spices just like the humans, except we still do it anyway

An army of wontons waiting for battle

These noodles will make you feel like you are in a Hong Kong eatery

Surprisingly filling wonton noodle soup with 9g of protein from the noodles and more from the pork

Cooking Notes:

As you know, we recently harvested the last batch of carrots from our garden. I have more carrots than I know what to do with, so I thought about making a cake. This recipe from smitten kitchen seems easier than making a big cake so I tried it. I made a few changes and they came out good (in my opinion, with a few substitutes which I will explain below).

Freshly baked. The kitchen was dark when I took this photo. All the light was provided by the speedlight (external flash)

Carrot walnut goodness. The orange pumpkin in the background is a jedi mind trick to make you want the carrots.

Frosted with plain whipped cream cheese. I saw this cool plate at City Liquidators and I just had to get one.

Recipe adapted from smitten kitchen

Substitutions/options include:
- I made a half portion of the full recipe
- Used 3/4c sugar instead of 1 cup
- Added 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- Used whole wheat flour instead of APF
- I used less cinnamon because I do not like it that much
- Grated fresh ginger instead of powder
- I used plain cream cheese for frosting

Notes:
- Grating the carrots really made a difference. The batter came out smooth even with whole wheat flour.
- The amount of canola oil scared me a bit but I followed the recipe anyway. The paper cups were stained with grease but eating the cupcakes did not feel greasy. They were deliciously moist. I read somewhere you can substitute apple sauce but I have not tried it myself.
- The sweetness is just right for me but may not be sweet enough for others.

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups grated peeled carrots
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
A light dash of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Line 12 cupcake molds with papers, or butter and flour them. Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar and oil in large bowl until well blended. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in carrots and walnuts. Divide batter among cupcake molds, filling 3/4 of each. Bake cupcakes 14 to 18 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. Let cool in pans for five minutes or so, then transfer cakes to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting.

At around 130 calories per cupcake (no frosting), these could very well be the “healthiest” baked goods made in my kitchen. Consider the monounsaturated fats from the canola oil and walnuts, the natural goodness of organically grown carrots, organic sugar, whole grain flour, and most of all freshly-hatched eggs from a friend who has a chicken coop in their backyard. Another winner from smitten kitchen.