The Great Pumpkin Roll

by Christy

Where did my fascination with all things pumpkin begin? It’s a word commonly used in my childhood home. My sister and I answered to the name of "pumpkin," and Dad calls Mom "punkin" often. There was nothing as thrilling to my little-kid heart as the day in autumn, a couple weeks before Halloween, when Mom or Dad would say, "Let’s go pick out pumpkins tonight." It was usually during dinner that this magical little phrase was uttered, so dishes were washed faster, albeit haphazardly, and we raced to the car to make the yearly trek to the farmers market down the road to pick out (dum, dum, dum) The Pumpkins.

To some of you, this sounds like the excitement associated with Christmas tree hunting. But I never had that experience as a child because my dad is allergic to pine. (We assemble our tree every year from a box in the attic.) So you must understand that the pumpkin hunt was the event of my childhood.

Along with the cleaning and the carving, Dad and I always had to roast some of the seeds. A highly salted snack was just what we needed to truly inspire our (practically the same face every year) masterpiece. I was the queen of the triangle eyes, inverted triangle nose, and wide, one-toothed smile. One year I branched out when my sister and I -having recently seen the original Batman movie for the fourth time - decided to do Batman and Superman symbols on our respective pumpkins. Late that night when we finally finished carving our Jacks, we lit them and turned out all the lights in the house, as is tradition, and sat back in awe of the DC comic book beacons that flickered on the living room walls.

But aside from the carving, there is another thing I love about the months of October and November. The taste of pumpkin on my tongue! I am into pumpkin pie, muffins, cookies, cake, even Edy’s pumpkin ice cream, which is remarkable. As fate would have it, my college roommate’s family was also steeped in pumpkin consumption and recipes. Our first November together, she received a package in the mail. In it was the pumpkin baked good to crown all pumpkin baked goods (in my opinion). Maybe it’s the marriage of the great orange gourd and white, creamy cheese that makes this recipe such a favorite of mine. Whatever it is, I can’t go long into Fall without a major hankerin’ for this Great Pumpkin Roll.

Pumpkin Roll Ingredients:

2/3 cup pumpkin

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of salt

Filling Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese (room temp.)

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

4 tbs. soft butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and pumpkin.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir well. Pour the pumpkin dough into a greased, floured jellyroll sheet. Spread the dough out until it’s about half an inch to an inch thick (depending on the dimensions of your sheet). Bake for 15 minutes at 375.

While the roll is baking, place a clean kitchen towel that’s larger than your jellyroll pan, or parchment paper covered with confectioners’ sugar on your counter. (The roll may stick to the paper, but if you feel better using paper, it may be worth it, just be sure to use a generous amount of sugar.)

Promptly after removing the roll from the oven, run a knife or spatula around the edge of the roll, and under the roll if necessary. Flip the roll out onto the towel, fold the ends over the roll, and roll it up. Freeze for 30 minutes.

While the roll is cooling, stir the cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, butter, and vanilla together.

Remove the roll from the freezer and unroll it. Spread the filling inside, and roll it back up, pulling the towel gently away from the roll as you go. Place it on your serving dish, and refrigerate until, and in between, serving.

Before serving, you should cut off the two ends of the roll to reveal the beautifully swirled pumpkin roll and filling. To add a little flare to your presentation, sprinkle confectioners’ sugar on and around the roll just before serving (since the moist roll will have soaked up most of the sugar while in the fridge). You could also bundle seven or eight cinnamon sticks together with long strands of raffia, and set it on the top of your pumpkin roll. Tuck some mum buds or Fall leaves on and around the roll and raffia streamers, and you have a very nice centerpiece for your fall baby shower or stamping party (and dessert too).

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