Make the Holidays Sweet and Simple

Posted on Nov 14, 2019 Topic : Women's Christian Living
Posted by : Melissa K. Norris

We have a potluck strategy in our family for the holidays. Everyone brings at least one or two dishes to help out the host. Everyone in our family welcomes this policy, especially because we rotate who is the host every year.

This dish is one of our favorite ways to serve pumpkin. It comes from my husband’s grandmother’s kitchen. Grandma gave me a lesson on how to make it, because I don’t know about your house, but it seems no matter what, no one makes it as good as Grandma (even if I have her recipe). So I wanted to take notes and have a hands-on lesson.

One of the beautiful things about this recipe is you can bake it ahead of time and freeze it. Then in the mad dash of the holiday, you don’t have to worry about preparing dessert!

Grandma's Pumpkin Roll

Cake Mixture

- ¾ cup flour

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- ½ tsp. salt

- ½ tsp. ground nutmeg

- 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon

- ½ tsp. ground ginger

- 3 eggs, well beaten until light and foamy

- 1 cup sugar

- ⅓ cup cooked pumpkin

Filling

- 1 cup powdered sugar (plus more for sprinkling)

- 8 ounces cream cheese

- ½ cup butter, softened

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 2 tsp. maple syrup (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°. Grease and flour a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan with coconut oil—be generous with your grease.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs for 5 minutes (yes, the whole 5 minutes) until light and foamy; cream in sugar and cooked pumpkin. Then stir in dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Pour into prepared jelly roll pan and spread until even. Pick up the pan and tap it (the bottom of the pan) against the counter a few times. This makes the air bubbles rise up out of the batter. (I jumped when Grandma did this. It makes a bang.)

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until cake is done. Place a clean flour sack or tea towel on the counter and sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, run a butter knife around the outside edge of the cake to separate it from the pan. Immediately, using hot pads, turn the pan upside down over the prepared towel.

As soon as the cake is out of the pan, place another clean flour sack towel on the short end of the cake and roll up like a sleeping bag. Cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes.

Prepare your filling by creaming together all of the filling ingredients. Unroll cooled cake and spread the filling evenly over the surface. Reroll the cake, cover, and allow to chill in fridge. Before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

May your holidays be blessed by family, fellowship, and delicious food!